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Why You Should Tell Your Employees You're Monitoring Them

Posted: 31 Jul 2019 09:43 AM PDT

An effective employee monitoring system can make employees more productive by helping them stay focused. It can also be used to identify problem areas, reallocate resources, limit distractions and increase cybersecurity by allowing businesses to identify hackers or suspicious activity more quickly.

Editor's note: Looking for an employee monitoring solution for your business? Fill out the questionnaire below to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.

 

The benefits of employee monitoring are many, especially when it comes to your bottom line. As an employer, there are laws about what you can and cannot monitor.

It can, however, create serious problems in your workplace culture, which can result in lowered morale and productivity.

Therefore, it's good to disclose early on to employees that you use monitoring tools and to establish a mutual understanding of how and why you use them. [Read related story: Best Employee Monitoring Software.]

Here are four guidelines on how to effectively and positively monitor your employees. 

Be specific and upfront.

To avoid paranoia, be specific and clear in identifying what is monitored and why, and how the monitoring will work. This eliminates angst among employees, who may worry they are being flagged for checking their email too often.

Transparency about monitoring and establishing a clear company policy go a long way toward countering uncomfortable or negative situations. Include the policy in your employee handbook, and cover it in your new hire orientation. You may want to obtain written consent from each new employee during the onboarding process.

"I can't think of one person who goes into a job not under the assumption that [their] web activity won't be monitored," said Jason Yau, vice-president of e-commerce and general manager at CanvasPeople. "It's not designed as an invasion of privacy, but rather as a form of regulation."

Your company policy should explicitly address every instance in which the employee is monitored and how. For example, address whether you collect their web history, time spent online, keystrokes, etc., and how you use that information. Is it used to determine pay? What information is used for disciplinary action? What are the limits and terms of each rule regarding monitoring?

Make it clear to employees that the monitoring system is not in place because you do not trust them or as a punishment. Explain your reasoning for implementing it and how it can positively affect them, like being able to objectively measure productivity when it comes time for promotions or determining weak spots in your processes.

Have a good reason.

A good rule of thumb is to monitor employees' activity only if you have a valid reason or goal related to the business. Private, personal information that you wouldn't otherwise have obtained without the use of monitoring tools shouldn't be recorded or disclosed unless it's absolutely related to the business.

"Monitoring employees should be strictly professional," said Yau. "[Explain that] it doesn't exist as a way to intrude on the personal lives of employees, but rather to make sure that employees are pulling their weight in terms of completing work, collaborating, etc."

Employees will be more understanding of the policy if they see that it is there for a good, sound reason and that you, as their employer, are vigilant about ensuring the monitoring is fair and not intrusive.

For example, security monitoring is common and expected, and provides several benefits to your business. Installing a video surveillance system may lower your insurance costs in some cases, provide evidence in case of an incident, and prevent theft.

To prevent issues with your video surveillance system, post clear signage that states video cameras are used to monitor the premises. The signage alone can serve as a deterrent to theft or incidents.

Specify the rules regarding personal use.

If employees are working on a company device, they should have little to no expectation of total privacy. The company has provided the device and therefore owns it, giving them the legal right to monitor usage under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA).

If employees use their devices for personal reasons, there is the possibility that you, their employer, learn information that you should not know. This can become a problem if it encroaches on legally protected areas, such as private health information.

For example, let's say your employee visits specific health sites or makes doctor appointments using their work computer and a record is made of this history through your employee monitoring software. This already puts your business in jeopardy by making you, the employer, aware of an employee's private health condition, which is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). You could land in further trouble if this information was leaked in a data breach, which would cause you to run afoul of HIPAA and leave your company vulnerable to litigation.

Be aware of your responsibilities.

As an employer, you have a responsibility to monitor your employees fairly and in a way that respects their autonomy. It is imperative that you have a culture of mutual trust between you, your management team and employees to have a monitoring system that works well.

"If a company doesn't extend trust to their people, [the employees] lose their sense of autonomy and start to underperform," said Krista Hare, founder of Hare Hires.

You also need to be acutely aware of how much you are monitoring and when it needs to be turned off. Employers can easily view GPS coordinates for where their company laptops or smartphones are. Likewise, telematics and fleet tracking indicate where a company vehicle is currently and where it's been.

Businesses have the right to know where their property is – especially if something is stolen. However, unless it's deemed necessary, it's not advised to record where employees go in their off-hours. Be sure that your GPS monitoring is only active during business hours or when the equipment is actively being used by an employee for a work-related purpose. Failing to do so creates trust issues and could lead to possible legal repercussions.

