Blog

About

Careers

Contact

Solo's blog provides the resources that microbusinesses, solopreneurs, freelancers, and other super-small businesses need to start, operate, and grow.

Blog for starting, running, and growing your business | Solo.co

Blog - All Posts

In this article:\nBenefits of using general forums to spread awareness of your small business\nThe do’s of participating in general internet forums\nThe don’ts of using general forums for your business\nOnline forums can be a great way to improve brand awareness and help set yourself up as a thought leader in your business category. Find the forums that have discussions you can contribute value to and get involved in the conversation. \nEven general internet forums like Quora, Reddit, and NextDoor offer some unique opportunities for your business to contribute to industry-related discussions. \nLet’s go through some best practices of using these general forums as a way to improve online visibility and attract customers to your business. \nBenefits of using general internet forums\nThere are tons of ways small businesses can benefit from participation in \nindustry-specific forums\n, but you can find some great benefits from using general forums for your business too. \nGeneral forums typically have more total traffic and a greater number of active users than industry-specific forums\nPeople may trust general forums more because they are more widely known and recognized across industries\nThrough relevant “sub-forums” on larger sites, you can set yourself up as a thought-leader and/or stand out in your industry\nIf you’re not sure where to get started, try looking to Quora, Reddit, or NextDoor and see what discussions already exist around your area of expertise. You might be surprised how specific the subcategories can be. \nThe do’s of using general forums to spread awareness of your business\nAs with most things, there are right and wrong ways for your business to engage with general forums. Here are some of the best practices that you should be using as you start getting involved. \nDo be up-front about your business identity\nYou’ll gain much greater credibility (and attract less wrath from forum admin and members) if you are completely forthcoming about your identity and your links to your business.\nYou may choose to either create an “avatar” (online persona) that has the name of your business, or (more preferably), use a variation your own name or something else that doesn’t necessarily mention or call attention to your business association, but that also doesn’t make you seem like you’re hiding that fact either.\nimage of torn paper promoting honesty for forums\n\nIn your forum profile and other visible details, you should be very clear that you represent a business. This is the primary way forum members will begin associating you and your comments/answers with your business, and can proactively search for your business when they want services like yours.\nYou will be much more likely to be accepted and recommended by long-time forum members if you are up-front about your business purposes rather than get exposed as a “company shill.”\nDo contribute to industry-related discussions\nWhen posting as your business, keep your comments related to your industry. Contribute to hot topics and high-traffic conversations that you know a lot about. As you get more involved in these discussions and people recognize your business as a contributor, awareness of your business on that platform will expand and people will look to you for more answers. \nDo follow relevant topics\nAs you are using a general forum like Quora or NextDoor, you can follow specific topics to get notified when new discussions and comments are posted. Follow topics that are relevant to your business and industry so you can quickly get involved and ideally be the first person that responds to a new, intriguing question. \nDo respond and give updates\nPay attention to the responses people post on your comments. Did you answer their questions? Did they have any followup questions? Provide timely updates and make sure you read all of the responses on your answers. Respond to users as they engage with your posts and stay involved in the conversation. \nonline forum speech bubbles for small business marketing\n\nDo make your questions and answers easy to read and skim\nJust like any other content online, your posts on general forums should be easy to read and skim through. Huge walls of text are going to deter users from reading your comments, leading them to skip yours and read the next one down the line. \nBreak up your posts with headers, bullet points, and short paragraphs to make them easy to read. \nDo check your analytics\nAs you are getting more involved on a forum and posting frequently, start checking the analytics that platform provides. Which of your questions or answers seem to be performing the best? How are people engaging with your comments and posts?