online business

How to Start an eCommerce Business in 4 Easy Steps

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We are in the digital age, and our possibilities to make some extra income are endless, right? Yeah, well, many people don’t realize the true potential of the internet. We can see that a plethora of people uses only social media and similar things. Thankfully, there are a wide array of businesses that you can start online. Even though many people describe these businesses as part-time jobs that can provide you with an additional income, without expecting to earn a significant amount of money.

Well, this is not exactly true. If you increase your skills and knowledge, you can expect to have a pretty reasonable income that will provide you with an opportunity to make it your number one job. We are talking about jobs like copywriting and digital marketing. These are pretty common ones in this day and age. However, we can see that a lot of people start their own online sales business.

Source:fortune.com

Selling certain products can provide you with the possibility to have a pretty stable income. Naturally, it takes time for you to build your business from the moment you’ve created it. Of course, you need to be prepared to invest a significant amount of resources before you reach a certain level. The best way for you to create your own online business is to have an eCommerce business.

It goes without saying that you need to create a certain vibe before you are able to a stable income. Also, there are certain tools that can help you with choosing the type of products you are going to sell.

Anyway, creating a good eCommerce business is not an easy task, and there are certain steps you need to cover before you actually do it. We’ve decided to provide you with some of these.

The Type of Business

It goes without saying that you will have an opportunity to choose from, literally, countless types of businesses. As you can see online, people sell pretty much anything you can think of. Also, all of these sales are done in many different markets and niches. Before you actually start a business of your own, you need to do proper research on a certain topic. Only if you do it right, you will have an opportunity to make it a good one.

Furthermore, you need to be aware that your possibilities cannot be limited by the number of consumers you will be able to reach. According to some researches, 2020 is the year that has more than 2 billion of online buyers. We feel it is not necessary to say how much potential every online business has if done right. Some people even say that everyone buys online, which is not too far from the truth. So, you need to choose carefully the type of business you are going to make before you actually do.

Choosing the Right Niche

Source:neilpatel.com

We can see that many people don’t really understand the meaning of the term niche. In order to be as simplistic as possible, we are going to say that this is a place you will find for yourself on the market you’ve chosen. Also, it can be described as the type of people you are going to target with your products and marketing. This is something where a lot of people make the mistake when creating a new business of their own. Therefore, you need to be careful about the niche you are going to choose.

You certainly have a rough idea about the market you are going to enter and the products you will sell. However, we feel like you need to think about it in greater detail. All of us who are interested in entering an online market are happy to see that we have a lot of tools that can actually help us with our research. You will certainly have no problem finding a proper tool since there are so many of them, and you are able to do all of your research online, without having too many problems with finding the right one.

Building Your Own Store

After you’ve completed all of your research, you are now ready to create your own store. This is not such a hard task, even though there are some things that you need to consider. Basically, this is the step where you will create the content for your online store. Naturally, the first thing you need to do is to create a page for your products and their description. Also, you can provide some additional information that can help your potential customers to opt for buying some of your products in your store.

Source:wujiproductions.com

For example, you can even have a blog where you can have content that will describe the qualities of certain products in much greater detail. Naturally, this is the place where you can do proper research on keywords and improve your site’s overall SEO. This is a whole other field that requires a whole another article. We are not going to focus on it now. Furthermore, you can use some other content like images and short videos where you can describe all of the products. There are so many things you can do in this field that we can’t even begin to count them all.

Choosing the Proper Marketing Strategy

Source:repricerexpress.com

So, you’ve completed all of the things and you now have a web store of your own. The final thing that you need to consider is to choose the right approach when it comes to marketing. Thankfully, there are so many strategies that are proven to provide results. E-commerce is growing rapidly and companies are looking for new ways to reach out to customers. Push notification platforms like Adrack are among the best tools to re-engage with customers in an effective way. A well-planned e-commerce push notification strategy is a must to drive the sale.  At the same time, you need to be sure that not all of the strategies apply to every business. Most of the time, you will need to make small corrections to the strategy in question in order to make it compatible with your business. There is no magic formula for this part. The essential thing is to make those corrections until you find the proper one for your business.

If you are interested to see one of the best ones, you can check out ioscout.io/product-finder.

