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How to Sell Your Business

Posted: 19 Aug 2019 02:00 PM PDT

If you've decided it's time to sell your business, and you'd love to start the next chapter of your life by Q1 of 2020, don't despair. You absolutely can sell your business by 2020. I won't lie to you, though: it's going to take some work.

If you've already looked into what's required to get the best price for your company, you may be overwhelmed by what seems like a complicated, drawn out process. But, if you're a conscientious and successful business owner, you're probably already in good shape on most of the logistics. That means what you need, more than anything, is a simple plan of action. 

How to sell your business in six simple steps

Follow these six steps to get your business in shape, attract the right buyer, and get the very best price, all without letting the sales process drag out too long. 

Step one: Nail down your exit strategy

The first step of a successful, quick sale is getting your exit strategy solidified. It's vital for you, as the current owner, to know the answers to some important questions before you even put the business on the market: 

  • Why do you want to sell? 

  • Are there any legal complications to navigate before the business can be sold?

  • Can you afford to lose the income and/or live on the proceeds from the sale? 

  • What are you going to do with yourself and your time? 

There are more questions that will likely come up that are unique to your business and circumstances. The point of this exercise is to make sure you've really thought this decision through, and that you're not going to inadvertently get in the way of closing the deal when the time comes. It also helps you to prepare yourself emotionally for the sale. Don't underestimate the emotional toll selling your business can take, especially if it's been the main aspect of your life for some time. 

Discussing matters thoroughly with an attorney and an accountant can make this step easier and ensure you're not overlooking anything important. 

Step two: Get your books in order

As long as your attorney and accountant are familiar with your plans to sell, you may as well bring them into step two as well. The main goal here is to review all your company's financial and legal records and make sure they tell the most persuasive story for prospective buyers. 

In some cases, this may require a thorough overhaul of your record-keeping processes and/or a lot of research and fact-finding due to years of neglected paperwork. But, if you've routinely done a good job keeping up with the routine housekeeping work, this may be a fairly straightforward task. 

You'll want to arrange your records to answer all the questions a prospective buyer is likely to ask, and to do so in the most persuasive manner possible (short of falsifying information, of course.) In some cases, this activity may bring to light situations that could have a detrimental impact on your chances of selling or on the price you can expect to get for the business in its current state. If so, you need to decide whether it's worth it to you to address the issue(s) and postpone the sale, or to move ahead with a lower asking price. 

Step three: Perfect your curbside appeal

When a realtor agrees to represent a homeowner trying to sell their house, they will often work extensively with them to list the most important improvements the home needs in order to facilitate a quick and profitable sale. While a few functional repairs may be necessary, most of these improvements are cosmetic in nature: a new coat of paint, a thorough cleaning inside and out, landscaping work, etc. The impact of curbside appeal can't be overstated. 

This same strategy can have an equally powerful impact on how quickly your business sells and how much it sells for. So, as early in the process as possible, take a long, hard look at your building and property and make a list of items that need to be repaired or replaced, and make arrangements to do so. Then, arrange for professionals to come in and do a thorough, top-to-bottom cleaning before you show the property to any prospective buyers. 

Step four: Arrive at a realistic valuation

The valuation of your business is easily one of the most important steps you'll need to take when preparing for a sale, and it's not something you should try to handle on your own. Work with an experienced business broker who's familiar with your industry and your geographic area. They'll be in the best position to ask all the right questions, gather the necessary information, choose the best valuation method, and ensure you're getting the best price possible. When it's time to put your business on the market, they'll also help find and vet potential buyers, making the process faster and less labor-intensive for you. 

Step five: Ready yourself for due diligence

The due diligence period is the opportunity your buyers will have to dive deep into your company's records to confirm what appeared in your sales pitch, identify any red flags of concern to them, and generally satisfy their curiosity before signing on the dotted line. This is an important part of the transaction as this is where most of them break down. 

Since you've already completed Step Two, you should have plenty of readily-available documentation to provide to buyers. But, beyond that, you need to be prepared to answer their questions. To do that effectively without risking damaging the trust factor, you'll need to be prepared with what questions are likely to come up. 

Once again, relying on your team of professional advisors is the best bet here. Before meeting with your first prospective buyer, have a meeting with your attorney, accountant, broker, and a commercial realtor (if the sale includes real estate). Take that opportunity to lean on their experience. Find out what questions buyers are likely to ask about your company, and how to best answer those questions. If you and your team can identify any likely red flags beforehand and resolve them, that's one less thing that can slow down or stop the transaction. 

Step six: Market your business for sale

In rare circumstances, all your preparatory work and/or the help of a well-connected business broker can land you the right buyer with almost no effort. If that's how your sale works out, that's fantastic! 

But, in most cases, you'll need to list your business for sale both online and offline, and you'll want to invest something in marketing the listing as well so that you're sure it's being seen by the right people as soon as possible. Your business broker can advise you as to where and when you should list your business for sale. 

If you follow this simple six step program, you can likely sell your business by New Year's Day. Then, you can ring in 2020 with the start of a brand new adventure!

How to Create an Effective Survey

Posted: 19 Aug 2019 01:00 PM PDT

If your inbox is anything like mine, it's littered with dozens of surveys demanding your insights on everything from your latest Amazon purchase to providing a review of a service you used 10 years ago that is just now waking up to Net Promoter Score. And if I'm right, you've probably deleted most of those requests without so much as a second glance at the subject line – much to the anguish of the product manager who painstakingly put the survey together. 

Yet, however much we despise filling out surveys, there are ways to seduce us into providing valuable feedback by capturing us at the right time, with the right subject line and a sympathetic statement.

Build a better survey system

There's nothing wrong with the marketing analytics like the Net Promoter Score metric – one simple question that gives you a sense of the health of your business at that point in time – but it doesn't give you everything.

A properly designed survey program can create a connection with your customer that few other interactions can build. Imagine being able to extract information from customers more than willing to share it, information that isn't derived from patterns of data they've subconsciously donated by visiting and interacting with your product. Imagine that information being used to perfect your current product and prioritize the next product all while enriching your customers' sense of belonging and drive toward advocacy.

Editor's note: Looking for email marketing software for your business? Fill out the questionnaire below to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.

 

No more wishful thinking, fingers crossing, just hoping you get enough results to be statistically significant. Following the insights below, if nothing else, will get you a long way toward having an engaged customer community.

How to measure survey success

Before jumping into the 'how,' you need to decide what an acceptable survey response rate is and know how to compare that with the data you receive. Survey response rate is calculated by dividing the number of survey responses you receive by the number of individuals you sent the survey to and multiplying this by 100.

According to both Genroe and Survey Anyplace, a really good response rate for external emailed surveys (those sent to people outside of your company) is around 30%, while Survey Gizmo suggests that you're doing about average if you're hitting something in the region of 10 to 15% range.