\nEven if all the forum software provides is a simple view counter, that can tell you a lot about which of your posts and responses are getting the most attention.\nLearn from these insights and use them to help guide your participation on the forum. \nThe don’ts of using general forums to spread awareness of your business\nYou’ve got several things that you should be doing as you participate in general forums. Now let’s go over some things that you should avoid doing as you get more involved. \nDon’t just lurk\nA common thing that people do on forums (usually as individual users) is sign up for an account just so they can read the discussions and comments, and see full content. \nSome forums only allow registered members to view uploaded pics and other content, for example. So people register and go through the member approval process, but then they never post anything, and thus are defined as a “lurker.”\nAs a business, you should be getting involved in the conversation, not just lurking. Sure, in the beginning, reading the comments and threads and becoming familiar with the platform before posting is a good idea. \nBut at some point you need to start posting questions, answers, and comments—otherwise you won’t see any benefit from being there in the first place. \nDon’t use the wrong subcategories\nPay attention to the categories/subforums that you are posting in. Don’t post your questions in irrelevant forums or you won’t get any traffic or responses on those questions. \nLearn how to use the forum that you are involved with and use the correct subcategories to get the most out of your experience. \nDon’t derail conversations\nPeople who derail conversations and start new topics within a specific conversation or “thread” are the worst kind of people on a forum. Don’t be that guy/gal. \nyoung woman annoyed by forum spammer\n\nKeep your comments and answers relevant to the conversation so the followers of that post find value in your contributions and actually engage with your responses. \nDon’t spam or over-promote yourself\nForums are not the place to blatantly advertise your business (unless you are a paid advertiser with the authorization of the forum administrators). \nForums are a place for sharing valuable insights and helping people find answers to their questions. \nDo not spam or aggressively promote your business within your comments and responses. People are likely to blow past your comments when you do this and you aren’t going to see any benefit from the forum—quite the contrary. You will likely be shunned and possibly banned from the forum. \nNo one likes to be spammed, whether in emails, texts, phone calls, or on forums. Don’t do it, even if you think you’ll see significant gains. \nno spam sign\n\nThat doesn’t mean that you can’t or shouldn’t ever mention your solutions in a relevant response to someone’s question.\nWhen you have valuable information or resources that are applicable to the discussion, then by all means, post away.\nJust be conservative about the number of links and self-aggrandizing posts you make, and don’t just provide the same canned answer to every query. \nDon’t link back to your website in comments\nSimilar to not aggressively promoting your business, you shouldn’t post links to your website within your comments. This is seen as a spammy practice and the forums and their users can see right through it. \nIf you want to link to your website, most forums provide a place for this within your business’s profile. If anyone wants to learn more about your business, they can easily access your profile from your comments and find your website from there. \nSomething like “if you’re interested in learning more about X, a link to my website is in my profile” is usually fine—just don’t overdo it.\nGetting involved in online forums can be an effective way to enhance your marketing efforts and spread awareness of your brand. 

