If you’re running an ecommerce store in 2019, you might have considered dropshipping. Dropshipping is the practice of selling inventory that you don’t actually have on hand. There are unique challenges involved in dropshipping that don’t come alone with traditional shipping practices, mainly because you need to rely on your vendors to send the products purchased by your customers.

When you get into the details of dropshipping, it all sounds very complicated – but it doesn’t actually need to be. Ever heard of EDI, more formally known as electronic data interchange? EDI is the practice of B2B communication via electronic means (and no, we’re not talking about email). EDI is much more structured than that and it is completely automated.

EDI comes in many forms, but for ecommerce stores hoping to take advantage of dropshipping, it is time to look for a drop ship EDI program.

Why Dropship?

Before we can cover the advantages of EDI for your dropshipping business, let’s first talk about the specific benefits of dropshipping itself. According to a company called DiCentral, dropshipping allows you to “ship directly to consumers by leveraging your dropship vendor community with the same confidence as shipping from your own warehouse.”

This means you never have to deal with the actual products you’re selling. As long as you make solid connections with your vendors, you can ship just about anything from anywhere to anyone. You don’t have to pay a cent to purchase your inventory at a wholesale rate before selling it to the consumer for the retail price. On top of this, you won’t have to pay for a storage solution for storing your inventory. Instead, it will be shipped directly from the vendor or manufacturer to your customer.

Potential Problems with Dropshipping

This all sounds great and all, but there are certainly some issues you could experience with dropshipping if you don’t go about it properly. There must be a greater level of organization involved and solid communication with your vendors and third-party sellers. If you don’t have a way to receive real-time updates from your vendors, then you might not have knowledge of what’s in stock vs out of stock.

How EDI Can Help

When you invest in an EDI solution for your dropshipping business, there’s not more questions like “Where’s my order?” from your customer base. All of your company data will be synced with the relevant information from your vendors and third-party sellers. This information is often synced in real-time, so as soon as a vendor runs out of an item you’ll be notified to mark that item as “out of stock”.

The beauty of dropshipping, though, is that you can have multiple vendors selling the same products. When one vendor is out of stock of a customer favorite, you should be able to sell it from someone else. You’ll also have plenty of time to find another vendor before the situation gets too dire since you’ll have complete visibility of inventory lists. When you see that something is running low, you’ll have time to organize another solution for your customers.

 

In the present, the capability to stay mobile is a vital skill. Clients can come from anywhere and may ask for services at any time. As long as you can go to a potential customer’s area anytime, with complete equipment and materials, you have an advantage over others in the same industry. You’ll be able to have a broader market and a better business overall.

The Importance of Being a Mobile Welder

As a welder, being mobile is becoming increasingly important. If a construction project needs a welder, the one who can easily reach the area fully prepared immediately has the advantage for the one requiring services. Being mobile also allows a welder to volunteer for projects that he or she wants to assist with. A freelance mobile welder can never go wrong with making his or her services portable. However, to become successful, there are several things you need to take care of.

What Does a Welder Need To Become Mobile?  

To become a successful traveling welder, you have to be able to secure the following:

• Sufficient Training – To maximize your potential as a traveling welder, you must be skilled enough for multiple varieties of welding. Every situation you’ll encounter may need different welding styles; the more you can do, the better you can earn, and the more customers you’ll be able to serve. You have to know at least how to weld using MIG; you can eventually add Torch Welding and TIG to your repertoire in the future after that.
• A Complete Set of Tools And Materials – As a mobile welder, you have to be prepared at all times, especially if you’re able to perform more than one kind of weld. Each type of weld requires different sets of materials to be performed, so you’ll have to carry more than one set of equipment. Make sure that you list down all the variations so that you’ll always be prepared for any situation, since you may not always get the chance to go back home and replenish materials.
• A Mode Of Transportation – A traveling welder needs a vehicle to be able to travel around. It’s advisable to have something that can carry both you and all your equipment. For this purpose, you should look into either a large capacity van or a truck with a wide payload carrier at the back. It should also have a reliable engine, with enough torque and power to take you places.
• A Portable Generator – The last thing you would want to happen is for your welding work to be interrupted by a power outage. Welding requires a lot of electricity, so it’s crucial that you have a portable generator with you at all times. It will allow you to keep working despite outages. For a list of reliable generators, you may check this out.

Building Your Network

Once you secure all the items above, you are now ready to be a traveling welder. The next step is for you to look for potential customers to provide services to. Start marketing yourself by asking for referrals from friends and family. You may also ask them if they need welding services themselves. Aside from that, you should also take advantage of social media and the Internet by posting about your services online, so that you can reach a wider market quickly.