10 Money Making Online Business ideas Without Investment

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The idea of making money online is something that crosses everyone’s mind at least once in their life, and the great news about all of the new technology is that it is possible. With the right ideas, solid research, creative team/or person, you can earn cash from the comfort of your home. All of this may sound unrealistic, but it is the truth, and with the right commitment and devotion, you can do it. Whether you have a passion for doing web design, or you are good with words and love marketing, or you have a specific way to express yourselves, or you want to take surveys, making a profit online is possible.

There are so many ways to do so, but unfortunately, there are also a lot of scams, and that is why being cautious is a must when we talk about online business. In this text, we picked some of the best and secure ways to start your business online without any investment.

1. Freelancing

Source:elama.global

Freelancing sites operate as a middle man between the employer and the employee. There are numerous jobs that people or businesses don’t know how or do not have time to do, and this is where you can jump in and profit. If someone has exceptional writing skills, is skilled at marketing, programming, or designing, freelancing sites are the place for you. Even if someone doesn’t know how this works, every site has demo features that will make completing your profile and searching for work more apparent.

2. Blogging

Source:keynotesbh.com

For someone not well informed, this way of earning money at home and starting your business can sound complicated, but with creativity and some good topics, anyone can start their blogging career. What you need to start is to have a website with your domain. You can either purchase it or get a free one available on various platforms such as nameestate.com.

The price for your own unique and original website is low, and since there are some restrictions on these blogging sites on what you can write or say, it is maybe the best to invest a little. It is not all about writing, and as a blogger, you can post photos, videos, or links to other sites, as long as the topics relate to your niche. By doing this, you can improve the number of visits to your blog, which you can then monetize thru adds.

3. Dropshipping

Source:oberlo.com

This kind of business is expanding very fast and taking over the online community. Here, you don’t need to have a warehouse full of products to run your business, and you act as a middle man between the supplier and the buyer. There is no or low investments needed, and once someone buy some item from you (at a higher rate), you make an order with the third party (for a lower price). What makes dropshipping so great is that when you connect with trustworthy associates, they take care of everything (packaging, shipping), and you can run your business from anywhere.

4. Affiliate Marketing

Source:equi-blog.com

It is another quite popular way of making money online, and also very similar to dropshipping. The main difference is that with Affiliate Marketing, you provide your website, blog, and social media followers with a review of certain products and a link to the retailers’ website. And every time someone uses your link to purchase some product, you will earn an affiliate commission.

5. Virtual Assistant

With every business comes some important, yet time-consuming tasks that marketers can’t or don’t have time to do, and are willing to find the right person for it. That job is the Virtual Assistant. The specifics of the work can vary, and as a VA, your job can be managing emails, calendar appointments, social media posts, and marketing, dealing with travel arrangements, and even some video editing and blog posting.

6. Consultant

One way to apply your knowledge is to work as a consultant and earn money. If someone is a specialist, or have a lot of experience in some field, you can consult students or people that need it and make cash. People often require some proper guidance, and whether it is for their business, private finance, or with content writing, you can both help them and get paid.

7. Content Writing

Source:scripted.com

Those who are good at grammar, and have exceptional writing skills, content writing can be a perfect way to express themselves and increase their bank accounts. Yes, it is a time-consuming job with a lot of research, but it doesn’t need any investments. The way it works is you can write a good sample article and send it to possible publishers, or you can write for a website that will give you money for your writing.

8. Creating Online Courses

Source:entrepreneur.com

Creating courses can be one of the most challenging online jobs, but if you do succeed in making well-received and informative tutorials, you will be earning money for a long time. No one can be an expert in every field, but to start, you need to make a video where you will teach people something you know. Then you can put it on your blog or an online course platform.

9. Social Media

Source:circlethreebranding.com

The importance of social media is enormous, and with so many people using it, it became a great place to do marketing and earn money. A person can make money via social media in many ways, but most common is by promoting products and services. For this to work, you will have to attract a lot of followers so that other businesses that want to advertise will choose you and your profile for that.

10. Stock Market Trading

Source:medium.com

Stock investing and trading is also one way for someone to earn a significant amount of money. To be able to do so, and if you are not familiar with stocks and trading, you should also invest time in some basics in this field.

Being present online today is much more than have a social media account. There are ways for everyone to apply their knowledge and skills and make money by doing it. Either you choose to be an influencer, marketing expert, or a content writer, there is a job for you online. And if you are interested and want to find out more about stocks and trading, check https://1k-dailyprofit.software/.

Top Tips for Starting an Online Business

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It’s been a tough few months for the world, with the Coronavirus pandemic leading to many staff furloughed and leaving many companies no choice but to close their doors forever.