The do’s and don’ts of business participation in general forums like Quora

In this article:\nWhat is remarketing?\nWhat to do before you start\nComplete how-to guide for setting up your Google Ads remarketing campaign\nIf you’re looking for a way to enhance your digital advertising playbook, you need to hear about remarketing. It’s the perfect way to target people who have visited your website and are already showing interest in your services. \nWhat is remarketing on Google Ads?\nRemarketing is a way that you can set up your Google Ads to target customers who have already visited your website. This is a great way to capture leads that didn’t quite make it all the way through the sales funnel to make their purchase or that didn’t pick up the phone to call you. \nYou can target specific pages on your website, like for a specific product you are pushing or a free trial you want customers to sign up for. Set up your remarketing tag on the page you want to see more business from and create your ads around that. More on how to do this soon.\nWhat to do before you set up your Google Ads remarketing campaign?\nThere are a couple of important steps you should take before diving into and creating your remarketing campaign. \nWhat page(s) are you going to track? You need to determine your goals for the campaign and determine whether there’s a specific page that you want to target visitors from or if you want to target your entire site\nIf you are going to run a display remarketing campaign (which we highly recommend that you do), then you’re doing to needs image assets to upload to your campaign. In the image below you can find Google Ad’s supported sizes and formats. We recommend creating at least one in each style: Square and rectangle, Leaderboard, Skyscraper and Mobile. \n(Image)\nHow to set up a Google Ads remarketing campaign\nLet’s dive in. \nStep 1: Sign into your Google Ads account\nGo to ads.google.com and click “Start now” or “Sign in.” If you have a Google account for your business, we recommend using that to sign in here. \n(Image)\nStep 2: Create a remarketing audience\nBefore you get into the creation of your ads and campaign, you’ll want to set up your audience for the campaign. \nTo do this, go to “Tools & Settings” in the top menu bar and click on “Audience manager” under “Shared Library.”\n(Image)\nClick the blue plus icon on the left to create a new audience.  \n(Image)\nTo set up a remarketing audience from your website, click “Website visitors.”\n(Image)\nName your audience something that indicates what this audience is for: remarketing audience, “product name” remarketing audience,” website visitors, etc. \n(Image)\nUnder “List members,” you can show how you want to target your website visitors. The options here are:\nVisitors of a page (this works for your entire website too)\nVisitors of a page who also visited another page\nVisitors of a page who did not visit another page\nVisitors of a page during specific dates (great during holiday specials)\nVisitors of a page with specific tags\nTo keep your first remarketing campaign simple and learn how it works, we recommend starting with “Visitors of a page.” This will allow you to target a specific page or multiple pages on your website. \n(Image)\nNext, set the rules for your visited page. This is where you can specify the URL that you want to track. If you want to target your entire website, you could enter your home page URL into the blank field, like https://solo.co or even just your domain.\nTo target specific pages, enter the URLS for each of those pages. If you are entering multiple pages, make sure to click “OR” and not “AND” or Google will only target those visitors who visited all of the pages you entered. \n(Image)\nOnce you do this, you may see this notice: “Your audience doesn’t have any members. Try adjusting your rules and check the ‘Audience list size’ panel.” \nThat is fine because you are creating a new audience. You’ll have to build up this audience from your website before your ads can start showing. Generally, an audience needs 100 members within the last 30 days before display ads will start showing and 1,000 members within the last 30 days before search ads will start showing. \n(Image)\nFinish up your audience by filling out the last three options. \nUnder “Pre-fill options” you can choose to start from an empty list or start grabbing people who have visited your website in the last 30 days. If there’s still a cookie on their browser, the tag you add to your website can track them. We recommend the latter because it helps you grow your audience and deliver your ads quicker. \nUnder “Membership duration” you can choose how long you want to display your ads to any given audience member–how long they’ll stay in the audience group. The