Once you successfully build a network of customers, your next priority is to build your reputation as a welder. Do this by performing each job with a hundred percent of your effort, so that you will be able to establish yourself as a reliable worker and will be referred by your customers to others. No person will refer a service provider that they were not happy with, so make sure that you can establish a good relationship with all of them.

Conclusion

Setting up a mobile business is challenging but fulfilling in the long run. To be a successful traveling welder is to be able to go from place to place while carrying a ton of equipment at the same time. This is on top of the already present risks that welding poses to workers, such as the safety and health hazards of being exposed to intense heat. However, for someone passionate about welding, these are easy to overcome, so long as you prepare for every situation and are aware of everything you’re getting into.

To read more on topics like this, check out the business category.

 

You can use various platforms for advertising and reaching a lot of people. You can use internet marketing, TV advertising and many others. The problem with these strategies is that although you allow people to be aware of your business, you do not have the chance to know them.

It is vital that you also meet the people who are potential customers of your business. You want to know how you can advertise to them in the future. Besides, you also want to have the chance to interact with them. These are some ways for you to engage with them directly.

Setup public booths

You can set up stalls in malls, schools and other public places where you get the chance to speak with your target audience. You can hand out flyers and posters at the booth. Make sure that you have enough staff to cater to the people who might want to find out more about your business. You may even distribute free samples of your products.

Attend trade shows

During trade shows, you will have the chance to speak directly with your target audience since they are going to move around and talk to various companies and organisations. You can answer their queries, talk about your business in detail, and even give samples of your products. You can also set up an exhibition display stand so that those who cannot go inside the booth to ask questions will still be aware of your business and what it has to offer.

Conduct a focus group discussion

Organising a focus group discussion is already common among businesses, to improve their advertising methods and messaging. It is also your chance to get an honest opinion of the people within your target group. During the discussion, you can ask questions about what they like or dislike about your products and services.

Sponsor local events

In sponsoring these events, you will see people who will possibly buy your products. You can sponsor concerts, seminars, conferences, charitable events, special galas, etc. You will boost the reputation of your business if you decide to sponsor these events. You can also set up a booth at the event or sell your products to the attendees. The good thing is that you can choose events where you are sure that the attendees are potential customers.

If given a chance to speak directly with the people who will most likely patronise your brand, you need to grab it. You want to engage with them whenever possible, so you will know their attitude towards your products. You also want them to feel that you are reaching out to them instead of being one of the many companies appearing on their social media feed. Besides, it helps if you have different strategies to advertise to your target audience. Relying on one method alone is not enough to boost your brand.

To read more on topics like this, check out the business category.

Focusing on social media could be the smartest thing you ever do for your company. Billions of people around the world spend an absurd amount of time on social media platforms every single day… and you could be reaching every single one of them if you join forces with a social media advertising agency.

Once you have established that you should indeed start focusing more on social media as a marketing platform, it is time to develop a strategy. Here’s how to get started.

Set Reachable Goals

Before anything else, you should determine what your hopes are for social media in the near future. Perhaps you want to increase your following, create a business partnership, or just have a better presence overall. Whatever your goals might be, try and set attainable ones that can be accomplished within your desired timeframe. Completely revamping your Facebook business account overnight won’t be possible.

Perform Analytics on Your Audience

The next step is to perform research on your audience. Not only who your audience is, but things like their likes, interests, dislikes, and overall outlook on life. This can be done using a social media analytics tool or hiring a professional to analyze everything for you. So much of what you need to know about your target audience is already available to you, you just need to compile the data and analyze it.

Determine Important Metrics

Social media metrics are the pieces of data that give you knowledge on your social media marketing performance. You should be focusing on the metrics that matter for growing your company’s profits, not just things like shares and likes. You need to be focusing more on the metrics that are leading to high engagement and sales. Here are a few additional metrics you should keep an eye on:

• Reach
• Clicks
• Engagement
• Organic and paid likes
• Hashtag performance

Research Your Competitors

There is nothing sneaky about looking into your competition. Chances are, they have already done the same thing to your. Before you start dumping money into your marketing efforts, take a look at how your main competition is marketing itself. You can do this by just observing or use an analytics tool in order to dig deep.

The purpose of this is not to steal ideas or be sketchy in any way. It is simply to see what is working for them, and more importantly how you can improve their model and apply it to your own marketing strategy. You might even learn what not to do by looking at your competition’s social media accounts.