As with any figure, the key to a good program is to benchmark the response rate you're achieving now and monitor how what you change alters that rate. Don't lose hope if the rate you're working with is currently well below average; just focus on improving.

How to craft an effective email

When I first started sending surveys, I would include them as part of our normal weekly newsletter and be lucky to get a response rate of 0.5%. To say this was slightly demoralizing would be an understatement. Now we're hitting above 15% consistently, and with a really good email that combines all the insights I'm about to share with you, we've even struck that magical 30% figure. [Are you in the market for email marketing software and survey services for your small business? Check out the reviews and best picks on business.com.]

Here's what I've learned along the way – with a bit of luck, it'll give you a shortcut through some of that grunt work and set you well on the way to 30% (or more).

Sample survey question

Sending a generic survey to an untargeted list will get you very untargeted results. This is a lesson we learned the hard way, through trial, error and lots of frustration. Now, the vast majority of surveys we send are targeted to specific cohorts of our member base or emailed via third parties that allow you to filter the audience down to some very precise specifications. 

This applies to targeted digital ads as well, which could get you a decent number of survey responses if you target them correctly. While the clickthrough rate will be low, if you're paying on a cost-per-click basis this avenue can garner some decent responses on a set budget. 

What would make you more likely to want to complete a survey? 

  • Knowing how long it will take

  • Understanding why you're doing it 

  • Understanding how it will benefit you 

  • Receiving it from a named person rather than a faceless corporation

  • All of the above

  • Other 

The language to use

What you say, and how much you say – or in this case, how little – has a huge impact on survey response rates. We try and keep our survey emails to two or three sentences max, short enough that the recipient can read and digest the gist of the email at a glance.

The aim here is to give the reader a reason to trade you a few minutes of their time. 

The best way to do this is to state openly why you're sending them a survey, how it will help you and how much of their time it's likely to eat into. Remember that you're emailing a person here – most people, if they don't dislike you and aren't too busy at that moment in time, would respond to a genuine request to briefly lend a hand to a fellow human being. (And if you can offer them a discount or a freebie to sweeten the deal, that probably can't hurt.) 

The content of your email must cover

  1. Why you're sending them the survey (targeting)
  2. What you hope to do with the results (why they should care)
  3. How long it will take / how many questions (to set the expectation)

As to the subject line, keep in mind that you are asking them for a favor, so be upfront about it. Don't try and trick them. We've had most success with subject lines like "5 mins of your time," "A quick favor" and "Just 3 questions, I promise;" be honest and upfront instead of trying to use a clickbait-and-switch technique.

Last points on the email

You should always send the email from the person whom the survey results will impact the most. This might be your head of product, it might be your marketing manager, or it might be your CEO. 

This is the individual who will ultimately benefit from striking up the conversation and who will be the most genuinely interested in getting this feedback. Besides, you want them committed to the program and sending the email from their account throws them in at the deep end.

How to make a great survey

While some may argue that the hardest part of getting responses to a survey is getting people to start it, I disagree. Early in our surveying days we sent some great emails and got a lot of unique clicks to the surveys. Unfortunately, the survey itself was not well constructed, so the rate of people visiting the survey landing page versus those actually completing the survey was well below 10% – representing a massive missed opportunity.

We've learned a lot since then. For a recent survey we sent out to a segment of our network, of the 620 people that visited the survey page, 329 individuals completed the first question and an incredible 326 stuck around to complete the last. That's a 99% completion rate from those who started the survey.

Here's the formula we use to make sure people complete our surveys and to minimize bias from the responses.

1. First impressions

A beautifully designed survey landing page and good flow through the survey are worth an uplift in survey responses of 50 to 100%.

Luckily, you don't need to build this yourself. Sites like Typeform have built one of the most beautiful user interfaces I've ever used and yes, I don't restrict that to just "survey user interfaces" – I mean in comparison to any website out there.

Previous tools (including Qualtrics) have a very corporate, cold feel, but Typeform invokes a warmth and ease that guides your audience through to the last question.

2. The first question

If you've not read Don't Make Me Think, I suggest adding it to the reading list, though you can gather from the title what it's about. That sentiment applies perfectly to the first question of any survey. 

If the person filling out the survey is forced to think too much to answer that first question, they'll likely assume the full of the survey is difficult (or at least time consuming) and decide on the spot that it's not worth it. After all, lots of other people are going to complete it, right? Why should they give up their time.

This is why we start most of our surveys with a very simple, straightforward question we're confident people can answer without thinking too hard. If we've not surveyed or spoken with someone before, we'll ask things like "Do you remember how you first learned of SyndicateRoom?" or, if we know we've surveyed them before, we'll use something along the lines of "What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of 'insert relevant topic you want to discuss in the survey'."

3. Unbiased mix of open-ended and closed-ended question

The results of a survey are useless if the questions asked are biased. The main culprit in creating response bias are leading questions, leading answers, and the positioning of answer options. There's a lot to go into here, so rather than repeating what someone else has already phrased exceptionally well, I'll direct you to this wonderfully put-together article. 

Keeping a mix of question types that you are asking – yes/no, ranking and open-ended – helps the survey flow. If all the questions are open-ended, you'll find that people lose focus and later questions garner shorter answers. If all questions are close-ended, you miss out on all the valuable underlying details. A mix is best.

4. Limited follow-up questions

You might want to include conditional questions in your survey, which appear as a follow-up only when someone gives a specified response (e.g. if someone responds with "No," the follow-up normally asks them to explain, "Why not?")

You need to bear in mind that a follow-up is essentially another open-ended question – only ask them where you really need the additional insight. We tend to use a follow-on if someone ranks a score low (say a 7 or below) on a 1 to 10 scale or if they select an option we didn't think would be popular.

5. Wrapping it up with thanks and the offer to chat through their response

The last part of every survey we send includes a thank you and the option for those taking it to leave their email if they are open to chatting through their responses. If you do offer them the chance to discuss their responses, be sure to actually follow up. You'd be surprised at the warm response individuals give, even after leaving negative replies to a survey, when you get them on the phone to chat. A touch of "human" can go a long way.

Send a post-survey follow-up

While the main purpose of a survey is to get feedback/insight into a certain element of your business, its secondary purpose is to build that ever-valuable sense of community. Nailing the email and the survey works for your primary purpose, but achieving the secondary is all about what you do after the survey.

A quick feedback loop to their completion of the survey will set you down the right path. Following the steps outlined below has done wonders for ongoing survey response rates.