Employee monitoring can be helpful and insightful, giving you access to the inner workings of your employees and how your business runs. But if it is not implemented and handled carefully, you can create a culture of mistrust and lowered morale.

Remember to treat your employees with respect and be as transparent as possible when implementing a monitoring system.

Additional reporting by Andreas Rivera.

How to Become a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

Posted: 31 Jul 2019 09:40 AM PDT

The number and kind of "C-level executives," as the people who report to the chief executive officer (CEO) in large corporations are called as a group, seems to be growing of late. A chief information security officer, or CISO, is a C-level executive who is responsible for information security for an entire business or organization.

Understanding the CISO role

There's more to filling a CISO's shoes than simply possessing a deep understanding of information security. In the executive suite, performing those C-level jobs means relating specific aspects of business or technology to the overall vision that guides and drives any well-run organization. That means a CISO must also understand the overarching enterprise vision and strategy for the organization, and then take all steps necessary to see that its information assets and technologies are properly protected.

The CISO's job thus spans numerous vital domains of knowledge, which he or she must see enacted in an enterprise. These include the following elements:

  • Risk assessment, mitigation and avoidance ‒ This means making a thorough survey and inventory of information assets, intellectual property, and other digital holdings of value, understanding the threats they face and deciding what steps to take to protect those assets from damage, loss or harm. Ultimately, this also feeds into the enterprise security policy, which defines what levels of protection and response should be associated with information assets and digital holdings.
  • Legal and regulatory compliance ‒ This entails understanding how an enterprise's information assets and digital holdings fall within the scope of applicable laws and regulations, and complying with related requirements, such as assessments, audits, reporting, privacy, confidentiality, and more. It also means being both willing and able to shoulder the burden of dealing with a security breach, and assessing and dealing with any potential legal, business, and financial consequences of said breach.
  • Enterprise and security architecture ‒ As a formal discipline within IT, architecture seeks to make sure that technology acquisition and use enables and reinforces an organization's ability to meet business goals, achieve performance and growth objectives, and remain competitive in its chosen marketplace(s). Enterprise architecture takes this view from the standpoint of the entire infrastructure, whereas security architecture does it from a more narrow focus on the tools and technologies needed to deliver the kinds and levels of protection that risk assessments and compliance requirements dictate.

The simplest way of understanding all this is recognizing that the CISO's job is to ensure that the organization's security posture and policy align with the business vision; provide the protection and support necessary for its successful implementation; and to spearhead efforts to mitigate and recover from security breaches, privacy or regulatory lapses, or security policy failures that sometimes occur.

Educational background

Anyone aiming at a C-level job must earn a bachelor's degree, at a minimum, and is likely to earn one or more master's degrees as well. Most C-level execs combine a deep understanding of general business principles and practices along with whatever area their specialties may reside. Thus, a CISO is quite likely to have earned an MBA (Master of Business Administration), as well as a more specialized security-oriented master's degree in computer science or some related discipline.

The master's degrees included under the aegis of the National Centers of Academic Excellence, a collaboration between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Security Agency (NSA) intended to foster the development of qualified cybersecurity professionals, provide a good set of potential examples for such programs.

IT certifications

There are many information security certifications likely to be of both value and use to aspiring CISOs. Look for more senior information security (infosec) credentials, such as:

In addition, we strongly recommend that aspiring CISOs earn the ISACA Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT) credential. That's because this credential focuses on an individual's understanding and application of enterprise IT governance principles and practices. Such focus is an essential component of making sure that the enterprise is aware of and in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, specifically as they relate to information security.

Job experience

The C-level executive world focuses on business and some other technical areas. For a CISO, that's information security. Most aspiring CISOs come out of an enterprise information security operations role, typically one that includes stints both as a technical expert or individual contributor, as well as a variety of progressively responsible management positions (manager, director, vice president and so forth). The important thing about this work experience is that it shows a deep and abiding interest and expertise in the subject matter of information security in combination with a real understanding of how to design, implement, maintain, and enforce security policies in a business context.

The important thing about prior experience in reaching for the stars (or a C-level job, anyway) is that it be relevant and hands-on. That means you'll want to put some time into one or more positions where you must enact or implement, then formulate, security policies.

Likewise, it's important to have some experience with incident-response strategies and security remediation in the wake of a breach, break-in or some other kind of "hack attack." Working through multiple regulatory and/or legal compliance exercises, including security audits, investigations and even legal actions will also help you understand the nitty-gritty details of this part of the job.

Given the increasing number of threats and exploits in today's security landscape, it's important to cultivate a "not if, but when" attitude toward future security incidents. If you're ready to deal with such challenges, you're much more likely to demonstrate to upper management that you can do the CISO job with skill, élan and dispatch.