Engaging Content is Key

You can share as much information as you like on Facebook, but if what you share is never your original content you might not seem like a credible source. Creating your own original content to be posted on your website’s blog page or social media accounts is an amazing way to make your brand more reputable. As long as you create thought-provoking, relevant, accurate, valuable, and entertaining content you can’t go wrong.

 

Having a bad rep is never a good thing, especially when it comes to the reputation of a company. If your brand starts to get a bad rep, your profits will start to take a hit. As a company leader, you need remember that people talk, and they love to talk online where their faces might not be seen, but their words are definitely still heard.

Many companies around the world are investing time and money in reputation management and repair, way more than they ever have before. You might be wondering, “why such a spike in the world of reputation management?” Here’s what you need to know about the ever growing importance of brand reputation management.

Reputation Management Took a Different Form in the Past

Although online reputation management is a newer concept, the practice for a company to maintain a positive reputation is not new at all. This has been around for centuries and was even a thing in ancient times. When someone is selling a service or product, obviously that person needs to maintain a good rep with the people to keep business coming in.

However, reputation management has changed significantly over the years. Now that the majority of business is conducted online, the entire user experience has changed. A consumer doesn’t even have to leave the comforts of home to buy something. Groceries can be delivered, TVs can be installed, just about anything can be done with a few clicks of a button on a smartphone.

Because your user spends so much time trolling the web, your focus needs to be maintaining your online reputation. No longer do you need to be as concerned about your retail store location (if you even have one), but instead you need to focus on your website.

What does the future hold for reputation management?

Modern day reputation management includes everything from monitoring online reviews to improving a brand’s presence on social media. The ways of online reputation management have been established, but nobody knows exactly what the future will hold. Technology is changing by the day, meaning the user experience is changing at a rapid pace as well. What does this mean for reputation management?

It is predicted that online reputation management will only continue to grow as a key marketing and branding tool. Some experts even believe that reputation management strategies will be used by nearly 100% of companies worldwide by the year 2022.

Your company might even be practicing reputation without even realizing it. If you are working to build your social media following, practicing search engine optimization, or monitoring your online reviews you are managing your reputation. You can take it a step further though by hiring a company that specializes in rep management; you’re likely to see some amazing results.

How to Find a Top Reputation Management Firm

First, you need to look into the firm’s reputation (see what we did there). This is true any time you are looking to hire a service or purchase a product. You can look into a company’s reputation but researching what they stand for, reading reviews and testimonials, and checking them out on social media.

 

Ecommerce businesses everywhere are simplifying the consumer experience for people around the globe. Instead of shopping for products within a retail location, the process is as simple as opening your laptop or logging into an app. This is a huge reason for the major boom that ecommerce has seen within the past few years.

Although ecommerce businesses make consumers’ lives easier, there are challenges involved in these business owners lives that aren’t easy to deal with at all. That is, until the business owner decides to invest in an order management system. If you’re in denial about needing an OMS, here are a few signs that your company needs one.

You’re struggling with supply chain visibility

Having complete supply chain visibility is crucial for ecommerce businesses, but it can be a major difficulty. This is especially true if you have inventory stored in multiple locations, you utilize several selling platforms, and you deal with multiple vendors. If you don’t have complete supply chain visibility, you could be selling products that you don’t even have in stock.

Managing every aspect of the supply chain is so much easier with the help of an order management system. An OMS streamlines the entire business model, everything from the customer ordering the product to the final stage of delivery.

You need help with returns management

Managing returns and refunds is never fun, especially if you’re attempting to do it without the help of an OMS. There are so many variables involved with returning a product, and it needs to be done in a way that works for the customer.

No matter the reason for the return, you should try to simplify things for the customer as much as possible. We can tell you that the process certainly won’t be simple if you’re trying to juggle everything without an OMS. OMS solutions provide tools to handle communication and eliminate returns complexities for both you and the customer.

You’re struggling to meet peak season demands

Most online businesses experience a peak season and an off season. Peak season is when the demand for the product or service increases exponentially, and off season is when things start to level off. A major peak season for most businesses is around the holidays when it is time to purchase gifts for loved ones. Is your current ecommerce model able to keep up with the peak season demands?

If not, an OMS could help out. Maybe your existing softwares can’t keep up with the increases in ordering volume during high season. You need to prepare for this ahead of time, like the insane business you’ll get on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. An OMS will allow you – the retailer – to focus on the core competencies of the business, even when sales and customer demands are at an all time high.

