Business.com |
- Why Kids Should Be Taught to Have an Entrepreneurial Mindset
- Best Computer Networking Certifications
- Healthy Business Debt: What Is It and How Does It Work?
- Has Influencer Marketing Peaked?
| Why Kids Should Be Taught to Have an Entrepreneurial Mindset Posted: 18 Aug 2019 05:30 AM PDT  Whether kids should be taught how to be capitalists is debatable. Given that business remains the most popular college major, however, that need may already be filled. The entrepreneurial mindset, on the other hand, is usually stifled over the course of childhood. "Children already think like entrepreneurs – when you provide them with a tool or toy and don't tell them how to use it, the ingenuity and creativity of how they use it is striking," said Anna Burrell, founder and CEO of Twiggs & Co., a small business consultancy firm. "The real question is how we teach adults to foster that inherent genius instead of squashing it." [Read related article: Companies Founded by Amazing Young Entrepreneurs] Parents are not the only ones responsible – it takes a village. "The same question needs to be asked of our educational institutions," Burrell said. The importance of an entrepreneurial mindsetFor advocates of an entrepreneurial education like Burrell, there's a distinction between a business education and an entrepreneurial mindset. While economy-boosting may be a handy side effect, the main goal is to encourage the life skills that are part and parcel of the startup world, like persistence and learning from one's mistakes. "[Children] do this intuitively when they're super young, but when they get to the age of 6 or 7, like my child, they'll say things like, 'Oh, I'm stupid,'" said Catie Harris, founder of NursePreneurs, where she mentors nurses on how to use entrepreneurship to improve healthcare. "Trying to help them reframe that is really important … It's helping them to understand that they're not failing, they're learning." NursePreneurs also goes to show how entrepreneurial thinking can be applied to any career or domain – even those outside the Silicon Valley startup realm. Contrary to the notion of the self-employed entrepreneur, many of Harris' clients start as employees of organizations – nurses working for hospitals. Entrepreneurship may not be their chosen career path, but entrepreneurial skills can always be put to good use. "A lot of my nurses come [to NursePreneurs] because they're just so frustrated, and they see things not working and they want to make them right," Harris said. "So that is the entrepreneurial aspect of it – they want to make an impact, they want to change the way things are, and they want to be a part of the solution." Entrepreneurship as a curriculumIt's not hard to see how a field so commonly associated with disruption could be quashed in as rigid an institution as our educational system. Entrepreneurship values risk-taking, flexibility and questioning of authority – traits that are penalized in school. "Having to answer 'I don't know' in front of your teacher and classmates can be humiliating and discouraging," said Rachel Cottam, a former high school teacher and marketing manager of the startup ZipBooks. "However, not knowing everything – while having the courage to try anything – is one of the greatest entrepreneurial skills. Educators need to allow students to admit when they don't know something and then empower them to go out and get the answer." While an emphasis on STEM may provide the literal industry knowledge for innovation, when it comes to entrepreneurial thinking, the arts cannot be ignored. "If you observe the results of educations with a balance of art, theater and other creative modalities," Burrell said, "you will find that programs that look at fostering creativity first are much more successful at creating well-rounded changemakers, especially in the long term, than programs focused solely on STEM." Promoting entrepreneurial career pathsSchools are responsible not just as curriculum-setters, but as career counselors, opening up another opportunity to encourage entrepreneurship. Instead, many schools discourage it by omission. "I think the school system is geared toward helping us find 'a path,' a path that will help us make money and whatnot," said Harris. "And once you get into the real world … you don't realize that there are these other avenues that you could've taken." Instead, Harris often advises pre-nursing students to "set intention" in their career, treating employment as an opportunity to gain expertise that can be applied in a positive way. "You can go in there and say, 'I'm going to become the best cancer nurse, and I'm going to go in there and I'm going to learn this skill set, and I can use this later to start a business,'" she said. Entrepreneurial mindset: Nature or nurture?It goes without saying that no amount of priming or brain-plying is going to turn your child into the next Jeff Bezos. In fact, there are those who argue that any attempt is futile. "I think I may have a different take than most people, and it may be a somewhat unpopular opinion," said Leanna DeBellevue, marketing consultant at DeBellevue Global. "I strongly believe that entrepreneurs are born, not made." According to DeBellevue, entrepreneurs must have an innate resilience, "a lack of risk aversion, and a unique ability to bounce back," she said. "So no, I don't think children can be taught to think like entrepreneurs." Others contest this nature-over-nurture view. "Entrepreneurs are not superheroes with special powers; they're just ordinary people who were so passionate about seeing something new in the world that they couldn't wait any longer for it to be created – they had to take action themselves," said Rob Kingyens, founder and CEO of Yellowbrick, which partners with universities and media companies to create online courses around "passion industries like fashion, music, and sneaker trade." "What we've found is that if you stoke a kid's passion enough, they're going to find their own path in it," he added. "That's entrepreneurialism at its very core." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best Computer Networking Certifications Posted: 18 Aug 2019 05:00 AM PDT  IT pros skilled in the many areas of networking are in high demand in today's job market. Those serious about their IT careers should consider one or more of these best-of-breed networking certifications to set themselves apart from their competitors. When it comes to the care and feeding of modern networks, there's quite a lengthy list of tools and technologies that qualified IT professionals must master – especially those who aspire to work as network administrators. In addition to the servers and clients that make up the endpoints in such environments, there's a lot of network infrastructure to worry about. This includes switches and routers (both physical and virtual), plus a raft of appliances and services, such as unified threat management (UTM), next-generation firewalls (NGFs), software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions, virtualization (NFV) components and WAN optimization, as well as spam, email, and content filtering. Wrapping your head around all these certification options and specialties can be challenging, but knowing where to start can help. We looked at five networking certifications (in their order of appearance in the job boards table that follows) that we consider leaders in the field of networking for 2019 and beyond. To pick our leaders, we looked at the state of networking certification, examined various market and salary surveys, and performed an informal job board survey that revealed the number of job posts across the U.S. in which our featured certifications were mentioned on a given day. Making its first appearance on the leader board this year is the SolarWinds Certified Professional (SCP). It replaces the Juniper Enterprise Routing and Switching, Expert (JNCIE-ENT) credential. While the JNCIE remains a great credential, job board numbers for the SCP were stronger, earning it a slot in the top five. The other featured credentials include the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE), Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP), CompTIA Network+ and WCNA Certification for Wireshark (WCNA). Job board search results (in alphabetical order, by certification)
The featured certifications represent all major tiers of networking job roles, from the entry-level (Network+) to the expert-level (CCIE). According to Glassdoor, a person just starting out in networking, most likely as a technician or junior administrator, can expect to make about $67,000. Midtier network administrators and engineers make an average of $79,000 to $90,000, while CCIEs average around $119,000. CCIE: Cisco Certified Internetwork ExpertAn evergreen and high-value networking certification is the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE), which comes in several tracks. The annual production of CCIEs remains small enough that Cisco can still claim itself able to hire all of them itself, with demand and appreciation for this difficult and rewarding certification always stratospheric. Over the past few years, the Storage Networking credential gave way to Collaboration, and a Data Center credential made its debut, as well as other new certification tracks. Although the road to obtaining a CCIE is long and hard, it is well worth the effort, time, and money. This credential opens doors to plenty of job opportunities and high salaries for networking professionals. CCIE facts and figures
CCNP: Cisco Certified Network ProfessionalThe Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) takes aim at platforms and products from a leading networking equipment vendor found at most communications and internet service providers, not to mention enterprises and businesses of all sizes, including government, research, and academia. It's hard to go wrong with Cisco certification nowadays, and the CCNP is its most important midrange credential across a wide variety of specialties. Cisco offers several flavors of the CCNP: Cloud, Collaboration, Data Center, Routing and Switching (the most popular), Security, Service Provider, and Wireless. The Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) is a required steppingstone to the CCNP. What usually comes after the CCNP for networking professionals could be another CCNP (different specialty), one or more Cisco Specialist certifications, or the advanced Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE), also available in numerous specializations. CCNP facts and figures
CompTIA Network+There aren't that many entry-level networking IT certifications around, probably because CompTIA's Network+ credential more or less owns this niche. Many IT and certification pundits, including us, believe the Network+ to be an important early checkbox element in any savvy IT professional's basic certification portfolio. If you're just starting out, this is a certification for you. CompTIA Network+ is also a vendor-neutral certification and a steppingstone to a variety of more advanced networking credentials. Some vendor-specific certification programs even include it as a prerequisite. Network+ facts and figures