But for many, Coronavirus and the period of lockdown has been a catalyst for business creativity and innovation. With more free time than usual, individuals everywhere have been able to work on their “side-hustles” and turn passions into profit. This period of uncertainty has given rise to a whole new generation of entrepreneurs, with the sale of baked goods, arts and crafts, and home-made hand sanitizers, just a few examples of lockdown businesses that have bloomed in their multitude.

The pandemic has also been a real eye-opener for owners of traditional brick-and-mortar businesses. The realization of having to adapt their digital and online strategies has been key for survival. For such business owners, the lockdown has been a time of working on new websites, boosting their social media presence and digging deep into researching their online audiences in order to find out how best to reach them.

And so, one thing we know for certain coming out of lockdown, is that a strong online presence is essential for any business.

If you, too, are armed with a business idea and feeling like you’re ready to dive into the sea of entrepreneurism, take a look at these simple yet winning tips to get you off to a flying start.

Get to know your audience

Source:ovidbell.com

Really knowing your audience is an essential stage in targeting your efforts. If you want to make sales, you have to figure out who your primary target audience is, what they want, what they care about, and what they don’t care about. This will be vital information to drive your marketing.

A good first step is to ask yourself, “who should I be marketing to, and how will I reach them?”. This will involve identifying the age, gender, location, socioeconomic status, and other demographic and psychographic traits of the consumer who would be most interested in purchasing your product or service.

Deep research around these points will enable you to optimize your marketing efforts to engage and convert your target audience. For example, knowing what kind of content your audience likes should influence the design and creation of your own website content.

Create compelling content

Source:searchenginejournal.com

An important ingredient in both attracting and keeping your target audience engaged is the creation of regular, high-quality content.

If you’re selling products online, you need to ensure you’re using professional photography and clear descriptions so potential customers can easily find what they’re looking for.

You should plan and create content with your target audience always in mind. You can write engaging blogs that provide valuable information to your audience and answers any questions they may have and create eye-catching social media graphics on free tools such as canva.com. With 85 percent of people watching video content daily, you may wish to capitalize on this trend by producing a promotional video of your products or services.

Create a strong social media presence

Source:oodlesmarketing.com

Social media is an essential tool in growing a strong online presence – so much so that some entrepreneurs have even built an entire business on social media platforms.

It’s a great place to promote your products and services and build up a community of followers both organically and through targeted, paid advertising.

There are so many social media channels available today, from the more established platforms such as Facebook to newer but booming platforms such as TikTok. You’ll need to identify which platforms your audience prefers and create a strong strategy to ensure you’re truly engaging them. Take a look at these six tips for boosting your social media presence in 2020.

Create a user-friendly website

Source:perpetualtc.blogspot.com

In today’s market, you can’t really have a strong online presence without a business website.

Fortunately, it’s never been easier to create powerful and well-designed websites thanks to the wide variety of business website builders available at your fingertips. Be sure to read reviews and do your research in order to decide which one will best fit your needs.

You need to ensure your website is designed with your target audience in mind, from the colors, style, and placing of imagery, to the keywords used throughout your website copy. These are all necessary steps in order to optimize your site for Google and to convert website visitors to paying customers.

On top of this, it’s important to ensure your website has a strong and reliable eCommerce Payment Gateway in place (for more information, visit www.utpgroup.co.uk). This is necessary in order to take payments from customers around the world, enabling you to increase the reach of your business and geographic spread of your customer base.

Devise a digital marketing strategy

Source:technopros-sa.com

A digital marketing strategy is a plan of action that underpins all of the above points. It’s a holistic approach, using digital channels such as social media, email marketing, and more, to drive more traffic and convert more sales.

No matter your industry or company size, it’s one of the best ways to grow your business. Simply put, a strong digital marketing strategy consists of defining your goals and then strategizing how digital media tactics can help you achieve them.

Despite the challenges of the Covid-19 crisis, many businesses are thriving. If you have an online business idea and time on your side to work on it, now really is the time.

10 Useful Online Business Tools For Entrepreneurs

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Whether you are a new or an established entrepreneur, you might be constantly looking for ways that will make running your business time-efficient, easier, and less stressful. However, there are thousands of useful online business tools available on the market, which might make it difficult for you to choose the best ones.