1. Send an immediate thank you after completion.

2. Share the survey results and outline what you plan to do with the insight.

3. Remind respondents that it was their input that sparked this development.

This gives people both the instant gratification desired for taking the survey and shows them that their views are actually being put to use – i.e. that the surveys are not a waste of time. This virtuous circle helps your audience feel valued and more inclined to respond to future requests.

Making surveys a habit

The beauty in the process above is that, if done right, your audience will change from detesting the thought of taking a survey, to appreciating the chance to have their say on the direction your product/service is going. 

Excluding Net Promoter Score, we send out a couple of surveys a month to ask for input on things we're considering implementing. Each time, I know that by sending a carefully crafted, carefully targeted survey, we will get a sufficient enough response to be confident in the decisions we are making.

 

Re-Entering the Workforce? Résumé Examples for Stay-at-Home Moms and Dads

Posted: 19 Aug 2019 11:23 AM PDT

  • Using eye-tracking technology, a 2018 survey revealed hiring managers spent an average of 7.4 seconds scanning a résumé.
  • Résumés are designed to get you an interview, not the job.
  • Don't hide or lie about taking a career pause to become a stay-at-home mom; include in your cover letter or as a brief statement on your résumé how you spent that time.
  • Describe the skills you gained while caring for your children that transfer to the job you're seeking. 

Writing a résumé can be a chore, but it's your ticket to a job interview. Besides detailing your work experience, you need to capture readers' attention and give them a reason to want to meet you. And you need to do this very quickly. 

According to the job search site Ladders Inc., the Eye Tracking Study released in 2018 revealed that the average time spent skimming a résumé was only 7.4 seconds. Readers polled said they scanned the left side of the document for titles and looked at any supplementary information that caught their eye. 

That means you need to make your résumé easy to read, not jam in lots of information and bold the job titles and subheads. In the same study, Ladders recommends, "When discussing accomplishments, short declarative statements are easier to process – and therefore [are] likely to be more memorable – than paragraph-length descriptions." Action words also make a resume easier to read. 

Unfortunately, some studies show that parents who stayed home to care for family had a harder time getting hired compared to job seekers who experienced unemployment because of job loss. Although you may be starting at a disadvantage, a good, solid resume can get you an interview. 

When you're creating a new résumé after taking time out to care for your children, how should account for being a "stay-at-home parent" under the Experience section of your resume? Is it something you should include on your résumé? 

What to include in a stay-at-home parent cover letter

The cover letter is the perfect place to explain your career pause, said Chris Chancey, a professional recruiter and owner of Amplio Recruiting. Don't make housekeeping and family responsibilities the focus of your résumé, he said. Instead, mention that you took time away from work to care for your child or children and explain the amazing things you did to keep yourself relevant for the ever-changing job market. 

Chancey offers this example of what to include in your cover letter: "I took a break from January 2018 to May 2019 to care for my first child, but during that time, I honed my communication skills, contributed to several well-known publications, gained coding skills, kept abreast with trends in the online marketing world and volunteered to teach social media marketing to local small business owners. As such, I believe I can be an asset to your marketing agency." 

A stay-at-home parent cover letter that gets the attention of Laurie White, vice president of talent acquisition at ADP, a payroll and human resources company, explains your personal experience and how it aligns to the organization you're targeting. 

"Personalize your letter to the organization, tell them what attracted you to this company, and explain what you did during your time away. Describe how the skills or learning you gained during your career pause are transferrable to the work environment," said White. 

Once you've penned the cover letter, next you'll need to select a format for your work-history document. 

Decide between functional or chronological style

Before writing stay-at-home mom or stay-at-home dad résumé, you need to choose which format best showcases your work history and career breaks. According to Monster.com, a chronological resume is the most popular today; it lists a career summary or objective statement at the top followed by a list of your positions and employers in chronological order from your most recent employer to past companies you've worked for. A functional resume highlights your abilities and skills with a smaller section at the bottom of your resume that lists your work history, including dates. 

"One mistake I see people make is using a functional résumé that only lists their past job responsibilities, accomplishments and skills, but leaves out actual employment dates," says Chancey. "Doing this actually screams that you are trying to hide something, and this is a sure way to get your résumé overlooked both by the applicant tracking system and by an actual recruiter." 

Which type of résumé you use depends on your background and the industry you're attempting to enter, said Rita Kakati Shah, founder of Uma, an international platform that empowers women looking to re-enter the workforce after a career break. If someone has worked in a single industry and wants to continue working in that same type of business, then the chronological resume works best, she says. However, if you've been employed in different industries, opt for the functional format. 

"There are certain industries, however, where a one-page chronological format is the norm, such as finance and law, so in these cases, other previous relevant experience would be highlighted in the accompanying cover letter," said Kakati Shah. 

With either format, catch the readers' attention with what you have to say at the top. 

Include a brief summary

After your name, address and other contact information, Chancey recommends including an executive summary below that. He says this serves as an elevator pitch that ties together your career history and professional experience. Use this paragraph to summarize who you are. As part of your summary, include a brief description of your career background, core competencies, skills and what you do best. 

Although statistics weren't available on how often recruiters read cover letters, White believes they are more likely to read an executive summary. 

"With the increased prevalence of smartphones and the ability to easily apply to a job remotely, executive summaries are replacing the cover letter as a (very) brief overview of the candidate with a spotlight on the most important points," White said. 

Whether you call it an "executive summary" or "core competencies," Kakati Shah suggested including a few eye-catching bullet points, usually one or two words, at the top of your résumé. For example, you might go with "areas of expertise" and include strategic planning, budgeting, project leadership, and contract negotiation. 

You may notice that the above expertise applies to many different jobs including that of stay at home mom or stay at home dad. 

Add your transferrable skills

Parents know that if you can negotiate with a 3-year-old, you'll be golden in the boardroom. But how do you express that on a stay-at-home dad résumé so that it moves you on to the interview phase of the job search? 

Kakati Shah was kind enough to share some actual stay-at-home parent résumé examples written by women who utilized the resources offered by Uma. Note their job titles and the talents gained in their descriptions. 

Job Title: Project Manager, Private Family Office

Description: Successfully managed the risk portfolio of a household and oversaw design and implementation of an extensive 12-month gut renovation, all while raising two children under the age of 2. 

Job Title: Parenting Expert

Description: With 10+ years' experience as a marketing manager, I can now proudly add parenting a highly energized 3-year-old girl to my repertoire. Skills gained include working under intense pressure as well as superior efficiency of managing tasks within constantly changing and unforgiving timelines. 

Job Title: Career Break

Description: Took a career hiatus to raise my twins who are now in school full time, allowing me to refocus on my career. Maintained my link with the industry by completing a refresher course in digital marketing, as well as an executive MBA module with a specific focus on marketing strategy." 

Job Title: Head of Budgeting

Description: During a four-year career break, I finessed my finance and budget management skills as acting treasurer at a prestigious Manhattan private school. 