maximum duration is 540 days, but a good rule of thumb is 30-60 days. You don’t want to annoy your potential customers with the same ads over and over again for months on end. \nYou can also add a description to your audience if desired. This is helpful if you have multiple people working in the same Google Ads account so they know what that audience entails. \n(Image)\nClick “Create Audience.” \nStep 3: Add the tag for your audience to your website\nYour audience won’t start to build until you add a tag for audiences on your website. To grab this tag, go to your Audience Manager and click “Audience sources” on the left. \n(Image)\nClick “Set Up Tag” under Google Ads tag. \n(Image)\nOn the next page, check “Only collect general website visit data to show ads to your website visitors.” This is good for a basic website visit remarketing campaign. \nYou might also check to “Exclude California users from remarketing lists,” especially if you don’t have customers in California. This is to avoid violating the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). \nLearn more about why in our article about the CCPA here: \nCCPA compliance: 8 things every small business should know\n \n(Image)\nClick “Save and continue.”\nNext, choose how you will install the tag on your website. You can install the tag yourself, email it to your web developer, or use Google Tag Manager. Click “Continue.”\n(Image)\nOnce the tag is installed, your audience will start building and you can start showing your ads. \nStep 4: Create your remarketing campaign\nNow go back to the main dashboard for your Google Ads account and create your campaign. Select “Campaigns” in the left menu and then click the blue plus icon. \n(Image)\nSelect “New campaign.”\n(Image)\nNext you’ll have to select a goal. For a display campaign, you can select sales, leads, website traffic, product and brand consideration, brand awareness and reach, or to create a campaign without a goal’s guidance. \nWe’re going to select “Brand awareness and reach” for this guide. \n(Image)\nOnce you’ve selected your goal, select the type of campaign you want to create. Again, we will be creating a display campaign. \n(Image)\nEnter your website into the field that appears. Be sure to include the https:// before it. Click “Continue.”\n(Image)\nNow, fill out the settings for your campaign on this next page. \nName your campaign.\n(Image)\nSelect your location. To target at a local level, click enter another location and enter what areas you want to target.\nAlso, be sure to check the location options. Make sure that you select “Presence: People in or regularly in your targeted locations” to ensure that your audience is relevant to your business. \n(Image)\nYou can leave bidding as “Viewable impressions” for remarketing display campaigns. Conversions is another option if you are trying to track specific actions that your customers take. But this guide shows instructions for “Viewable impressions.”\n(Image)\nEnter the average that you want to spend each day. You may just have to experiment with this amount based on the results that you see from your ads. Take your monthly budget for this campaign and divide it by 30.4 to get your daily amount. \n(Image)\nLeave the “Ad rotation” as “Optimize: Prefer best performing ads.”\n(Image)\nIf you only want your ads to run during specific times, you can set a schedule for them. For a display campaign that brings customers back to your website, we recommend leaving this open 24/7. \n(Image)\nSelect the dates that you want your ads to start and end, or leave it open to run indefinitely. \n(Image)\nCreate your ad group by giving it a name. \n(Image)\nNext, add your audience that you created earlier. Click “Browse.” \n(Image)\nThen click “How they have interacted with your business.”\n(Image)\nClick “Website visitors” and then find and select the audience that you created. Ours is titled “Website Visitors.”\n(Image)\nYou can also add any additional demographics as you see fit for your target audience. \n(Image)\nNow you can upload your image ads that you created by clicking + New Ad. \n(Image)\nClick “Upload display ads” to add your images. You can also select “Responsive display ad” if you want the ability to enter additional copy for your ad. \n(Image)\nUpload your files and click “Add To Ad Group.” Repeat this for as many ads as you’d like to create. \n(Image)\nOnce you’ve finished uploading your ads, click “Create Campaign” and watch as your audience grows and your ads start running. \nMaintain customer relationships with email marketing\nAs your ads start to see results and you get new customers, get an email campaign in place to help maintain your relationships with these new customers. Send them fun deals, reminders about upcoming announcements, and more. 