Source:dezzain.com

If you are interested in learning what are some of the most useful tools that you can use, this article might help you. The text below is going to feature a list of the most useful online business tools that you can – and should – use if you are an entrepreneur. Let’s take a closer look:

  1. Design Hill

This platform is one of the leading ones for small, medium, and larger businesses, especially the ones that need a wide range of graphic design solutions. This website employs a lot of experienced graphic designers from all over the world and for a small fee, you can create your logo, website, brochures, as well as other work that you need to be done.

Source:linkedin.com

  1. Virtual Staff Finder

Now, if your business kicked off rapidly, you might need a virtual assistant that can help you with your everyday business processes. The platform will allow you to search for the best candidates, and you can also have interviews with them in order to determine whether or not they are suitable for your needs.

  1. Missing Lettr

Your objective might be to build an efficient social media campaign, and if so, you might want to opt for this site that will allow you to create various social media campaigns. They will drive traffic to your pages automatically, hence, you’ll be able to work better and focus on other aspects and processes of your company. This platform will also easily build up your brand.

  1. Template Monster

Source:magenticians.com

If you need to quickly get your website up and running, this platform might be your best option. It will allow you to get relatively cheap digital products such as templates, and you’ll also be able to control the things you post, how your site looks like, as well as other features that you might want. If you want to see what services this site offers, check out Templatemonster for more info.

  1. Upwork And Fiverr

You might need freelancers to help you with a wide range of things, and Fiverr and Upwork are two websites that can allow you to access various freelance profiles. You’ll probably be able to find whatever you are looking for and by looking at the reviews at the platform, you can determine whether or not someone is worth hiring.

  1. Shopify

Source:shopify.com.au

Shopify will allow you to create an online store for your businesses. This E-commerce platform is easy to use and you’ll have no problems with integrating your store with your website. Additionally, it can help you with managing your inventory, stock, orders, and it can process payments as well, which means that it is one of the best platforms for new entrepreneurs.

  1. Convert Kit

Thinking about creating an email list or several of them for your company? Well, Convert Kit will help you manage those lists. You can also set up auto-response, which means that you won’t need to spend a lot of time replying to your customers. You can also utilize it for easily segmenting the email subscribers of your blog, and so on.

  1. Mock Plus

Source:1stwebdesigner.com

This is, perhaps, one of the most efficient and powerful digital product design websites that can easily bring your company the best customer experience that all people are looking for. It is able to connect the entire product development process by combining various product managers, developers, as well as designers to work together towards one single goal.

  1. Meetup

This software can allow you to find a wide range of networking events and social gatherings that interest you, as well as one that is in your niche. If you are, for instance, looking for some help and advice on how to start a successful business, you can utilize this program in order to connect with various individuals that can help you with achieving your goal.

  1. You Need a Budget

Source:etmoney.com

You might find it difficult to track and monitor your budget, which is why this program can be quite useful for you, small and medium businesses, as well as large corporations. It will allow you to track all your sales, revenue, expenses, and debt in its attractive and user-friendly interface.

Things to Consider Before Purchasing a Program

Of course, you’ll be able to find a wide range of programs that are completely free, however, some of them might charge a small fee, which is why you should consider a few things before you actually choose to purchase it. The things you should consider and think about include:

  1. Is There a Free Trial? – One of the first things that you should think about is whether the company behind the platform offers a free trial. If it does, you’ll be able to test out the program without paying for it, which means that you’ll definitely be able to determine whether it is suitable for your business or not.

 

  1. The Features – since there is a lot of software that offer the same things, you should consider what features you can gain. Some of them might offer more features for the same price, while other less for more money. Hence, before you opt for anything, check out the features.

 

  1. The Price – if you have just started with your business, you might be on a tight budget, so, you should also compare the prices. This can allow you to get a similar platform for less money, which means that you can actually save money, while still having the tools that you need.

Conclusion

As you can see, there is a wide range of online business tools that you can utilize for your business. Not only will they make everything easier, but, they will also save you a lot of time and nerves. So, now that you know what you can opt for, you should not lose any more time. Instead, go back to the beginning of this article and determine which tools might be best for your company!

How To Find Your Niche in 2020

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There’s no question that there is a lot of money you can make by selling products online. Reports show that over 50 percent of shoppers will buy gifts for friends and family on their computers.

In 2019, online stores, both big and small, brought in over $147.5 billion just in the third quarter of the year. The real question is, how do you get a slice of the pie?

Can You Make Money Selling Online?