Although some of the above job titles might seem a bit tongue-in-cheek, every one of the women behind them was hired using this wording. The last one chose to showcase her volunteer work and how that prepared her for work outside the home. 

Volunteering counts, too

Whatever you stepped forward to do – PTA, dog rescue, speaking engagements, taking the lead for an auction – this should absolutely be on your résumé, says Kakati Shah. 

"If you move along in the process, the hiring manager will most likely ask more about it," Kakati Shah notes. 

Chancey suggests listing volunteer work as jobs on your résumé. If you gave a talk, acted as a mentor, served on a board or participated in any volunteer or community work, you should include them as "jobs." In the description describe your responsibilities and accomplishments, he says. 

This should give you a good idea of how to create a résumé that shines a positive light on your career interruption. White suggests being honest and not trying to hide or leave out dates of employment. When you get an interview, you can explain more.

What You Need to Know About Going Back to School for a Career Change

Posted: 19 Aug 2019 11:15 AM PDT

If your long-term goals aren't aligning with your current career, you might be considering going back to school. There's a lot to consider before you start filling out applications, though. Many people who are unhappy in their jobs believe that going back to school, whether for a graduate or undergraduate degree, will guarantee them a job in their dream industry and solve their work woes forever, but that's not always the case.

It's important to make your decisions about higher education in an unemotional, logical way, and that's exactly what this guide will help you do. Work your way through these steps to make the best choice for you, your future career and your financial life.

1. Know your motivations for going back to school.

Going back to school requires a large investment of time and money, and it should only be undertaken if you're moving toward a clear goal, not just away from an unsatisfying job. Lots of people toy with the idea of getting an additional undergraduate degree or a master's degree so they can transition into a "better" field. Some may define "better" as making more money, and for others it may have more to do with quality of life, impact on the world or interest level.

Daren Upham, vice president of academic operations at Western Governors University's College of Health Professions, noted that several of his students have returned to school to pursue a new career path that allows them to leverage their current expertise in a different way.

"We often see scientists and engineers who, after successful careers, want to become math and science teachers," said Upham. "This also happens with successful businesspeople. These people want to give back by sharing their knowledge and experience with students."

If you want a complete career overhaul, you should select a field that not only has great growth potential but that you are truly passionate about.

"What are you interested in?" said Angel Diaz, senior recruiter at Cubic Corporation. "Choose something that you are going to stick to through the end."

"Identifying what it is that you love to do is so critical before you make a move," added Heather Monahan, founder of career mentoring group Boss in Heels and author of Confidence Creator (Boss in Heels, 2018). "Journaling can be a fantastic tool to help you see what it is you like to do with your free time. If you are someone who loves to paint but are stuck at a computer running numbers all day, it isn't shocking you are considering making a move. Discover what your superpower is and lean into it."

Indeed, understanding the particulars behind your desire to change careers is essential. If, after journaling about it and discussing it with friends, you find your main goal is to have a better work-life balance, be in a different type of work environment, or have more autonomy over what you do, you might consider other ways to attain these goals, such as by switching roles within your field, applying for a related job at a different organization, or working as a consultant. On the other hand, if all your reasons for going back to school involve being in a certain field or industry to which there is no other path, investing in more education may be the smartest move.

2. Investigate alternative routes to get the job you want.

Don't forget for a moment that higher education is a business. People are led to believe that the only way to get ahead is to take on more debt and earn more degrees, but it is entirely possible to change careers without going back to school.

You may not be able to get any job without certain degrees, of course – for example, if you want to be a lawyer, then going to law school is a must – but just because you have an undergraduate degree in psychology doesn't mean you also need a computer science degree to work in technology. In fact, most people don't end up working in the exact field their undergraduate degree lists, and the average worker changes careers multiple times over the course of their working life. The idea that you must get a formal degree in a new field anytime you want to change careers is a modern one, and it only benefits the business of higher education.

Lots of skills are highly transferable and can be rounded out very cheaply using online resources and drawing from past job experience. If you are willing to put in the work, possibly take a temporary pay cut and generally put yourself out there, you may find that you can move into your dream field without going back to school. Ask people who have the job you want what their backgrounds are and what they studied in school. If you can't talk to them, talk to headhunters or even HR representatives in the field.

Seek out free online resources and find out if there are clear ways to demonstrate ability other than a degree, such as a portfolio, internship, apprenticeship or certification. Look at entry-level jobs in your dream industry and see if you can swing a few years of a lower income to get closer to your goal. Taking a pay cut may seem like moving backward, but paying for college is its own type of pay cut, and it may be cheaper to take a pay cut in an entry-level job for two years than to pay for tuition for the same amount of time.

Going back to school may be the right choice for you, but since education is so expensive, it's worth shopping around a bit before you commit to a degree program.

3. Plan your finances for going back to school as an adult.

The financial aid office at the college you plan on attending is a good place to begin gathering information about tuition and financial aid, but it should only be the first step in your research. Financial aid offices serve a broad student population, so they focus on disseminating basic information and not on individualized counseling.

When it comes to personal finance planning, you should look at your specific situation and come up with a plan not only for how you will finance your education, but for how long it will take you to repay any student loans you'll have, and how much you'll end up paying in interest by the time you've paid off the loans. You should weigh these costs against what you can expect as a starting salary, and it will benefit you to do so prudently – many people go back to school for degrees that end up costing them a lot of money without much financial gain. Long-term career goals are important, but so is being able to afford your life.

If you are going to school for the first time as an adult, one of the best ways to save money is by getting an associate degree at a two-year college first and then transferring to a four-year school for your bachelor's degree. Community colleges are far less expensive than four-year colleges on a per-credit basis, and many states offer students, including nontraditional students, deals on in-state tuition for bachelor's degrees if they earn above a certain GPA in community college.

If you are concerned about how community college might look to future employers, it might surprise you to learn that when you graduate with a bachelor's degree, your degree will only list the four-year institution you attended and not the community college. The credit you get from community college classes will count toward your final degree, but as far as your diploma is concerned, it will look identical to that of a student who paid full price for a four-year program. You can also reduce your cost per credit by taking winter interim classes and summer classes. Both winter and summer classes are more intensive and shorter in duration, but they're also cheaper, even at private four-year schools.

It is entirely possible to minimize your student loans by doing a combination of these things, as well as things like attending only public institutions, targeting high-income fields so you can pay off loans easily after graduation, and working while you're in school. The aim isn't to take on no debt, just to take on as little as possible while following your dreams (so you don't end up with a new dream career but also a boatload of crushing debt).

4. Research a career change before quitting your job.

The most important factors in how much you can afford to pay for a bachelor's or graduate degree program are how much you will earn once you graduate and how much you can work during your education.