For any C-level executive, strong oral and written communications skills are a must. Such executives must be comfortable and skilled at addressing their peer executives but also speaking with large numbers of employees, shareholders or investors, or security professionals (perhaps in the context of a company exposition or an industry trade event of some kind).

As senior-level managers, C-level executives must understand the ebbs and flows of people and ideas in a political dimension, and know how to persuade stakeholders and fellow executives to adopt or understand particular points of view, or specific implementation techniques needed to realize enterprise or security architecture goals.

Training needed

Training to become a Chief Information Security Officer involves preparing for numerous certifications and gaining years of relevant experience, not to mention having the right educational background. Some of the best places to obtain infosec knowledge include the SANS Institute, ISACA, (ISC)2, the Infosec Institute and the EC-Council.

Among these infosec-focused sites, you will find plenty of training opportunities for those who seek them, including instructor-led training, computer-based videos, books, labs and other materials, in addition to onsite, in-person training.

Just as other IT professionals must pursue continuing education to keep abreast of new ideas and strategies, the CISO must keep up with technology trends and be constantly learning to keep ahead of the technology curve.

A CISO must continually split his or her attention between the current state of infosec technology in his or her enterprise and emerging or leading-edge developments in the infosec field. It's a delicate balancing act, because maintaining an appropriate security posture is increasingly a necessity for business success, but adopting new platforms and technologies also remains a viable method for maintaining or increasing an organization's competitive advantage. This dichotomy inevitably pits security concerns about new or untried tools or technologies against the competitive advantage they could convey. The CISO is the person who must ultimately decide if the risks outweigh the potential rewards involved, or vice versa.

Thus, a CISO has to know current security tools and technologies cold, but he or she must also constantly monitor new developments in the field, and be ready to evaluate interesting infosec strategies and products, and then implement those solutions that provide either necessary or advantageous capabilities in the security realm.

How to Reach Your Target Audience

Posted: 31 Jul 2019 09:05 AM PDT

  • To reach a target audience, start by determining your target customer. Go into great detail about who your ideal customer is.
  • Once you find your target market and a need for that market, develop a solution that best serves your target market.
  • After creating a solution, develop a marketing strategy to build brand awareness and reach your target customer.
  • Upon launching and marketing your solution, be willing to change your offerings based on customer feedback.

Every business owner dreams of carving out a niche in an industry and building a strong company. While these goals are admirable, it's difficult to consistently reach a target audience.

Plenty of businesses write businesses plans with their target market being a key focus of the plan. They scout out their target demographics and zero in on the needs of that market. They build a marketing strategy for their business and get to work. Unfortunately, most startups and small businesses fail to reach their target audience.

There are some businesses, however, that rise above the rest and successfully reach their target audience. When wondering how to reach your target audience, it's important to understand that there isn't one plan of attack to reach your target market. There are a few guiding principles that are critical for all businesses, though.

Ellevest, an investing platform designed specifically for women, reaches its target audience through a variety of methods. First and foremost, the business found a need and used customer feedback to create a meaningful solution.

Find and research a need

Charlie Kroll, president and co-founder of Ellevest.

Charlie Kroll, the president and co-founder of Ellevest, knew that current investing platforms didn't serve women well. Kroll and his team, which includes co-founder Sallie Krawcheck, learned through experiences that women weren't well represented in the industry and investing platforms failed to account for the career path of women. Krawcheck served as the CEO of Merrill Lynch, Smith Barney and Citi Private Bank during her career, and she saw the flaws in current investing platforms.

Kroll and Krawcheck recognized a need. Seeing this need led the team to dive into the numbers surrounding female investing. The team found that women had feelings of dissatisfaction and mistrust stemming from previous experiences with investment advisors.

"We were looking at this data and realizing that not only was there an opportunity to build a new kind of financial services company that could actually do a good job for women but in the process do a really important thing for the world by putting more money into the hands of more women," Kroll said.

The team knew its potential customers needed a solution to make investing easier and more relevant to women.

Through detailed research, Ellevest found a target demographic in need of a solution. The company initially targeted women with higher incomes, but the platform works well for all women and has built a strong userbase across different demographics since its inception in 2014.

Small businesses should learn from this and create buyer personas. Find an area of need and zero in on who those customers are. What do those target customers want? Once you understand a need and exactly who your customers are, you can brainstorm ways to fix the need. Are there any ways to best attack the problem? What do our potential customers want?

Develop your solution

After finding a need within your target audience, it's time to develop your solution. This requires an understanding of the competition, the competition's flaws and the desires of your target audience. Ellevest leaned on some key points when developing its solution.