Source:disturbdigital.com

If you browse the internet long enough, you can find several websites that tout the advantages of running your own eCommerce business. Many people who market products online successfully make a good living selling toys, books, or t-shirts.

While it takes hard work and dedication to run an online business, it also takes the right products.

Finding a Niche

One piece of advice that all online entrepreneurs give would-be internet marketers is to find a niche. A niche involves finding a product or type that sells well or is in high demand to choose to sell on platforms like Amazon, eBay, or Shopify. Shopify will be the great choice if you’re planning to sell the great and most expensive dropshipping products, which can be found on websites such as SaleSource. For more info, check here.

If you can find the right one, it has the potential to make enough money for you to quit your day job, work from home, and plan your next vacation to Tahiti.

However, it can take a lot of research to find the right type of product to sell online. However, you can start your research with these top niches for 2020.

Source:actioncoach.com

Top Niches in 2020

If you’re ready to try to get your piece of the pie online but you still need products to sell. Here are some of them that experts think will be bestsellers this year.

Healthy Meal Kits

Many people who want to learn to cook but don’t seem to have time for grocery shopping or preparing dinner are buying meals that are delivered to their doorsteps. These meal kits include fresh foods to prepare meals, along with the recipes and instructions to make them.

For many people who want to eat a healthy diet, these meal kits may be the answer to learning how to prepare healthy food. Also, those who follow specialized diets can find meal kits that meet their dietary requirements.

Adherents will find meals for diets or eating options like:

Keto
Paleo
Diabetic
Gluten-free
Vegan
Organic

Drones and their Accessories

Although they are not toys, drones have captured the attention of hobbyists of all ages. There is something that fascinates people about learning to fly drones and using them to take photographs of your property or the activities of your city.

Many experts predict that drones will bring in about $7 million in 2020. Drones come in all sizes, from tiny drones that you can hold in the palm of your hand to those that are as big as large model airplanes.

The accessories for drones can also turn a good profit because some parts may need replacing when customers crash their drones or they may wish to add cameras and other accessories to them.

Custom T-Shirts

Source:vividcustoms.com

Many small eCommerce business owners make over $100,000 a year by selling custom t-shirts online. As an industry, experts contend that t-shirts will sell about $10 billion by 2024.

Custom t-shirts are available with original graphics and sayings in several colors for businesses or individual men, women, and children. Consumers who collect t-shirts will find a large variety of designs online instead of in stores like Spencer’s Gifts or Old Navy.

People that are interested in this niche will find several businesses that offer custom print t-shirts. They can get more on this site about selling t-shirts online and making a profit with them.

Subscription Boxes

When selling products, you should look for consumable items to get recurring sales. However, subscription boxes are also a great way to get recurring sales as well.

Sellers can select from several categories of products that people want. Companies sell subscription boxes for almost everything, including:

Coffee
Personal Care Items
Make-up
Snacks
Pet Products
Shaving Accessories

Every year, the subscription box business has grown by 200 percent.

Cruelty-free Make-up

Make-up is always a hot seller online or offline. Along with people wanting more natural products, they also want them free of animal testing.

Going online to buy cruelty-free make-up is a good way to find brands that cater to ecology-minded consumers that many stores do not sell.

Since some consumers are careful about what they buy, they can research the products by reading product labels without feeling like they are being hounded by salespeople.

Experts expect the market for this type of make-up, and other cruelty-free products, to continue going about six percent this year.

Natural Skincare Products

Another item to sell online is natural skincare items. Many women and men want skincare products that contain natural ingredients instead of chemical ingredients that may be harmful.

These types of products have grown by about 10 percent per year, and the niche is expected to make as much as $22 billion by 2024.

Finding and Selling Niche Products

Source:onlinebizfacts.com

To sell products, such as these five niche products, you will need to have an inventory and ship what you sell to customers who order your products online.

However, if you don’t want to buy inventory and ship merchandise, you can find companies that dropship the products that you sell.

Dropshipping offers many advantages, such as:

Not needing to buy and keep an inventory
Shipping products directly from warehouses to customers
Not needing to money or set-up credit card accounts under your name
The cost of products are usually lower
It’s easy to set up an online business with dropshipping

Although it’s easier and more convenient to start an online business at home by dropshipping products, it takes a lot of work to research and find the right things with which to make money.

While you can get tips for choosing products, the available programs about starting eCommerce businesses can cost more money than you want to spend. However, there is great potential for making an extra income online.