You current system lacks security

You’ll be handling a ton of sensitive information on a daily basis with your ecommerce business. Not just your own information, but also the personal and financial details of your customers. An OMS will ensure that this information is protected and secure from cyber threats.

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The onset of the vast digital space has made it easier for businesspersons to advertise their businesses online. Since access to the online space is easy, it is common to see businesses promoting products or services that are similar to yours. This immediately prompts the need for you to differentiate your business through effective digital marketing by using AdWords. Paying for AdWords to enhance your digital marketing is an effective way to help your business grow. Let us look at how you can use it as a catalyst for increased sales.

Include your physical location

Although some businesses are purely online, you may have a physical store where customers can access your goods or services. In an era where con artists take advantage of the flourishing online space, your target audience is likely to trust you if you include a physical location. It is in this location that potential customers are converted into buyers. Having this information is important when you are offering discounts or running a special offer exclusive to the store.

Specify calls only

The call-only option is a brilliant marketing tool that immediately separates your business from others on the web. When an interested online user searches for a product, they are likely to settle for an ad that has a phone number for easy communication. Lack of this feature means the user will have to access your website first to get the phone number and make the phone call, therefore, lengthening the process. You stand a higher chance of retaining the potential customer when they see the phone number at the first click.

Optimize your landing page

In most cases, the keywords you choose will lead the visitor to your website’s landing page. The content on this page and the clarity of the call-to-action will determine whether the visitor remains interested or leaves your page. Therefore, having a landing page that is in line with the ad will convince the potential customer to engage with your business. The call-to-action should be visible with words that are short and clear.

Be keen on positive and negative keywords

The keywords used to attract visitors to your business should be well thought out. Make sure you have positive keywords that quickly define what your business is about. At the same time, ensure you list the negative keywords. In this case, your ad will not be popping up if a web user types a search that contains the words you have listed. The last thing you need is to pay for clicks that will not convert to a customer. You can seek the help of a Google AdWords consultant to guide you on this.

Pay attention to the conversions

While it is easy to be distracted by the cost of clicks, you should focus on the conversions that the keywords are bringing in. Once you find out which keywords are more effective, you can get rid of the others that cost you money but have no returns.

Take a look at Broadplace and choose a pay-per-click arrangement that best suits your business.

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Thailand is just one place experiencing the benefits of a digital revolution that has really helped catapult many businesses in the area. Whether working remotely or through the virtual office, working in a digital climate can be expensive but in the long run, these applications allow businesses a lot more flexibility in the everyday management of a business. More significantly, it has helped the country’s business community remove barriers that traditional business formats could not address.

The remote-working situation has evolved to help business create platforms and primarily through the advent of virtual office suites that can help businesses use office space cost-effectively and efficiently. With a mix between online and offline office space, businesses can manipulate the business terrain to their advantage because these online tools simply make manoeuvring in virtual reality much easier. Take a look at Servcorp Thailand to see the many features of the modern virtual office by clicking onto the following link http://www.servcorp.co.th/en/virtual-offices/.

Keep reading to learn about how digital technology has really shaped modern entrepreneurship.

Digital Nomadism

One of the major offshoots of digital technology is the creation of a fleet of professionals who, as opposed to consigning them to one work location, travel the world to work for companies on contract. These professionals simply work in an online format in the host country of the organisation with whom they work. In many ways, it has removed them from the monotony of a full-time position, but through travel, these professionals are exposed to a number of ideas and business practices around the world.

Shared Space Lifestyle

Then, digital technology has contributed to the shared space phenomenon. Coworking, especially, has seen a surge in entrepreneurship just in terms of the number of spaces cropping in the country. Technology has made it possible for large numbers of people to work in one office while sharing the same internet connection and office amenities.

The virtual office has also created a cottage industry of serviced offices that provide a variety of plans for entrepreneurs trying to establish their businesses. With access to office space and a reliable internet connection, businesses can essentially determine the tempo of their work days. More importantly, this technology has presented businesses with the chance to save a load of cash on office space.

An Expanding Business Perspective

The virtual office and the technology that supports it has provided businesses with a way to understand business beyond their immediate borders. With a landscape that extends into an online universe, geographic limitations are no longer an issue when trying to establish your business. Thai businesses can build teams or partner with any business from around the world and simply through a fast internet connection.

Expediting Business

Digital technology has also been at the root of expediting much of business. Documents can be shared between professionals working in different locations around the world. Signatures can be received within minutes of being sent to the recipient, and communication is no longer a problem for professionals working distances away from each other but together. Then, electronic money transfers have made transactions between customers and their patrons move very quickly. Ultimately, digital technology has heralded in an age where businesses move at the speed of light.