The team factored in differences between men and women that other financial investment platforms hadn't. Both lifespan and the gender pay gap were considered when Ellevest designed its solution.

"Most financial companies will treat men and women the same," Kroll said. "If you're going to live six to eight years longer and earn 20% less, it's pretty important to know those as you're planning out how much money you need to put aside for retirement."

Other companies ignored these basic differences that factor into investing decisions. While other companies may have recognized a need, they didn't build a solution capable of meeting the needs of the target demographic. Ellevest was different and developed a platform for women that catered to their lifespan and salary.

Ellevest's platform does more than just consider a few additional factors that other businesses don't. The recommended investments through the platform are customized to individuals based on their risk profiles and future goals. It's a thoughtfully designed platform for each user.

Kroll explained that other financial services build platforms designed to serve men. While this isn't always intentional, it's hard to tell there's an error in that thinking when most of the company's clients are men. Ellevest took a different approach by looking at data about women and using that to design a platform to best serve that demographic.

When you're building a small business, it's important to put time into researching the solution and developing a product or service that truly serves your target market.

Charlie Kroll (second row from the top and second from the right) and Ellevest were recently a part of Mastercard's Start Path, an accelerator for late-stage tech startups. Ellevest has grown exponentially since being founded in 2014, and small businesses can learn from the way Kroll and his team have reached their target audience.

Market your solution

After creating a solution, it's time to share it. This means developing a marketing strategy to get the word out about your business. It can be helpful to create social media accounts for reaching potential customers online.

Ellevest has created strong word-of-mouth recommendations by building a strong platform and being active across social channels. The company has more than 100,000 followers across Facebook and Twitter, and it holds more than 115,000 followers on Instagram alone. The business reaches well over 200,000 people routinely just through social media. Marketing is important for startups and small businesses, and Ellevest does it exceptionally well.

The company also generates headlines through media appearances and merchandise. Recently, the company released a reusable coffee mug poking fun at financial investors who say people should stop buying coffee and invest those $3 to $5 to achieve financial wellness. In January of this year, Krawcheck joined The Daily Show for a 10-minute segment on her business and the gender pay gap.

While a small business might not find itself on The Daily Show, pitching a new business launch to a local news station could result in a TV segment that puts your business in front of local customers. Your business can make merchandise for your store that plays off local or national trends.

Ellevest built a community of loyal followers by putting its employees out there frequently and making efforts to market its business. Your business doesn't need 200,000 social media followers to adequately cater to your target audience, but sharing engaging content through social media can help you better engage your customers.

The initial product or service launch should come with a plan to share your business with the world. Whether that's through local news coverage, social media campaigns, direct mail marketing or something else, it's important to plan for a launch. After launching, follow Ellevest's lead and keep up your marketing efforts. Pitch local news outlets when you're throwing events and find ways to put your business in the spotlight. 

Ellevest also creates content regularly on its blog. You might consider using a blog or creating videos as another way to create content that matters to your customers. Marketing isn't all about selling, so creating relevant content that engages your audience can be a goal. You may find that writing blog posts helps you reach your ideal customer more frequently. Blogging helps Ellevest build its brand by making the company a thought leader on gender pay differences and investing.

There are ways to reach customers without having to spend on ads, and those are often some of the best ways for small businesses to grow their brand. It's also worth considering building out a marketing budget for digital marketing, ads and influencer marketing. Putting money into marketing campaigns can help your business reach customers and gain a following of loyal customers.

A great solution can't reach a target audience if those potential customers don't know it exists.

Change your solution

You want your first product or service launch to go well, and it's important to go to market with something you're proud to offer. However, expecting your first iteration of a product or service to be perfect is foolish. To truly please your target audience, you must be willing to change.

"We have a really research-driven culture," Kroll said. "We don't do anything without getting user input and feedback on it."

Ellevest's willingness to listen to its customers means the business is positioning itself for long-term success. The investing platform is designed with a very specific demographic in mind, and it's important that the business listen to the questions, concerns, and compliments of the users on the platform.

All small businesses should learn from Ellevest's customer feedback model. Let's say you're a small pizza shop in Boston. Consider putting out customer surveys to receive feedback on what people like and dislike about your shop. You may learn vital insights about your store's atmosphere, delivery services, pricing and the pizza's taste through a feedback survey. These can be used to guide your future decisions.

It can be intimidating to send out customer feedback surveys, but it's better to learn about a flaw and fix it than to remain ignorant and continue making a mistake.  

The bottom line

Every business should have a target audience. The best way to effectively reach that target audience is to thoroughly research their needs, design a solution for them and then ask for feedback to constantly make that solution better.