Things to Consider When Starting Your Email List

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Today online business demands effective email marketing activities for a company to be successful on the market. People tend to overlook this part and invest too much time, energy, and finances advertising their business through different channels without sorting out their email list. But how can email lists help us?

By attracting visitors to your website, you will end up with permanent customers, if what you advertise has value and if your website looks decent and organized. Note that 20% visitors of your site will be interested in checking out the website again, and 80% will just browse through never to be seen yet on the site. The focus is to develop a connection with the mentioned 20% of visitors through a useful email list and hopefully turn them into potential customers.

The first thing when starting your email list is the audience you are addressing your messages. Specifying the groups, you are engaging contact with, outlines their expectations, consumer, and purchasing power. Understanding all groups of the audience increases the chances to make them your email subscribers, introducing them to the information they require. This is crucial to building future communication with potential consumers.

Img source: goinswriter.com

Address the content on your website and the sent emails. Content is vital on the site, where you need to raise interest and provide answers. After building interest, your emails have to be carefully formed towards certain potential purchasing groups. Make your every sent email count, because it is about the quality of the content, not the number of sent emails to subscribers. Focus on the bigger picture when starting your email list.

Email marketing service (EMS) is next on the list to do agendas in starting your list. The technical issue which you must have in mind is the effects of EMS when adequately constructed. The mentioned EMS allows the whole process to start and function creating forms to collect emails, form an email list, develop email subscribers from the list, handle timely email subscribers, remove unnecessary emails from the list, target and send emails to subscribers, create an autoresponder. We suggest including an affordable email verification service like TheChecker to improve your ROI.  Studies have confirmed that between different online marketing tools, only email approach can generate $40 for every $1 invested in boosting your ROI.  The final step in the EMS is to tag your recognized email subscribers, creating segments and a structured pipeline, to let the funnel marketing operate.

Img source: marketingland.com

When creating your email list, consider your autoresponder as your perfect customer service. Providing answers when required is as crucial as the answer is self. Acknowledging this fact will increase the chances of your email list becoming your customer list.

Use the benefit of interacting on different social media Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others with posting a link to your landing page instantly connecting new visitors to your offer on the site. Working on social media will require some handling, but the number of potential consumers you can communicate with is endless.

We hope that these suggestions will help you start the perfect email list for your online business.

Tips on how to save on shipping

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If you run a business or even an online store you have probably already encountered the problem of expensive shipping fees. You want your merchandise to be delivered safely and quickly, but the conveyance cost is too high, and you can’t let your customers cover this expense because the cost may be larger than the price of the product itself. In the following text, we are going to give you some advice on how to save money.

If you are selling products of different size and weight, our first advice is to ship with a few different carriers because each shipping company offers a variety of diverse rates. Carefully consider the size and weight of each and every product and ship them individually. The same thing goes for the destination of your goods. One company may have low rates when delivering merchandise locally, but they overprice internationally shipments. Finding a few companies probably seems like a time-consuming and nerve-wracking task, but it will eventually pay off.

Img source: economist.com

When choosing between different freight carriers hire a few of them for one delivery and track their performance. This is especially important if you are shipping merchandise internationally. Compare rates and shipment plans they offer and also different additional features. Some companies like ShipToBox offer other services like Personal Assistant or Warehouse Services. In addition, a number of carriers will allow you to manage and track the delivery progress online, which will save you a lot of time and, in the long run, money. Besides, your customers will be able to track their order and get the estimated time of the delivery. Also, they will be promptly informed in case any problems arise.

Once you have found the best carrier for you, negotiate before hiring them. Since you will be using their services for an extended period of time, you should try to get the best deal you possibly can. Inquire about discounts or other allowance, and they will probably grant you some because they will be getting a long term client.

Img source: lifehacker.com.au

Another thing you can do is to cut down the packaging expenses. A lot of people who manage an online business reuse old boxes they have lying around their house or garage. Some carriers will provide you with free boxes, but others will charge you for them. If your goal is to save money, you shouldn’t buy boxes when you can find them almost everywhere – just go to your local grocery store and ask if you can take them. We are sure they will allow you to have them. In case you sell some fragile items, you should use shredded paper when packing them, instead of buying bubble wrap. Your customer won’t care about anything else except the thing they ordered, and you will lower your shipping expenses and at the same time recycle old paper.

Furthermore, you should always have insurance for all your packages. Clearly, transport companies offer you insurance for all your parcels, but their rates are usually pretty steep. That is why you should consider having third party insurance. Third party companies won’t charge you as much as carriers would, and all your packets will be protected.