SolarWinds Certified ProfessionalOur sole newcomer to the top five this year is the SolarWinds Certified Professional (SCP). Headquartered in Austin, Texas, SolarWinds makes simplicity its business. At SolarWinds, businesses and IT professionals will find tools, products, and solutions to improve performance and monitoring and to solve real-world problems easily and efficiently. SolarWinds offers solutions across six areas: network management, system management, security, database management, IT help desk and the cloud. SolarWinds currently offers a single credential, the SolarWinds Certified Professional (SCP), designed to validate a candidate's skill, knowledge and expertise in using either the SolarWinds system management or network management product portfolio. Candidates can choose to test for the SCP on either the Network Performance Monitor (NPM) or Server and Application Monitor (SAM) path. Either way, a single exam is required to earn the credential. SolarWinds is committed to ongoing education and ensuring that SCP credential holders maintain skill currency as new products and technologies are released. To accomplish this, SolarWinds requires SCP credential holders to maintain a SolarWinds subscription and attend events and training. The subscription provides SCPs with webcasts, online training, invitations to in-person and online events, enhanced support, opportunities to study with SolarWinds experts, and more. An annual subscription fee of $200 is required. Credentials expire after three years if a candidate fails to maintain a subscription and attend training. SCP facts and figures
WCNA: Wireshark Certified Network AnalystFounded in 2007 by major networking geeks Gerald Combs and Laura Chappell, Wireshark University offers only a single certification but makes it worth your while. The WCNA for Wireshark Certification (WCNA) recognizes knowledge of network packet and protocol sniffing and analysis using Wireshark, as well as TCP/IP network communications, network troubleshooting, and network security. To achieve this credential, candidates must pass one multiple-choice exam, which is DoD 8570-certified. The WCNA is good for three years, but certification holders must obtain a total of 20 continuing professional education (CPE) credits each year to maintain their credentials in good standing. These CPE credits must focus on activities related to the WCNA exam objectives (sniffing, analysis, etc.) and not be tied directly to job tasks. For example, attending a Sharkfest or Black Hat conference, or even reading the Wireshark Network Analysis Study Guide, can net some CPEs. Along with administering the WCNA program, Wireshark University offers self-paced, instructor-led and customized training options for anyone who wants to learn about Wireshark and packet analysis. An All-Access Pass is a one-year subscription to all WCNA for WireShark training courses and costs $699. WCNA facts and figures
Beyond the top five: More networking certificationsThere are lots of other choices for networking professionals to investigate and pursue outside of these five. Another interesting and upcoming Open Linux Networking focused credential comes from Cumulus Networks – namely the Cumulus Networks Open Networking Professional (CCONP). While it didn't make the top five this year, the Juniper Enterprise Routing and Switching-Expert (JNCIE-ENT) remains an excellent credential for candidates interested in Juniper technologies. Many other major networking vendors, including F5 and HPE, offer networking-focused credentials that ascend all the way to advanced or expert credentials. Serious network professionals will also want to check out the certifications from Avaya, Citrix and Extreme Networks.
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| Healthy Business Debt: What Is It and How Does It Work? Posted: 18 Aug 2019 05:00 AM PDT  Debt is a necessary part of any business journey. By taking loans or seeking financing, you're giving your company the fuel it needs to grow. The key, however, is understanding business debt, healthy loan practices, and the difference between financing that can result in explosive growth and the kind that cripples your business. Jeb Ory, co-founder and CEO of social advocacy platform Phone2Action, said financing is a crucial ingredient in the growth of many companies. "Access to capital," he said, "can be the difference between explosive growth, linear growth and the death of your business." At the heart of good and bad debt are your own aims as a small business owner. While it may sound obvious, it's important to only take on debt to accomplish goals, spur your company forward or provide the necessary fuel to build your business. It can be easy to take on business debt to accomplish one thing and not have a plan for the rest of the money, for example. "Debt should be used to extend runway and help businesses make purchases that they couldn't normally make if it makes them more competitive," said Ory. "The type and amount of debt should be directly linked to the type of business." Editor's note: Looking for a small business loan? Fill out the questionnaire below to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs. Healthy business debt isn't a defined amountThe amount of debt that's "healthy" for your business to take on varies widely depending on your own situation. Instead of reaching for a defined number, view healthy debt as debt tied to specific growth plans and strategies for your business. Harj Taggar is the co-founder and CEO of Triplebyte, a hiring platform geared specifically toward software engineers and startups. He said having a defined plan is one of the most important aspects of handling debt. "Good debt is tied to something solid with a clear plan for why it's helpful," he said. "Bad debt is money you spend without understanding how it impacts your business." Taggar and Triplebyte explored some loan options but ended up raising funds through an equity round. This kind of financing supports Taggar's point – it was exactly what his business needed, and he had a realistic plan for how to build his business with the capital. Ory also weighed his options but ended up getting funding through venture debt, which is provided by a specialized bank that serves small software as a service companies. "Technology has flattened barriers to entry, and it's easier than ever for new companies to enter a market," he said. "The ability to