Small Businesses Are Optimistic, Unfazed by AI

Posted: 31 Jul 2019 07:02 AM PDT

  • 3 in 4 American small business owners polled are certain AI or robots won't take their jobs.
  • Small business owners ranked flexibility at work five times higher than the potential to earn money as the most compelling benefit of owning a business.
  • Despite the current political climate in America, U.S. small business owners were the least likely demographic to cite political and societal upheaval as a concern.

Regardless of where they are or how long they've been in business, small business owners must adapt to changes. New tools can make an entrepreneur's life easier, while new regulations can hamstring previously lucrative revenue streams. Yet while our ever-shifting world can pose new challenges at any moment, a newly released survey suggests American small business owners remain optimistic about the future.

Roughly 70% of the 4,505 worldwide small businesses polled in the GoDaddy Global Entrepreneurship Survey said they expected their prospects to grow by at least 25% in the next three to five years.

Released earlier today by the major web hosting company, the survey polled small businesses with 25 or fewer employees from Australia, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the U.S during April and May of 2019.

What officials were looking for, according to Melissa Schneider, GoDaddy's vice president of global marketing operations, was any indication about how upcoming technological changes like workplace automation and political upheaval could affect small businesses and entrepreneurs.

"Globally, we are currently in an intense period of technological, political, and societal change and transformation," she said. "Small business owners and entrepreneurs are constantly adapting to change, both in their own venture and in the outside world, with limited help."

How SMBs rely on the internet

When it comes to running a business in the 21st century, one of the most important tools at an entrepreneur's disposal is the internet. With its ability to facilitate communication with billions of people around the globe, being able to showcase what your business has to offer on the web is inherently valuable if done right.

Compared to the 70% of U.S. respondents who said they expected 25% growth over the next few years, researchers found that nearly 80% of businesses that had a website felt the same way. Comparatively, only 64% of respondents without a website felt as optimistic about their business prospects in the near future.

Among businesses that had a web presence, researchers also found that revenues were 38% higher than their counterparts who lack websites. Not having a website doesn't mean a business is completely off the internet, however, as 29% of respondents who said their business didn't have a website reported relying on social media instead. Those respondents said they had accounts on Amazon, eBay, Facebook or Etsy to help them sell their wares.

Thanks to the growing availability of broadband internet, many businesses allow workers to contribute remotely. While most people would assume that younger generations would be more comfortable with working from home, researchers found that baby boomers (49%) and Gen Xers (42%) were 50% more likely than millennials (26%) to think remote work will be ubiquitous in the future.

While the internet is incredibly useful, it's not always safe. Small businesses regularly fall prey to intrusions and data breaches that gravely disrupt operations. According to the survey, only 5% of the global group of small businesses polled reported experiencing a cyberattack. When they did, however, 29% said they couldn't access their accounts, 26% reported having to shutter their shops temporarily, and 24% said it cost them monetarily.

SMBs are not afraid of AI and feel confident using technology

While most people regard the internet as a wonderful tool with few potential downsides, many fear that the advent of advanced robotics and artificial intelligence will be a global threat to job security. Yet according to the survey, 75% of the U.S. small business owners who participated in the survey said they were confident they had nothing to worry about. Among those respondents, women (76%) were slightly more confident than men (71%).

As for their technological needs, small business owners reported feeling generally capable in solving any tech problems that may crop up. Researchers found that 75% of American respondents said they could meet their technology needs by themselves, with women (80%) feeling much more confident than men (63%). That lack of confidence meant men were "nearly twice as likely to outsource [tech problems] to a company, ask a friend, or seek out a web professional or designer for their website and technology needs," researchers said.

Politics and society

Even as American politics are divided and fraught with problems that can spill into the workplace, researchers found that American small business owners were more comfortable in today's political climate than their international colleagues.

According to the survey, U.S. small business owners were the least likely (17%) to point to political and societal upheaval as a concern. In contrast, 33% of the entrepreneurs polled from other markets felt they could say the same.

Looking at the list of markets polled, it's understandable why small business owners are concerned. The United Kingdom has been in the throes of Brexit since June 2016, with no clear resolution in sight. Australia and Germany are both dealing with a surge of far-right extremists, Hong Kong protesters have been clashing with China for weeks, and Mexico continues to deal with its ongoing drug cartel problems.

Small Business Marketing on a Budget

Posted: 31 Jul 2019 06:00 AM PDT

However, even though you do not need an unlimited budget to market digitally, you do need a solid strategy so that you are targeting the right audience and creating the right message about your small business. Among some of the cost-effective: strategies you an employer are

  • Use free social media wisely.
  • Use free social media to give away "free" offers.
  • Publish high-quality content, or recycle old content.
  • Build and maintain your email subscriber list.