To conclude, shipping fees can be excessively pricy. In order to reduce these costs, try some of the aforesaid tips and tricks.

The Best online Team Collaboration Tools for Business

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Many companies rely on messaging and obsolete business solutions to collaborate, and also spend hundreds of hours in meetings to ensure team alignment and communication. This results in a slow and inefficient organization that is not adapted to the current business climate. Skilled workers are now spread all over the world. Remote workers are increasingly relying on continuous connectivity, and expect faster access to information. As such, the sharing of information and professional work is essential to the communication and productivity of the company. With the collaboration tools available on the internet, employees can create, share and modify work files in real time. These web and mobile applications are easy to use. In particular, they make it possible to improve internal communication within the company. At the time of digitalization, a significant part of your work and projects is done online. Collaborative tools are multiplying, as such, the choice and use of collaborative tools become an indispensable part of your business. But which to choose? Don’t worry. We have listed 5 best online collaborative tools for Business.

1. HUBSTAFF

Main Function: Task management, Time tracking, project monitoring,

Price:  $5 – $10

Platform: Web, iOS, Android, Linux

Img source: Truebill.com

If you are looking for a collaborative tool for your project, Hubstaff should be your first choice. It allows team members to collaborate, manage projects, and assign priorities in a simple drag and drop list. It allows you to see all your team tasks and makes it easier for you to prioritize them. Hubstaff also tracks time of the assigned task with the desktop timer. It eases monitoring of the work through random screenshots, activity percentage, and internet monitoring. It integrates with several third-party project management tools like Trello, Asana, Redbooth, Podio, Github, etc. which makes time tracking of the project more convenient.

2. TRELLO

Main Function: Task management, Create boards and lists, flexible project management.

Price: $12.50

Platform: Web, iOS, Android

Img source: softwareadvice.com

Trello is another popular online service that allows you to organize your tasks, to-do sheets, discussions and ideas on one board like much other collaboration software. It is also very easy to communicate on specific project tasks using the Trello comment system. It also integrates with several other apps such as Slack, Github, Google drive, etc. You can also add checklists, labels, timelines to the tasks, and the notification system will keep you updated about the progress. It also provides file sharing facility. The latest addition to Trello has been the use of emoji which has taken team discussion into a whole new level.

3. REDBOOTH

Main Function: Task management, task assignment, project templates, workflow management, personal planning, design and development, Gantt charts.

Price: $9 – $15

Platform: Web, iOS, Android

Img source: alternatives.co

Redbooth is an online collaboration tool with a simple and intuitive interface that helps teams of any size to do work together and communicate in real time. The application allows you to use Gantt charts to help organize projects. It is also a great tool for agencies that need to interact with many clients at the same time. For each project, it is easy to set your own deadline, and the application will notify all connected persons about the approaching date. Rebooth also offers file sharing and synchronization with Google Drive, Gmail, and Outlook. It also provides video calling feature which makes the communication within the team more effective.

4. PODIO

Main Function: Task management, project monitoring, file sharing, project tracking.

Price: $9 – $14

Platform: Web, iOS, Android

Img source: louderthanten.com

Podio is a collaboration tool that allows you to work on projects with the team. It helps in organizing projects, exchanging information between colleagues, maintaining communication with customers, processing sales and managing orders. Podio allows you to centralize documents, workflow, and communications in one place. You can share files, coordinate projects and tasks, organize your agenda or chat with your colleagues via instant messaging or video calls. It also integrates with third-party services and apps including Google Drive, Evernote, Zendesk, etc.

5. ASANA

Main Function: Task and workflow management, project templates, attachments, command pages, personal planning, design, and development.

Price: $9.99 – $19.99

Platform: Web, iOS, Android

Img source: luna1.co

It is important for project managers to be able to quickly assess progress in the project using process visualization. Asana is a great way to break up projects into tasks and track them online to the very end. The application is configured for most projects. You can assign tasks, see who is working on what task, determine deadlines, discuss tasks and more as you progress through a large project. Asana also offers dozens of integrations with other applications. For example, you can sync Asana with your Google calendar to display your weekly schedule.

Online collaboration tools help your managers, the team of employees, and you yourself keep up-to-date on the progress of projects, which can change and which you cannot always keep up with. With the right collaboration tool, you can always keep track of your project, assess progress, discuss tasks, and are more likely to succeed in your business.

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