expand your business ahead of cash flow is critical to growth and can provide a competitive edge itself." [Interested in getting a loan for your small business? Check out our breakdown of the best small business lenders in 2018.] Creating a plan to deal with business debtCreating the right plan for your business may involve speaking with a financial professional or hiring a chief financial officer. Depending on your cash flow, it's important to find the ideal expert. If you're not a financial expert but are looking to take on business debt to grow your business, these professionals can help you move in the right direction. "Review [your] financials holistically with a financial professional at the end of each month," Taggar said. He also said it's important to do more than just investigate the numbers – by diving into fundamental business metrics, you can assess your business's condition and lay out a realistic financing plan. Ory said Phone2Action has a CFO and accounting department that helps break down the company's financial situation and ensures they're moving in the right direction. If you don't have the funds or ability to work with a professional, do your best to realistically assess your situation. If you make a solid plan for the capital and properly assess your growth, you can successfully raise funds. Taggar warned companies to be wary of situations where projected growth doesn't align with the small business debt. "If you took on a level of debt based on growth assumptions that proved to be optimistic," Taggar said, "[but] growth slows and you're slow to react, you can be left in a fatal situation." Types of business fundingThere is a wide range of funding options for small businesses looking to grow. While some companies opt to fund their operation through bootstrapping, many others will take bank loans, raise funds through angel investors or connect with local venture capitalists for funding options. If you're looking for funding options, check out our guide to choosing a small business loan. Generally, small businesses find funding from the following sources:
How personal liability factors into business debtIf you run a small business, you should set up a separate legal entity, so you are personally protected from problems related to your business. This means establishing an LLC, corporation, sole proprietorship or partnership. If you've established this type of business, it doesn't mean you're off the hook when it comes to financial liability. If, for example, you take out a loan with an alternative online lender, you'll likely be required to sign a personal guarantee. The personal guarantee ensures the lender that if your business defaults on payments, you will be personally liable for any outstanding balance. This is something to be very aware of when signing nontraditional financing agreements, like merchant cash advances. Even if you reach a loan agreement with a bank or more traditional lender, make sure you read the fine print to understand where personal liability comes in. Depending on your agreement, you may have to put up personal collateral to acquire the loan as well. Long story short: Even if you've established a separate legal entity for your business, you can still be personally liable for financial fallout. What happens if you default on a business loan?The default process is where tough realities come to fruition for all parties involved. Business.com has a full breakdown on the exact process on a few general types of loans – unsecured, SBA and secured, for example – for in-depth reference. From a high-level view, it's important to know going into any loan agreement exactly where you're financially exposed personally and professionally. It's important to remember, as well, that default procedures are subject to state law and vary accordingly. When a default occurs, banks or creditors follow a few systematic steps toward acquiring collateral and cutting the overall loss of the loan.
Business debt: How much is too much?Unfortunately, there's no simple answer to this question. The amount of debt your business can handle directly depends on your business's financial position. Establishing good cash flow can allow you to take on more debt to grow your business. As Taggar suggests, focus on tying small business debt to growth plans – you should be taking loans to accomplish something, not to just fund regular operations. If you're worried about how to understand how much debt your business should take on, it's important to work with a financial planner. Bottom line on business debtIf you've taken on small business debt that you can no longer pay, it's important to act fast and stop spending money. This is logical and standard protocol. Both Ory and Taggar said by tightening up and getting financially sound, you can better your position and become less reliant on debt. "Start cutting costs immediately," Taggar said. "It's a painful process, but the longer you delay it the worse a position you'll be in." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Has Influencer Marketing Peaked? Posted: 17 Aug 2019 10:00 AM PDT 