Digital marketing does not have to cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. However, digital marketing will take some time and effort, so you will need a plan to efficiently run your social media platforms, keep your website up-to-date and consistently communicate with your customers.

When it comes to digital marketing, it is imperative that small business owners have a solid mixture of videos, blogs and online promotions through various social media platforms. According to Cisco's Visual Networking Index, global consumer Internet video traffic currently accounts for 80 percent of all consumer Internet traffic and will account for 82 percent of traffic by 2022.

Not only that, but Facebook currently has more than 2 billion active monthly users and generates 8 billion video views daily. Then there's Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Quora…the list is endless. But, using these forms of digital communication to market your services is a bit more complicated than simply signing up your small business and hoping customers will come. Here is more on the different low-cost stratgies you can employ.

Use free social media wisely

Social media is an effective, and free, way for small businesses to engage and interact with customers and potential customers. In fact, 77 percent of small businesses in the United States now use social media for marketing, sales, and customer service, according to data aggregated by SCORE, a network of business mentors.  If you're not in that 77 percent, you should be.

Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter should not just be used to promote your products. Instead, use these platforms to distribute useful, educational content and videos created by you. Creating and distributing videos can be done in-house. You do not need to hire a professional as long as you have a smartphone. This allows you to distribute your smartphone videos directly to the smartphones of your customers.

Did you know that 94 percent of respondents of a Facebook survey said they have a smartphone on hand while watching television, and viewers are focusing on what is on their television screen only 53 percent of the time? Your target audiences love videos that are related to products and services, and technology has now made video creation and streaming inexpensive and easy.

Not only that, but videos are versatile – you can distribute one video over all of your social media platforms in order to reach the most amount of people possible. The easiest way to do this is to upload your video first to your company's YouTube channel (if you don't have one, get one). Then, you can embed that video onto your website and share it on other social media platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. Not only that, but you can send your videos via email and target customers directly. Or if you are really social media savvy, you can even go live on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, which help creates a more genuine interaction with your customers.

If you find all of the social media platforms overwhelming, start with Facebook and Instagram and keep those social media platforms relevant and up-to-date. Facebook has the greatest impact on customer's buying decisions, according to a study by ViSenze, while Instagram has more than 1 billion active monthly users and more than 500 million active daily stories. And, since Instagram is all about visuals, it is a quick and easy way to communicate, since you don't have to spend time writing articles or blogs. Instead, just upload a photo or video and you're done.

You can even take advantage of Instagram live and add links to your website to direct traffic back to your home page. Then, you should move over to LinkedIn and build your business connections, share your blog posts, and even join small business groups. You can always pay to have ads on these websites, but if you take the time to post wisely, you may not have to spend a penny. Social media is all about building relationships through the posting of new, creative, useful and relevant material.

Use free social media to give away "free" offers

Online contests, coupons and free user-generated content are gold when it comes to engaging audiences in this digital world. Coupons are a fast and easy way to attract new customers and they usually encourage future visits. For example, offering a 20 percent-off discount can be very motivating to someone to click your image and possibly purchase your product. Even a free trial of an inexpensive product or service could entice a customer to visit your small business again.

Usually, if someone has the opportunity to try your product first before buying it, they will want to purchase from you again. Just don't make the mistake of automatically signing them up for recurring shipments or auto-enrollment. These "free trial" mistakes can be the death of your reputation and could even get you a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

Online contests are another way to entice audiences, and you do not have to have an expensive, elaborate prize in order to get audiences to participate. You can use your social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, to run your contest by asking your followers to use a customized hashtag to enter or even posting a picture of themselves with your product. This type of "user-generated content" has become a marketing favorite among small businesses since it is cheap, fast, and it works – 92 percent of consumers trust user-generated content from friends and family above all other forms of brand messaging. You can even contact another local company and co-sponsor a contest together, which is a great way to tap into their customer base and cross-promote your business.

Publish high-quality content or recycle old content

This is probably the most time-consuming method of digital marketing, but it works. If you have a knack for telling a solid narrative – or have an employee who can do so – writing high-quality content on your blog can be the foundation of all of your marketing endeavors. Every business wants to build more leads, and by having a solid content strategy plan you can build your reputation, your credibility and your customer base.

Providing high-quality content can also boost your rankings on search engines such as Google, and boost your own reputation and credibility within your industry. So, make sure these articles focus on your industry – best practices, how to's, new products, etc. The key here is to regularly post content and then link those stories to all of your social media platforms. Twitter is perfect for this – tease your article in 280 characters or less and then provide your link. That way, you are not only building your own educated reputation but also driving traffic back to your website.

