Business, finances, forex

If you have an ecommerce business, you might want to consider utilizing influencer marketing to increase brand awareness and advocacy. In fact, experts believe that influencer marketing is the next big trend within the ecommerce marketing space.

Small Business Trends recently caught up with Katie Manley, Rhiona Sullivan and Courtney Sneed of Pepperjam at Influencer Marketing Days in New York City’s Times Square. Pepperjam is a performance marketing agency that provides resources and services for influencers and affiliates and the brands that work with them.

During the conversation, the team shared some thoughts on influencer marketing and how it specifically relates to ecommerce businesses.

The Importance of Influencer Marketing in Ecommerce

Currently, influencers mainly impact the buying process early on, usually during the discovery or brand awareness part of the sales cycle. But even though influencers might not be actually closing tons of sales, creating that awareness and building brand advocates can be a huge part of the marketing process for ecommerce businesses.

Manley said of influencer marketing, “It’s important because it is a huge piece of your ecommerce. It’s a really great way to build brand equity and brand advocacy.”

Since that’s all part of the beginning of the buying cycle, measuring results of influencer campaigns for ecommerce has been more difficult than other strategies like affiliate marketing.

But that all could soon change. The team at Pepperjam is working on a new tech offering that could make it easier for influencers and brands to measure results even when working with influencers that have more of an impact early in the buying process. Even though measuring the impact of affiliates has traditionally been a lot easier, Pepperjam believes that the newer concept of influencer marketing is poised to have a major impact on ecommerce businesses going forward.

Manley said, “That is going to be the sweet spot moving forward for ecommerce.”

This article, “The Power of Influencer Marketing in Ecommerce” was first published on Small Business Trends

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Asset sales are much needed by indebted power, steel and telecom companies

So you built an ecommerce site and think it’s now ready. But is it really good to go live?

Several businesses have ecommerce websites these days, but not all succeed in increasing their page views and maximizing conversions. To launch a successful ecommerce site, you must know which mistakes you should avoid.

Discount coupon company Bluehost Coupon Codes has created a checklist of common mistakes businesses make when they launch their ecommerce sites.

Ecommerce Website Mistakes to Avoid Before Going Live

Let’s take a look at a few glaring mistakes you must avoid.

No Proper About Us Page

Potential customers want to know who you are before they start doing business with you. That’s why, most of them will check your About Us page for information. The absence of a good About Us page can affect website traffic and impact your sales.

Not Focusing on the SEO Strategy

You may invest a fortune on creating a sleek ecommerce website, but you won’t be able to reap the results unless you have a solid SEO strategy.

In today’s increasingly competitive marketplace, SEO is crucial to ensure you rank on the top pages of the search engines. A top ranking will get you more traffic and translate it into sales.

Not Taking Content Marketing Seriously

Good content is the reason why customers keep coming back to a site. For an ecommerce site, relevant and updated content is essential to keep customers interested. Remember, the information should provide real value to your target audience.

Not Making Your Website Responsive in Design

The number of mobile users is growing at a steady pace. And for ecommerce site owners, majority of traffic comes from mobile devices. A responsive web design ensures users get the same great experience when they are browsing your site on their mobile phones.

Loading Speed

Slow sites lose customers who tend to never come back again. Fast loading speed, on the other hand, can improve user experience and help you boost traffic.

To see all 19 mistakes you’ll want to avoid before launching your company’s ecommerce website, check out the infographic below:

Image: Bluehost Coupon Codes

This article, “19 Mistakes to Avoid on Your Ecommerce Site Before It Goes Live (INFOGRAPHIC)” was first published on Small Business Trends

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TRAVEL advisory notices, which alert passengers to the risks of going to certain places, are standard business for frequent flyers. But last week brought an unusual one. The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), America’s oldest civil-rights organisation, warned black flyers about the dangers of travelling with American Airlines.

The NAACP says that  “a pattern of disturbing incidents” has been reported by black passengers specifically about American Airlines. Such incidents “suggest a corporate culture of racial insensitivity and possible racial bias”. Of the four incidents that the NAACP cite, two involved prominent black activists, PR Lockhart notes at Vox, a news site. Although the NAACP does not mention them by name, one is thought to be Rev William Barber, a former NAACP leader in North Carolina. He was removed from a flight from Washington, DC, after he responded to rude comments…Continue reading

The Paychex | IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch reported a slowdown with a job growth index of 99.89 for October. Wage growth has also slowed down slightly with national hourly earnings at $26.07.  Still, the last three months have been the most stable in the Small Business Jobs Index’s history.

October 2017 Small Business Employment Statistics

Although monthly hourly earnings have slowed nationally in recent months, the bigger picture is still good with a year over year gain of 2.91 percent or 74 cents. The South still leads small business job creation with an index of 100.58 for the eighteenth month in a row.

Paychex uses payroll information in the report. The Index establishes a baseline index of 100 to monitor small business health. It’s the break even point that indicates moderate wage and/or job gains. The data is gathered from small businesses with under 50 employees.

At least some of the dropping numbers (99.89 for small business job growth nationally) were partially attributed to impact of two major hurricanes.

“While generally stable, the national jobs index dropped slightly in October, undoubtedly impacted to some degree by those communities recently disrupted by natural disasters,” said Martin Mucci, Paychex president and CEO in a company release.

Tampa, Miami and Houston are still dealing with disrupted hours worked due to Hurricanes Irma and Harvey.

The West had the fastest weekly earnings growth while the Midwest has experienced declines since February. On the job growth front, Georgia had the best one month growth rate in October. Hourly earnings in California jumped while weekly earnings in Florida took a tumble.

Job Listing Photo via Shutterstock

This article, “Small Business Job and Wage Growth Slow, Says Employment Watch Report” was first published on Small Business Trends

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China is considering legislation providing for sentences of up to three years in prison for disregard for the national anthem, the Associated Press and the DPA said, referring to the Chinese state media.

The proposed amendment to the Penal Code was submitted to the Chinese Parliament. Currently, the Penal Code provides punishment for insulting the national flag and symbols. China strictly requires its citizens to respect national symbols, 24chasa reports.

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Group says it can now make money with oil at $50-$60 a barrel

Dangerous houses in the center of Sofia are over 150. One third of them are in an area where only few incidents of collapsed houses have occurred in recent weeks.

The house on “Bratya Miladinovi” Str., Which was left without a wall because of a building in the neighborhood, is not yet secured.

This is not the only house in the area in such a state.

While measures are being taken, residents will have to walk with caution.

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A 6.8-magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale shook the shores of New Caledonia. For now there is no threat of a tsunami. The epicenter is 29 kilometers deep, about 253 kilometers from the capital, Noumea.

New Caledonia is located on the Pacific “ring of fire”, where the meeting of continental plates causes strong seismic activity and the country is often affected by strong earthquakes.

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Forcibly married Pakistani woman was arrested for the murder of 13 people as she gave poisoned milk to her husband, the France press reported.

Assia Bibi was married against her will in September in the village of Valvati in central Punjab province. She admitted she had poisoned her husband’s milk, a spokesman for the local police said. Her husband, however, did not drink directly the milk and it had been used to prepare the local Ayurvedic lashes.

13 people died, including the husband, and another 14 were admitted to the hospital. One man and his aunt were arrested on charges of complicity. The man is believed to be Bibi’s secret lover, and his aunt has proposed murder. Forced marriages, including minors, are common in Pakistan, especially in the poor rural areas of the country, where hundreds of women are killed each year in “crime of honor”.

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