"How to take a pic worthy of an Instagram influencer," OnMilwaukee reported last week. "We asked Dallas influencers to explain what or whom they are influencing," posted the Dallas Observer the same day. A few days later, Olivia Jade, beneficiary of the Operation Varsity Blues college admissions scandal, announced she'd be leaving the University of Southern California to become a full-time influencer. At this point, it's safe to say that influencer marketing is no longer the secret sauce it once was. There's also some indication that the power of influencer marketing has peaked. "In the last few months, we have seen a consistent downward trend in converting from influencer marketing," said Jeff Byer, CEO at Jeff Byer Inc., a web design and promotion company. While Byer does not consider the data conclusive at this point, he does note a marked change in consumer behavior. "There will always be value for brands to reach influencer audiences – that will not go away," he said. According to Byer, what's different is that sponsored posts are no longer garnering the same audience interaction they once did. "They now expect it – just like banner ads and TV commercials. It seems they have become immune to branded posts and are able to filter them mentally." That loss may be due to several factors. Trust issuesOne metric that's certainly peaked in influencer marketing is trust. Inflating your Instagram follower count is easy and inexpensive: "Follow farms" can sell Instagram users thousands of fake followers for the price of an Uber ride. For a small premium, these followers can be "engaged" followers – fake accounts that not only follow you but like your pictures, thus raising the all-important likes-to-followers ratio. Users can also set up "follow-unfollow" bots, which scrape the followers of competitor brands or influencers and follow them, get followed back, and then automatically unfollow a few days later. The practice is not merely deceptive to other Instagram users, but costly to sponsors – a recent report estimates fake followers cost brands $1.3 billion. #SponConAnother consequence of the ease of purchasing fake followers is that the barriers to entry – a strong following – are low for those trying to make it as an influencer. Couple that with the rise of influencerdom in the popular consciousness, and influencing has become a saturated field. As a result, wannabe influencers are now finding increasingly dubious ways to beat the competition. One example is the practice of "SponCon," which is when users tag brands in photos and captions in a way that suggests product placement, without any sort of business dealing with the brand. The con is twofold: It signals a certain lifestyle to followers and credibility to actual potential sponsors. InsincerityThere's no doubt that influencers have lost their trustworthy insider status. Whether that's converting to a decline in audience is less clear. "If you follow your favorite influencer, it doesn't matter if they have bought some followers," said Anna Komok, head of marketing at HypeAuditor, a website that spots fake Instagram and YouTube followers. "You like their content, not their number of followers or likes. These metrics are only useful for prospective advertisers." That's not to say that audiences aren't growing skeptical. "Influencers have problems with audience trust, but it's not because they artificially inflate their numbers," Komok said. "It's because many of them advertise everything they were paid to." As Komok explains it, many influencers gain popularity through the good endorsements they give, whether that's fitness advice, sustainable clothing brands, or the best contouring palette you can find at a drugstore. When influencers abuse such endorsement power by accepting any and all sponsorship deals, they lose their audience's confidence in them as reliable sources of advice. This may lead to a decline in click conversions on the marketer's end. YouTube dramaYouTube influencing has also suffered a few high-profile scandals in recent years. In 2018, Logan Paul faced outrage for his vlog of Japan's Aokigahara "Suicide Forest," featuring an apparent suicide victim. This past week, another YouTube star was denounced by her fans after accidentally uploading a video of her hitting her dog. Pettiest of all – though perhaps most consequential to marketers – was beauty blogger James Charles' feud with fellow YouTuber Tati Westbrook over, among other things, choosing to sponsor Sugar Bear Hair vitamins over Westbrook's competing line of supplements. All of this goes to show how the very genius of influencer marketing – their relatability with audiences – can backfire. Unlike mainstream celebrities, influencers are amateurs by definition. That realness also presents a certain risk. Influencer marketing solutionsWhile influencer marketing has passed its honeymoon phase, there's no need for brands to abandon it yet, as long as they're strategic. Slapping a few product placements on the largest following you can afford will no longer suffice – social media consumers are too savvy for that now. Instead, Byer suggested seeking out influencers according to their perceived credibility. "Many influencers don't manage their ratio of promoted posts to natural posts," he said. "Reviewing an influencer's feed ratio from the past three months is becoming a more reliable indicator of conversion opportunities." This leads to marketing's newest trend: the micro-influencer. Rather than choosing the influencers with the highest follower counts, some brands are now finding better success soliciting those closest to their target audience. While micro-influencers may not get your brand the same levels of exposure, their value lies in their credibility and engagement with followers. This translates to higher conversion rates, which is how Byer suggests brands should be evaluating their influencers, rather than by follower counts. "This will force [influencers] to be more genuine or pay more attention to the audience reaction to brand posts," he said. Obviously, follower count should not be discounted entirely. The key is to get the highest follower count possible without suffering a decline in engagement. According to Komok, there is no "sweet spot" – it all depends on the influencer, product, location, etc. However, "if you have a niche product, most likely your target influencer has up to 15,000 followers." For many brands, this won't be enough exposure. "To obtain significant results, you need dozens or even hundreds of micro-influencers," Pomok added. "But you will definitely be satisfied with the results." |
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