As discussed earlier, video content is valuable, and instructional videos are perfect in the world of click-throughs. However, not everyone has time to make how-to videos or post articles a few times a week, so you can also recycle old content that you have written or recorded in the past. Reusing old content is a great way to make sure your blogs remain fresh, and you can even update those articles or videos with more recent statistics and research.

If you find you have a knack for the narrative, you can expand your writing capabilities and contribute to other blogs that may be looking for guest-posting opportunities. Usually, every industry has a reputable state association that may be looking for guest writers, or you could find an industry magazine that has a corresponding website.

You can also do some research on podcasts and radio shows in which you could be a guest to further expand your reach. Guest posts and podcasts equal free exposure; they will drive new customers to your website and, again, help boost your search engine rating along with your reputation. Then, you can return the favor and invite guest contributors to write on your company's blog and continue to build your reputation in your industry.

You can always higher a freelance writer or videographer if blogs and videos are not your strong suit, but remember that freelancers cost money. In the end, it will be cheaper to write these articles or develop these how-to videos yourself. No matter how often you post to your blog, you will need to drive people to read your stories. Again, social media is key here, but another way to entice readers is through informative emails. Many small business owners forget that a solid email list is another key factor in digital marketing.

Build and maintain your email subscriber list

One of the easiest ways to market to your customers is through an email subscriber list. Asking your customers for their email addresses when they visit your website or store is an easy way to build your email list. If you're not collecting email addresses, you are missing out on a direct method to marketing your goods, services and even your blog posts.

You can also cross-promote by using your social media platforms to send offers or coupons to new customers who sign up for your email services. The majority of people who subscribe to your email list are customers who are already interested in your products, so you need to maintain those relationships by sending them quality information, discounts and new product unveilings.

You can establish and maintain these customer relationships by sending a weekly, or monthly, newsletter, offering promotions to your subscribers. You can also create video content and send it through emails. Just make sure your content is helpful, informative and professional so that you build, not deteriorate, your credibility. Again, if you don't have time to maintain this list yourself, there are inexpensive services that can do this for you.

Once you establish a solid customer base through your email list, you can use it to launch a customer referral program. Since your email list is filled with customers who already use your products, why not use them to try and connect with their friends and family. If you offer your current customers a discount for forwarding emails or simply referring a coupon code, you are inexpensively building your customer base. By offering your customers a free product or another reward by simply referring you to their friends and family, you will be building your small business's reputation to an untapped market. Although you can develop the most eye-catching, flashy digital communication to entice customers, word-of-mouth is still one of the most powerful forms of marketing in today's competitive digital world.

Digital marketing does not have to be expensive, but it does take time to produce high-quality content and make sure your communication is relevant, useful and informative. Above all other things, you need to stay active on social media and make sure the content you provide enhances your reputation and credibility in your industry.

Use these different channels to offer free discounts, run contests, promote content and even encourage your customers to promote your services for you. That way, you can build a digital marketing strategy that successfully promotes your brand at a fraction of traditional marketing costs. As long as your posts are relevant, clear, visually-appealing and have some sort of call to action, you'll find that digital marketing can help promote your business without breaking the bank.

How Remote Business Can Attract High Quality Job Candidates

Posted: 31 Jul 2019 05:00 AM PDT

For remote teams especially, hiring the right candidates is crucial. You don't have the luxury of speaking face-to-face to resolve issues, tackle customer service and bring new ideas to the table. However, that doesn't mean your remote business can't still handle issues and work as a team. It just means you need to refine your strategy for attracting high-quality hires.

When you run a business with employees from all over the globe, the world is your oyster. According to a recent study, 70% of professionals work remotely at least one day per week, and that number is on the rise. For remote businesses looking to hire, they have a wider pool of candidates with unique experiences and perspectives to choose from. On the other hand, it can prove more challenging to hire the right fit because they can't meet with them in person. 

That's why it's essential to have a plan for how to find the right employees to work for your remote company, which includes:

  • Determining what you're looking for in a candidate

  • Telling candidates what to expect from the position

  • Looking in different places

  • Setting up a refined interview process

Here is more on these four essential tips so your next hire is spot on and ready for the job.

1. Determine the basics of what you're looking for

Before you even put your job posting online or spread the word that you're hiring, you need to have a solid list of qualities and requirements you're looking for in your next employee. That means using specificity and breaking down what your company needs to reach its goals and meet its deadlines.

Hiring for a remote team is vastly different than hiring for a local company in more ways than one. If anything, the hiring process for remote employees proves even more rigorous and thorough because you have to determine if someone is the right fit without ever meeting them. This requires you to map out the business' needs and decide if your candidate has what it takes to work remotely.