How to set up a Google Ads remarketing campaign (step-by-step walkthrough!)

In this article:\nHow to tell if your site is mobile-friendly\nDIY steps for making a site mobile-friendly\nOptimizing your online presence\nHave you ever visited your business’s website on your smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device? If you haven’t, you should. It’s good to see what the user experience is like for your customers from a mobile device, especially since over 50% of website traffic comes from mobile devices. \nWhen you load your webpage on your mobile browser, what is the experience like? Can you easily find important information? Or is it difficult to navigate between pages? Are there weird layout issues, missing images, or problems with navigation?\nA good mobile experience on your website is important for getting new customers online. Generally speaking, the majority of your customers probably do a quick search on their phone when looking for a new service or products that you offer. And if they can’t figure out how to use your website from that first visit, they’re likely to go somewhere else. \nSo, how can you make your website more mobile friendly?\nHow to tell if your website is mobile-friendly\nBefore you take the steps to make your website mobile-friendly, find out if it already is. The very first thing you can do is visit your own website from a mobile device. Click through the pages of your website, scroll down each page, click on buttons, and test out forms and links to see if you come across any problems. \nMake a note of any sticky places that you run into. Be sure to note your device and the web browser you are using. Some may cause issues and some may not. \nThere may be some items that you can fix on your own, and some things may require additional support from a web developer. \nAnother thing you can do is run your website, or a specific page on your website through Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. \nVisit \nsearch.google.com/test/mobile-friendly\n, and enter any URL from your website into the field to test it. \nIt may take a minute or two to return your results, and this test will then tell you if that page is mobile-friendly. \nIf your page is deemed \nnot\n mobile-friendly by Google, they will provide you with additional resources to help make your site mobile-friendly. You can then use these tips to update your website, or hand them off to a web developer. \nDIY tips for making your website mobile-friendly\nDon’t think that you need to use a professional web developer to help make your site more friendly for mobile users. There are plenty of things that you can do on your own (without knowing or understanding coding) to help enhance this experience. \nWe’ll discuss several things that you can do here:\nResponsive content management system\nLegible fonts\nSimple navigation \nSimple design\nOptimize images\nUse a responsive content management system\nIt all starts with the platform that your website is built on. If you did your own website through a low-cost or \nfree website builder\n like Wix or Squarespace, then it’s likely that your website is already responsive. \nWhat this means is that your website adapts to various screen sizes by resizing and adjusting placement for text and images. \nStart from a website builder that already has that “responsive” or “mobile-friendly” web design built into its platform so you don’t have to worry about getting a developer’s help with this. \nUse legible fonts\nAs much fun as scripty, swirly fonts are, they can be difficult to read, especially when they shrink down on a phone. Choose standard fonts for your website and use a font size of at least 14 px for the body content on your site. \nStandard fonts usually come with your website builder, so try clicking through your font options to see which you like best, and then preview what it looks like on a mobile device. You can do this by pulling up your site on your phone or changing the size of the window that you are viewing your website in. \nKeep your navigation simple\nThe navigation of your website is the menu that customers use to click to different pages on your website. On a desktop or laptop, the navigation generally spreads out across the top of the screen, but on mobile devices the navigation often shrinks down to what we call a “mobile menu.” This is the little hamburger menu icon that appears in the corner of your screen. \nAnd when someone clicks on that icon, it brings up your full menu. But if this menu has tons of items on it and large dropdowns, navigating the site can quickly become overwhelming. \nBy keeping your navigation simple, with 4-6 items and minimal dropdowns, you can provide a more friendly experience for your visitors. \nWith DIY website builders and easy-to-use content management systems, you generally have control over this and can edit your menu from the dashboard of your website editor. \nKeep your design clean\nAlong with a simple navigation, the design of your website should be fairly simple, too. That doesn’t mean that it has to be a bland page with little to nothing on it, but it should be well-organized and have a simple flow to it. \nDon’t overwhelm your visitors with tons of overlapping imagery, flashy animations, and buttons all over the place. Keep it simple so that your visitors can scroll down a page on their phone without becoming overwhelmed and not knowing where to look first. \nGo deeper: \nHow to design a simple small business website\nOptimize your images\nOne of the biggest problems that can make websites unfriendly for mobile devices is large images. \nImages that have a large file size can take a long time to load, and this can leave large portions of a webpage blank, or even keep the entire page from loading for several minutes. \nTo avoid this problem, you can easily optimize your own images before putting them on your website. Optimizing your images simply means resizing them and compressing the file size. \nYou can upload your image to an online photo editor like \nPicMonkey\n or \nPixlr X\n to resize it. You can generally resize your image down to 1920 pixels wide, and that will be large enough for any place that you add it to your website. \nAs soon as you upload an image to Pixlr X it will give you the option to “Pre-resize” it, and one of the options is set to 1920 px. You can choose that option and then save your image and continue to compressing it. \nOnce you’ve saved your resized image, you can then compress the file size of it by uploading it to a site like \nTinyPNG\n. It will compress your image within a few seconds, and then you can download your new smaller file and upload that to your website. \nEach of these steps will contribute to a better mobile experience for your customers, and if you need further help or you aren’t fully satisfied with your website on a phone, there are additional steps that a web developer can help you with. \nGet more visitors to your website by optimizing your online presence\nWhen you’ve finished making your website mobile-friendly, make sure that you are taking all of the steps you need to get optimize your online presence and \nlocal SEO\n to drive more visitors to your website—whether on a computer or mobile device. \nSources:\n
\nhttps://webtribunal.net/blog/mobile-percentage-of-traffic/\n