Make sure your long-term goals are realistic and informed by research, not anecdotes or grabby headlines. Not all STEM jobs pay a huge amount of money, and the region you live in has a massive impact on the job market. For example, just because you live in a tech hub city doesn't mean you'll be all set with a tech-related degree – in fact, sometimes it's the opposite. Oftentimes, cities with a wealth of tech jobs (Houston, for example) also have a surplus of highly educated professionals with tech degrees, so they are far more competitive. You should look at statistics on employment options, starting salaries, and workforce demographics that are recent and specific to your region. It never hurts to know the facts.

5. Research schools when you're going back to college.

Once you've decided to go back to college and you know how much you're willing to spend on an education, you need to carefully research different programs. Online degree programs are popular with nontraditional students because they offer remote learning options and flexible course schedules, but make sure the program you choose is accredited (whether it's an online or brick-and-mortar school).

The best way to find out if a college is accredited is by looking it up here. If the college you are considering is not in the government database of accredited institutions, do not apply, regardless of the promises you are hearing from college staff. At some unaccredited institutions, workers are treated like sales associates and get commission for recruits, so you shouldn't believe everything they say.

You should also look up the following statistics for any college you consider attending. If you cannot find these stats about your desired program on the college website, contact someone at the school and ask them. You will learn a lot about a school by the way you're treated when you ask difficult questions:

  • What percentage of students in your program are employed in their fields within one year of graduation?
  • How many courses are taught by teaching assistants?
  • How many courses are offered in evenings and on weekends?
  • Can any classes be completed online?
  • Does your program offer opportunities for work experience before graduation?
  • What percentage of professors in your program are adjunct versus full-time?

It's also smart to look up the deans and professors in the school you'll be attending and do a little digging on their backgrounds. Find out if they're all lifelong academics or if they have work experience in the fields they teach. In some fields, being taught by someone who is primarily a teacher and researcher is fine, but in others (especially those that change quickly, like technology, or that rely on connections, like PR), it's advantageous to have access to professors with recent work experience.

Above all, do not be shy about asking anything you want to know. Your education should suit you, and you deserve to know everything upfront before you pay a cent of tuition.

Checklist for nontraditional students

  1. Clearly define your motivations for going back to school and know your long-term goals.
  2. Consider alternatives to paying for a degree and see if those will get you where you want to go.
  3. Do research about your future career prospects. Know what type of salary is realistic upon graduation – don't just look at high salaries for seasoned professionals.
  4. Research different schools and ask the tough questions that matter.
  5. Plan your long-term payment strategy and look for ways to minimize the cost of your education.

Additional reporting by Nicole Fallon and Sammi Caramela. Some source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.

Marketing Automation for Small Business without Sacrificing Customer Data Privacy

Posted: 19 Aug 2019 10:00 AM PDT

Even for newbies, building a website can be easy with today's tools. Turning it into a successful online business is a whole different challenge. You can have the most visually appealing site with great functionality, but still struggle to attract users and customers. That's why marketing is such an important skill and practice in every modern industry.

The power of technology has radically shifted how marketing is done in today's world. No longer do companies have to invest a lot of money on television or print advertisements that might not prove successful. Instead, the internet allows for marketing to be targeted at specific demographics so that people see ads that are as relevant as possible.

However, small businesses are now coming up against a crucial dilemma. Online privacy has become a major discussion in recent years, and large amounts of personal data are required to run a successful marketing platform. So how can small businesses keep automating their advertising and marketing efforts without sacrificing their customers' trust? Good question.

Government regulation and compliance and how it affects marketing automation

After seeing serious data breaches become almost a daily occurrence due to new hacking threats or negligence, some governments have begun taking steps to regulate how personal data is handled online. A prime example is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which was instituted by the European Union in 2018.

GDPR affects any small business or organization that operates a website within its boundaries or caters to customers from Europe. In order to stay compliant, you must adhere to a strict list of policies that could change how you collect, share and analyze data about individual people.

Failure to stay compliant with GDPR comes with hefty fines, and the same is true if your organization suffers a data breach and does not notify affected users in a timely manner. Many governments across the globe are now looking to institute new regulations that are based on the standards set in the EU's GDPR.

Starting with transparency

As an online company that relies on data-driven marketing strategies, regulations like GDPR may seem like a roadblock to your goals. However, in reality, it is an opportunity to review your data retention policies and consider the level of trust you are looking to maintain with customers.

The key priority when it comes to preserving user privacy is to be as transparent as possible in every situation. Collecting user data is not inherently illegal or bad. But you need to be upfront with people about when it is happening and what the ramifications will be for them.

For organizations that need to overhaul their marketing strategy to be aligned with government regulations, the best place to start is probably with a new privacy policy. This document should be accessible from your homepage and should be written in a simple format. The goal is to help customers understand what their data is used for and how it is being safely stored.

Transparency also means giving individual users the option to remove themselves from marketing distributions or tracking. The best practice is to use an opt-in approach, which means that data storage will not begin until a user expressly indicates that they want to participate.

Email marketing in a GDPR world

For almost any online business, email marketing is an indispensable part of the overall strategy and one of the areas it's easy to run afoul of GDPR and similar regulations. Today, at the heart of the best email marketing software services lies automation. You can set up a series of autoresponders that will automatically be sent at specific intervals depending upon a particular link or sign-up form a potential customer clicked or filled out.

The thing to keep in mind is that it is in these services' best interest to make clients like you feel happy and secure that privacy laws are being followed. There's a good chance they'll do their part where needed to update wording, function, and format related to templates, policies, features, internal processes, agreements, and more. But you have responsibilities also independent of your email marketing provider.

Read about the term "data controller" and understand that you're probably one according to GDPR. This is particularly important in countries like Germany, U.K., and Canada, which had strict data controller laws for email marketing platforms and other small business software prior to the ratification of GDPR in May 2018. 

Rest easy, No one is going to ask you to stop using email or social media posting automation. What you do need to do is understand which are the dangerous spots in the marketing process that could get you in trouble with GDPR. You need to know the proper way to collect, handle, and store customer data, and also correctly respond to requests from the owners of that data.

Technology changes to make to marketing automation

For online businesses, one of the big challenges in prioritizing user privacy is getting a full understanding of where user data resides and how it is being managed. Cloud environments are often quite distributed and may involve several third-party platforms. This means that responsibility for compliance is spread out and can be difficult to control.

Businesses should perform a thorough audit of their marketing systems and ensure that each one meets regulatory standards. The best vendor tools will offer to assist in these audits to verify compliance status. Avoid any third-party product that is offering to buy user data from you for marketing purposes.