For example, you might create a bullet-pointed list of requirements that looks like this:

  • Communication skills

  • Technology efficient

  • Friendly, positive attitude

  • Excellent time management

  • Responsible and accountable

  • Self-disciplined 

Each business will require different skillsets, but remote businesses especially need these disciplines because the environment differs from that of a local job. This list is a basic outline that shows you're looking for someone who has what it takes to work from home without the need for micromanagement. Refer back to it when filing through applications so that, if any candidates do not possess these basic qualities it takes to work from home, you can move on.

2. Tell potential candidates what to expect

Just like candidates should tell you point blank what your company can expect from them working for you, you need to do the same with your job posting and throughout the entire hiring process. If you aren't clear about the requirements of the job and the expectations of new hires, you'll end up hiring the wrong fit.

There's no room for vague descriptions or job duties when it comes to your job listing. Get straight to the point about what it is the company is looking for, the number of hours employees need to put in, the duties they're expected to perform, and more so you find the best possible person for the job.

You can refine the type of applicants you receive before ever posting a job listing by adding these details to the hiring section of your website. Zapier dedicates an entire page of their site to inform potential candidates about what they're looking for in new hires, what the job entails, the perks, and why people should apply.

In doing so, they're weeding out people who might consider applying, read the requirements, but then decide the company isn't right for them. They're also attracting the right candidates by stating in plain terms exactly what they're looking for. Being specific in your search for the right hire is the key to finding the right fit, so don't be afraid to narrow down your search from the beginning.

3. Look in different places

No company should limit itself when it comes to hiring new employees, but this is especially true for remote businesses. Since you can hire people from around the world who come from all walks of life, you can use the opportunity to bring in fresh, new ideas from different perspectives that you would've missed out on otherwise.

Take advantage of the fact that you can search pretty much anywhere for new hires and boost the potential of your business growth. Most companies start their job search by asking their current employees if they recommend anyone they know because they already trust their existing workforce. This is a solid place to start; however, don't get too caught up in who knows who if you feel like you can find a better fit outside of references.

Consider posting a listing to different job boards that receive tons of traffic from people actively searching for remote positions:

  • FlexJobs: One of the most popular remote job boards around, the high volume of applicants alone ensures you'll receive applications. It comes with geo-targeting and an applicant tracking system for your convenience.

  • WeWorkRemotely: With more than 2.5 million monthly users, your listing is likely to gain traction and get attention from the right candidates.

  • AngelList: Built for startups, this job board is perfect if your business is brand new and looking for its first remote hires.

  • Remote.co: This remote job board lists opportunities across all fields and industries.

  • JobSpresso.co: JobSpresso allows you to choose from different packages according to your budget so you find the right hire for the right price.

It's also wise to scour social media to find your next hire, though finding candidates this way takes more vetting and searching. Use social media to let people know you're hiring and link directly to your job posting, especially Twitter and LinkedIn, which are swarming with people looking for remote work. You might end up surprised by the applications you receive and how well those candidates fit your description.

4. Refine the interview process

Once you pick a few applications that stand out, it's time to begin the formal interview process. This is where you get to know your applicants from more than just their resume and cover letter and can determine whether or not they'd be a good fit for your company culture, mission and values. 

Every remote company should have a refined interview process they use to narrow down prospects and determine the best one. In the end, you might find that you're stuck between two great candidates but can only choose one. Having a set process in place will allow you to make that tough decision and choose the right person.

For example, Buffer, a completely remote company, shares their interview process on their website and breaks it down into three separate interviews:

  1. Culture and values: In the first two weeks of their six-week interview process, they hold interviews based on the culture and values of their candidates. Since this is a core part of their business, Buffer places extra emphasis on the values of their hires, which is why it's the first step of their interviewing process.

  2. Experience: Experience varies greatly among candidates even if they're applying for the same position. This part of their process digs into the technical aspects of whether or not they can get the job done adequately and if they have enough knowledge and expertise to do so.

  3. Final wrapup: This is where the search narrows down to the last few candidates. This last interview is for asking any other questions that don't already have answers and asking about specific scenarios and what the candidate would do in a given situation to gauge how they handle conflict.

Your interview process may not look exactly like this and that's okay. The point is to hold interviews and ask questions based on the company's goals and what it's trying to achieve. As long as you align the two, you should be able to find the candidate that's right for you.

Hiring new employees for your remote workforce is an exciting endeavor. You have the opportunity to add a positive asset to your team so you all can work together to achieve the company's goals, meet its requirements and have fun while doing so from anywhere in the world. It can be a stressful, sometimes complicated process, but if you have a strategy in place to help you, it'll be a lot easier to find the right fit. 
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