Industry Made More Convenient

Technology in our everyday lives has made our existence very easy and simplified. For business and the entrepreneur, digital technology has not only made work convenient, but it has also provided access to many entrepreneurs with an idea but without the platform. Through the virtual office, though, it has provided infrastructure and organisation to an already established online landscape.

To read more on topics like this, check out the business category.

The relevance of video marketing for any business having a website cannot be sidelined. Its significance is of substantial benefit that ranges from an increase in web traffic to high sales conversion rates. Unless your consumers are more into reading, video content, especially for product tutorials, are more relatable and viewable. They are a vital marketing tool, and the costs associated should not render them a secondary option. Video agencies such as Liquona offer videography services aimed at optimising your business needs.

The integral factor for utilising videography services in this millennial age is the “social media influencer” aspect that is such a force to reckon with. For example, a large section of the beauty industry has focused its marketing plans on utilising influencers who have a relatively higher following and trust compared to the main website.

Videos provide a platform to convey the targeted emotions, goal, and the tone of the brand. This strategy was not considered mainstream in the past and was usually labelled as a costly expense due to cost-prohibitive factors such as equipment, location, and a lengthy production cycle. However, with the increase in the number of agencies offering video production services, the prices have significantly reduced, and the quality has improved.

Here are reasons why your business should invest in video marketing:

Builds Trust

Video tailored adverts are specific and more trustworthy compared to written content. It significantly reduces the time customers have to skim through articles looking for particular keywords, therefore, making them more appealing. For example, online car buyers are more thrilled with seeing videos of their ideal car on the track and can evaluate their performance from that rather than depending on written specifics.

Improves Customer Engagement

The engagement level on videos is much higher compared to other media of communication. Videos can provide live interactions with the target market and create an opportunity for buyers to voice their concerns. Through this, brands collect vital information to be used for brand development. It also becomes much easier to close sceptical buyers who want a more detailed presentation of your product or service.

Better Conversion and Sales Rates

If your business relied on text to drive sales and its result was appealing, titling your approach towards video marketing can turn appealing sales rates to massively handsome profits. After watching videos, consumers are more inclined to press the purchase button compared to written content where they may prefer to conduct more research for convincing information.

Improves Ranking on Search Engines

Getting higher conversion rates is in direct reference to one’s position on search engines. Video content marketing is one way to improve your ranking and drive sales. Videos created with specific keywords and phrases tends to rank better.

Distribution channels for awareness and sales driven videos encompass popular social spaces such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other professional communities such as LinkedIn, among others. Placing the ads on these channels should be dictated by the number of targeted consumers in that platform and the probability for more likes and shares. Invest more in reputable agencies that produce high-quality content. Low-quality content may be cheaper but not worthy of competition.

To read more on topics like this, check out the business category.

If you have information on violations of securities laws, you can take advantage of the SEC whistleblower program to report the crime and get compensation for your effort. Congress launched the program to help reduce the number of people engaged in securities manipulation and other scams that harm the economy.

Since such violations discourage investors and remove trust from the system, stopping them is in everyone’s best interest. The best part is that you can collect compensation if your report meets the requirements.

How the SEC Whistleblower Program Works

The SEC whistleblower program offers rewards to anyone who provides the government with new information that leads to sanctions against a violator. If you have information you would like to submit, you can do so on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s website, or you can print a form and mail it to them.

The government must impose sanctions of at least $1 million before you are eligible to collect your reward, and you can get between 10 and 30 percent of the damages collected depending on the value of your tip. After you make your report, you must review the website each day to see if the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission takes action related to the information you submitted. You have 90 days after the government takes action against the offender to apply for your compensation, so you don’t want to waste time.

Why You Need an SEC Whistleblower Attorney

From filling out your initial report to applying for the reward, you must take many steps to get the outcome you want. If you make mistakes or forget to follow up on your report, you could lose your right to collect compensation for your effort.

You won’t need to worry about those roadblocks if you enlist an SEC whistleblower attorney to have your back. The lawyer you hire will guide you from start to finish. They will make sure you take each step correctly so that you can enjoy the best possible odds of success, and you will know you did the right thing.

Getting Started

Contact the Labaton Sucharow law offices if you would like to file a report and protect your rights. The team at the Labaton Sucharow has collected more than $1 billion for its clients, which is the highest success rate in the program’s history. This law firm has former SEC and DOD prosecutors on staff in addition to a team of world-class investigators. If you would like to know you are in the best possible hands, give them a call at (212) 907-0700.

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