Stressing the benefits

Many people across the globe have become skeptical about sharing any sort of personal or sensitive information with online companies. In order to keep your marketing automation systems running effectively, you need to build consistent trust with these users. The best way to do that is by emphasizing the benefits they will receive from smarter marketing campaigns.

The reason most internet users get annoyed with advertisements is not because they take up too much space; it's because they are trying to sell a product or service that is of no interest to them. Segmented and targeted marketing is the solution to this dilemma, but the only way to make that possible is to leverage key bits of user data.

To help put customer concerns at ease, companies should consider making all marketing data anonymized and encrypted whenever possible. For example, let's say, "John Smith" adds two tennis rackets to his shopping cart. That information can be tracked in your marketing database to target relevant ads to him, but the data should be tagged to a randomized ID number and encoded so that hackers will not be able to steal it.

Bottom line

Modern small businesses rely on automation platforms to make their marketing strategies smarter and more effective. But these systems require a huge amount of user data, which can feel like an invasion of privacy to your customers. 

As the owner of a website or online business, it is your responsibility to store all private data in a secure manner while still leveraging its value in marketing campaigns. That might be a tall order but that is the reality in today's intrusive online world.

What to Look for in a SaaS Startup Idea to Make it a Success

Posted: 19 Aug 2019 08:00 AM PDT

Are you thinking of starting up a SaaS business? The Software-as-a-service (SaaS) model has taken over the business world by storm and today there are more SaaS startups mushrooming everywhere. The reasons for its increasing popularity include:

  • SaaS business models are easy to start
  • You don't need much startup capital
  • Readily accessible
  • Easy to operate

However, the above factors don't guarantee that your SaaS business idea will be a success. This is why I've taken the liberty to give you a few pointers regarding what to consider to come up with a winning SaaS startup idea. In the following sections I will cover:

  • Why SaaS business model is so popular
  • How to determine an idea is a success or now
  • How to validate your SaaS idea
  • And suggest some ideas if you don't have any 

But first, it's crucial to explain what exactly this SaaS business model entails so that you have a better understanding of the concept.

What is SaaS?

SaaS is a software program that's hosted by a third-party service provider according to Search Cloud Computing's definition. It's designed to service businesses that don't have the capacity – or resources to have an in-house IT department. Popular SaaS service providers include:

You don't need to download the software onto your device laptop or mobile phone; you can access it directly online.

Advantages of using the SaaS model

Earlier on we mentioned how the software is affordable. As a startup company, you seldom have excess funds at your disposal to run your business effectively. A program that allows you to reduce costs and make tasks easier is always welcome.

With this SaaS model, you get to automate and delegate the minor tasks which save you both time and money. By definition, other numerous advantages associated with using this model include the following.

Flexible payment options

SaaS is appealing to many startups because it doesn't have rigid payment options. In most cases, you have to pay monthly subscriptions to access the program. And you can decide to terminate your subscriptions at any time.

No special software required

SaaS programs don't take much time to implement. This is because no special software is required for it to function. As a result, minimal training is required to operate it.

Easily customizable

You can customize the software depending on your business needs or size. Its flexibility means you can decide to access more or fewer features.

Can be accessed from anywhere

The software can be accessed from anywhere as long as the device is connected to the internet. This is because data is stored in the cloud.

Allows for automatic updates 

All technical issues are handled by the service provider. In addition, the software allows for regular automatic updates. You don't have to burden your IT department with these updates.

Success factors to look for in your startup idea

The first thing you need for your business idea to succeed is passion. This way you generate income from doing what you love. But passion alone won't guarantee your idea's feasibility. Rather start by asking yourself the following questions.

Does your idea provide a solution?

Will your business idea provide a solution to customers' problem? Will it fill a void in the market? Conduct comprehensive market research to determine where there's a need and how best you can offer a service or product that satisfies it.

Make sure there's a market for your idea. This means you must:

  • Ensure the product or service you're providing will be useful to your prospective clients.
  • Know how exactly the product will benefit prospects.
  • Guarantee that your product or service offers affordability to your target niche.
  • Determine how large your market is.
  • Identify potential growth of the market including estimated margins.

Is the startup idea innovative?

For your SaaS business idea to stand out and attract clients it must be unique and creative. Ideas that are easy to replicate will make it easy for other businesses – or individuals – to mimic your product or service. To ensure that your business is viable, your idea must keep competition from similar startups at bay.

Does it have a competitive advantage?

Granted, finding an idea that's 100% original isn't the easiest of tasks. If your idea is easy to replicate, at least you must have a competitive edge that differentiates you from the rest. Make sure you have a plan of how to widen the competition gap when similar ideas flood the market.

Personal factors

Once you've found an idea that answers the above questions, it's important that you evaluate yourself as an individual. The success – or failure – of the SaaS idea lies in your capabilities or lack thereof. Establish if you have the following attributes with regards to the industry you've chosen:

  • Skills
  • Experience
  • Affinity

Industry factors

It's crucial that you research the industry beforehand. You must perform a detailed Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis of not just the industry, but competitors as well. Here you find out information regarding:

  • Who the top players in that specific industry are
  • The challenges that these companies face
  • Their weaknesses and strengths
  • The business tools these companies use
  • Any improvements that can be made

 Looking into the above-mentioned factors will help you establish if your business idea will indeed provide solutions.

How to validate your startup idea

Coming up with an idea is the first step. But it's important that you validate your startup idea. Are your potential customers really receptive to the idea? It pays to be proactive by establishing if your idea indeed has a market. Here are a few tips on how to gather such information. 

Meet up with prospective clients

Don't be afraid to approach your prospective customers and pitch your business idea. Make it clear to them that you've discovered a solution to a problem they have. But before speaking to these individuals do your homework. Research intensively about:

  • The nature of their business
  • How they run their operations
  • The service or products they offer
  • Any loopholes you have identified in their operations
  • Possible solutions from your SaaS

By engaging directly with potential customers, you can get valuable feedback regarding whether you're on the right track with your business idea.

Send an email

Emailing potential customers is another option. You won't get in-depth insight compared to the information you receive from a face to face conversation, but you'll still get valuable feedback. Make use of email marketing automation software that allows you to reach a wide target audience with just a simple click.

Minimal viable product (or service)

One of the best methods of testing your SaaS idea is to soft launch it with a small version of the main product. Send it to a group of targetted customers and offer them for free. Freemiums are always welcomed by everyone, but most importantly it will help you test drive your SaaS idea in real-time. MVP's success or failure will help you determine whether it's going to be a hit or needs improvement. 

Examples of SaaS startup ideas

Not sure which ideas to run with? Below are a few that are likely to be a success:

  • Freelance web developer
  • Run a website hosting service
  • Ethical hacker
  • Programmer
  • App developer
  • Build cloud-based email apps
  • A text-mining business

Wrapping up

Were the above-mentioned tips useful? Do you believe your SaaS startup idea is what individual consumers – or businesses are looking for?  You'll never know unless you try it out. So, go out there and make your business dream not only a reality – but a success.

Effective Tips for Negotiating Lower Credit Card Processing Fees

Posted: 19 Aug 2019 05:00 AM PDT

8/19Credit card processing fees are notorious among small business owners, most of whom rely on as many transaction cents to go back into their enterprise as possible. Credit card fees can be a huge expense for these professionals.

While this is frustrating, Antara Dutta, SCORE business mentor and president of Delaware SCORE, urges small business owners to focus less on the fees and more on negotiating the makeup of the fees. Nonetheless, she notes that there are methods to score lower credit card processing fees with proper planning. In fact, there's a whole industry of professionals dedicated to helping you do just that.

Never underestimate your own power to negotiate and advocate for your business, however. By building market knowledge, refining your negotiation skills and properly navigating the processing terrain, you'll have all the tools you need to land the lowest credit card processing fees available to you. Here's how.

1. Understand the key players.

In breaking down credit card processing, Dutta says there are two key categories to know about: the types of credit card processing fees and the bodies that charge, measure, and collect the fees. Many business owners make poor decisions about credit card processing because they don't know any better, so it is crucial to understand credit card processing. Above all, you need to understand what it means for your unique business.

"Credit card processing is not always a transparent world," Dutta said, "which is why it's so important for small business owners to learn about it." This begins with understanding the "what" and "who" involved in credit card processing.

 

Editor's note: If you're looking for information to help you choose the credit card processor that's right for you, use the questionnaire below to have our vendor partners contact you with free information.

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Many factors come into play to determine your overall fees. It takes time to organize all these players batting for your earnings, but understanding them is integral to credit card processing negotiation.           

Let's start with the three main fees you can expect.

Transaction fees

These are a fixed percentage your business pays of each transaction that is processed with a credit card. This fee is calculated depending on the pricing model, ranging from 1.5% to 3.5%. 

Service fees

These are the fees for working with a payment gateway or services provider. To use the service, you will likely pay $5 to $15 on a monthly basis, not including PCI compliance fees, which can be around $100.

Incidental fees

These are fees charged per occurrence if something is up on your end – like nonsufficient funds or transaction chargebacks. Be sure to specifically ask the processing company what circumstances would cause it to charge you for below-minimum monthly funds or a faulty customer transaction.

As for who is collecting the money accrued by these fees and rates, there are players related to both your business and your customers that join the conversation. Here are the main four.

Associations

Associations are card-issuing banks that set transaction terms for merchants. Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover are all credit card associations.

Issuers

Issuers are the financial institutions that offer credit cards. It is important to note that Visa and Mastercard are not issuers; they are transaction processors. American Express and Discover, on the other hand, are both associations and issuers, so they will yield a higher interchange rate. 

Machines

The main machine is a merchant point-of-sale (POS) system. Business owners often rent these to take and process credit cards during transactions, whether or not the card is present. Dutta urges business owners to be cognizant of when cards are present versus non-present, as transactions with cards not present pose a higher risk.

Online payment systems

In today's digital market, online payment is common for all kinds of businesses. This payment gateway is like the POS system, but found online instead.

Now that you know who you'll be dealing with, let's move on to what aspects of your credit card processing fees are in your control.

2. Negotiate upfront.

Dutta admits that, as a business owner, "there isn't much you can do to negotiate lower credit card processing fees" once you've entered into a contract and processing system. You just have to wait out the contract if you aren't in a month-to-month agreement or try hard to negotiate within the contract. Because of this, it is crucial to negotiate fees and processors before you make a commitment.

Interchange-plus is a pricing model that details the charges of issuing banks and credit card associations. "Interchange" is the fee you pay per transaction, and "plus" is a flat fee paid to the processor on top of that. This model can complicate your statements if you're not a financial whiz. However, it is considered the most transparent pricing model. The complicated statements are a small price to pay, because the rates will ultimately be lower than those you'd pay with tiered pricing.

Tiered pricing breaks down your processing rates into levels of qualification. The level a transaction falls into is determined by the processor. Tiered pricing takes advantage of your small business's transactions by advertising low rates for transactions that don't hit the "qualified" level. This pricing model can be favorable for businesses whose customers usually pay in person with standard debit cards, especially since it costs less to process debit cards. For those who go with this pricing model, it is imperative to find out as much as possible about the potential processor's rates so you don't get stuck with unexpected fees.

Of course, processing companies want your business, so they're willing to compete a bit to take you on as a customer. However, small businesses will have different needs from large businesses when choosing a processor, and those needs diversify even more depending on what kind of transactions you process the most.

3. Choose the right processor for your business.

Now you've got your all your cards on the table – time for the processors to show theirs. Choosing a credit processing plan is not a black-and-white deal. As with any major business decision, different businesses have different needs. There are plenty of excellent credit card processors out there that fit these needs. For example, if your business relies on online and mobile transactions, you'll be better off with a company like Square or Stripe. If your business needs more flexibility on contract timelines, consider Flagship. In general, look at credit card processing companies with transparent pricing, low rates and fees, and month-to-month contracts. [Looking for a credit card processing service? Check out our best picks and reviews.]

4. Ask the key players for the receipts.

If you're going to enter into a credit card processing service contract, you should work your hardest to find out how much of your money will go where. This may seem like an obvious question to ask, but it is all too easy to sign off without reading the fine print, especially in the case of tiered pricing, which can make it difficult to tell where money from various fees is going. "This is where business owners will find some power," Dutta said, as the companies you are working with want to keep your business.

Ask for a sample monthly statement for insight into what your business's processing could look like. Request that the processor send a sample monthly statement from a merchant it works with. A legitimate processor will provide this statement, in which each fee should be itemized and all line items clearly labeled.

If you find rates and fees lower than the ones you have, ask for the lower fee. In fact, ask and keep asking the processing company, your bank, and whichever cloud software you use for online sales about lowering your rates and fees. This is especially effective if you can prove that taking your business elsewhere would yield lower costs for you.

Conversely, if things seem too easy with a processing company, it is probably too good to be true. This comes in the form of "free" credit card terminals or POS systems. Don't get too excited – with processing companies, these gifts mean higher fees and contract terms. Also, if you leave that processor, you'll have to leave its "free" equipment behind.

A balance of industry knowledge and negotiation guts will take you far in your quest to achieve the lowest credit card processing fees available to your small business. It is well worth the time to learn about the world of credit card processing. When you do, you'll be prepared to tackle all manner of rate and fee negotiations that will help you keep more of your business's hard-earned money.

Is Your Collaboration Software Productive, or Just Chatter?

Posted: 19 Aug 2019 05:00 AM PDT

With services like Skype, Slack, Yammer, and Teams nearing ubiquity in offices across the world, a conversation in the workplace is only ever a hastily typed message away. Digital collaboration and communication tools empower professionals to work together instantly and conveniently across oceans and offices alike; according to one 2016 survey by McKinsey Global, 93% of businesses use at least one social technology at work, while 74% say that social tools are "at least somewhat integrated into employees' work." This is a significant leap from even two years before, when only 67% reported having integrated collaboration platforms. 

For business leaders, these quick-at-hand tools offer an invaluable opportunity to optimize talent and teamwork across geographical bounds. Having collaboration platforms allows organizations to pull in top talent for their projects rather than relying on those who happen to be located near a given brick-and-mortar office. These capabilities are already impacting workplace hiring trends; statistics published in a 2018 issue of the Harvard Business Review suggest that the number of remote workers has increased by 115% in the last decade. 

The benefits of collaboration software

The benefits to office-wide knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and productivity are similarly impressive. A 2010 study conducted by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University found that the instant messaging facilitated by collaboration tools has an "overwhelmingly positive" impact on intra-team trust and communication quality, as well as a "significant" influence on group interactivity. Moreover, they reported, because increased interactivity and trust can have a profound positive impact on teamwork quality, digital collaboration platforms play a crucial -- if indirect -- role in promoting high-quality work. 

Given all of these benefits, the trend toward greater adoption of in-office collaboration platforms seems to be a positive one; for my part, I firmly believe that we will continue to see an increase in the use of virtual teamwork in business as the collaboration tools continue to improve. However, the benefits provided by such platforms won't automatically come along with the installation packages. Effectively integrating a digital collaboration platform is a task that demands directed – and prolonged – effort from leadership. 

The leadership problem

Simply put, not all employees – or their managers –  intuitively know how to maximize their virtual work. As researchers Barbara Z. Larson and Erin E. Makarius described the matter in a recent article for the Harvard Business Review, "While technology and virtual work itself has advanced dramatically in recent years, our preparation to work virtually has not." Successful online work requires an array of social skills and behaviors that employees may not pick up without specialized training and support from management. Larson and Makarius estimate that only a third of companies train employees in virtual work behaviors – and even then, the instruction centers more on hard software skills than it does on social or interpersonal skills. 

In theory, our ubiquitous collaboration tools can provide invaluable aid to our businesses. In practice, though, the effectiveness of these platforms and employees' abilities to collaborate virtually across sites, cities, states, countries, continents are contingent upon the leaders learning how to adapt to the unique demands of digital leadership. If leaders cannot evolve with the times, they may find their businesses not making the most of the benefits the collaboration platforms are meant to provide. 

Tips on how to effectively implement collaboration software

Here, I share a few best practices leaders should adopt when integrating or facilitating an online collaboration platform in the workplace. 

Be willing to let go

As a leader, it can be tempting to step in when employees begin using online collaboration platforms to hold social conversations. It seems logical to set policies that limit the chatter – but in doing so, you may inadvertently undercut the collaborative effects of having a digital communication platform. Instant messaging usage only accounts for 6% of work interruptions, while the potential benefits to office knowledge-sharing, collaboration and achievement are incalculable. Try to avoid imposing strict policies around digital communication if you can; even the conversations that seem personal can be vital to building a cohesive team. As the above-mentioned study from Hong Kong Polytechnic found, allowing people their digital communications can build relationships, increase team trust, and ultimately bolster achievement. 

Facilitating online group chats can also optimize what management professionals Paul Leonardi and Tsedal Neeley refer to as metaknowledge: the understanding of who knows how to solve a given problem. In a report on their research, the pair reported that employees who used an office-wide digital collaboration tool were 31% more likely to "find coworkers with expertise relevant to meeting job goals." These employees were also 88% more likely to know which of their colleagues would be able to put them in contact with a person who had the expertise they needed. 

However, encouraging metaknowledge and productive interpersonal bonds requires more than simply allowing employees to chat informally. For managers, cultivating digital collaboration and trust means finding ways to create a shared sense of purpose across a digital landscape and to whittle down the language and cultural barriers that might otherwise separate geographically-diverse employees in a shared digital space. Thus, managers don't just need to step back and allow relationships to form naturally – they need to take an active role in creating opportunities for digital team-building and facilitating collaboration on their company's online tools. 

Set expectations early on

Employees need to have a clear understanding of the collaboration platform's purpose, or else they may never utilize it to its full potential. Consider Millennials as an example: while leaders may expect younger employees to readily take to social tools in the workplace while their older coworkers struggle, Leonardi and Neeley's research indicates that the opposite may be true. According to the two researchers, Millennials are so used to using digital tools in their personal lives that the idea of using "fun" and "personal" social media tools feels uncomfortable – or even unprofessional. 

Leaders need to frame the tool's purpose clearly, lead by example, and go out of their way to encourage employees to use it. If they never personally utilize the platform – or, worse, never take active strides to establish it as a necessary venue for collaboration on company projects – employees will see the collaboration tool as yet another means for broadcasting information or an uncomfortable social media site rather than an active social venue for productive communication, troubleshooting, teambuilding, networking, and collaboration. 

Don't overlook offline culture

Collaboration tools are an invaluable teamwork tool, but it shouldn't – and can't – replace the culture you develop in a brick-and-mortar office. Encourage employees to hold in-person conversations and chat with their colleagues rather than simply texting them. The conversations around the proverbial water cooler matter just as much as any group chat; to quote Yahoo! CEO Melissa Meyer on the subject, "Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings." Free-flowing and in-person conversations can – and often do – inspire innovative thought. 

It is also essential to recognize that some talented employees may not gravitate towards collaboration environments as much as their peers. While some people are able to share practical knowledge and insights through a digital platform, others may be at their collaborative best in more analog environments. However, because respect and recognition follow visibility, some employees' offline skill sets and contributions may inadvertently be overlooked and underappreciated in the workplace. This occurrence can be damaging, as – according to Gallup – employees who do not feel adequately recognized are twice as likely to quit than their recognized peers. 

Offline culture and appreciation matters. Make a point to understand your team members' strengths and weaknesses – and if they aren't adequately highlighted in the digital sphere, make a point to celebrate their achievements. Similarly, if you notice someone struggling to understand or make use of a shared collaboration platform, provide them the educational opportunities they need to feel more comfortable online. In time, they will be better able to adapt and contribute to digitally-facilitated projects. 

Digital collaboration platforms have the potential to boost leaders into a new era of productivity, team achievement, and communication – but we won't get there unless leaders adapt their interpersonal skills and tactics to suit the modern age. 
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