How do I make my website mobile-friendly? DIY tips

Small businesses, be aware: you’re not exempt from the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). \nNote:\n This article is meant to be informational only. It’s not a legal document and doesn’t provide legal advice. Solo assumes no legal liability that may arise from the use of this article. If you have questions about your legal obligations, you should consult your legal counsel.\nSigned into law in 2018, the CCPA went into effect as of January 1, 2020, when all California businesses have to be in compliance. Broadly speaking, that means that your business has to be prepared to comply with a new set of rules for acquiring, storing, accessing, erasing, and passing along consumer data. Failure to comply comes with big financial penalties.\nCCPA compliance might seem like it’s only for big businesses or technology companies swimming in data. But in fact, small, local businesses like restaurants, retailers, auto shops, salons, and professional service providers may be liable under CCPA, as well. \nEvery business that accepts card payments already has to be \nPCI compliant\n. Now, you may have to be CCPA compliant, too. (See below to see if CCPA applies to your business.)\nWe know it’s difficult to make sense of complex new laws, and nobody wants the hassle and financial burden of a misstep. So, we prepared a list of 8 things every small business should know about CCPA compliance. \nWhat is the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in a nutshell?\nThe California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) gives California consumers new privacy rights and creates new obligations for businesses that are covered by the law. These rights include:\nThe right to know what personal information a business is collecting and how that information is being used and shared; \nThe right to a copy of the personal information a business holds about a consumer;\nThe right to delete personal information a business holds about a consumer; \nThe right to stop the sale of personal information by a business; and\nThe right to have equal service and price, even if a consumer exercises their privacy rights.\nNote that many of these terms such as “sale,” “personal information,” and “business” have unique definitions under the CCPA.\nWhat is considered “personal information?”\nPersonal information is anything that identifies or could be reasonably linked (directly or indirectly) with a particular individual or household. \nThis includes things like names, physical addresses, unique identifiers (such as cookies), email addresses, IP addresses, commercial information (such as transaction data), financial information, biometric information, internet or device activity (such as browsing history), geolocation data, and any other information that can be connected to a particular individual.\nDoes it count as “personal information” if I only have my customer’s email address?\nYes. Email addresses are explicitly included in the law’s definition of personal information.\nDoes credit card data count as “personal data”?\nYes. Credit card numbers are also explicitly included in the law’s definition of personal information.\nHow do I know if my business has to comply with the CCPA?\nGenerally, the CCPA applies to you if:\nYou “do business” in the state of California; \nYou collect personal information from California residents or have data collected on your behalf; \nYou make decisions regarding how that data is collected, used, or shared; \nand\nYou satisfy at least one of three conditions: \nyou make over $25M in annual gross revenue;\nyou collect, buy, or share data from over 50,000 California residents annually; \nor\nyou make 50% or more of your annual revenue selling personal information. \nIf I have information saved about 49,000 customers, then the CCPA doesn’t apply to me. Is that right?\nAssuming that you don’t meet either of the other two thresholds related to revenue and data selling, the CCPA will likely not apply to you. But keep in mind that under the CCPA, personal information is anything that could be linked to a particular person, including IP addresses and unique identifiers, so exceeding the 50,000 threshold is easier than you might think.  \nAlso, if you collect personal information from 49,000 California customers, there is a good chance that you will exceed the threshold in the near future, so you should be prepared to comply.\nMy business doesn’t operate in California, but what if I’m collecting information from a California resident — must I be in compliance then?\nYou don’t have to have a physical presence in California; you just need to be “doing business in California” (and meet the other requirements described above). “Doing business in California” isn’t defined in the CCPA and the AG hasn’t provided any guidance on this issue yet.  \nHowever, you’re likely “doing business” in California if you regularly offer goods or services to people in California, make a substantial number of sales in California, or otherwise purposefully derive a benefit from your activities in California. If you have questions about whether you’re “doing business” in California, please consult your legal counsel.\nWhat if I use a POS system that automatically collects information, but I don’t own or manage that information — am I on the hook, or is the processor and/or data company?\nIf your POS (point of sale system) provider collects personal information directly from your customers, you don’t make any decisions about how that information is used or shared (either alone or jointly with your provider), and your provider doesn’t share that information with you, you may not have CCPA obligations as to that information.\nIf I don’t meet any of the above requirements, do I still need to worry about the CCPA?\nYou may have obligations even if you don’t meet the requirements described above. For example, if you provide services to a CCPA-covered business and the business gives you personal information, the business may require you to agree to limit your ability to use data for other purposes and to assist with deletion requests.  \nIn addition, if you purchase personal information about consumers from a CCPA-covered entity, the CCPA may limit your ability to resell the information without providing notice and the opportunity to opt-out to those consumers. If you have questions, you should reach out to legal counsel for assistance. \nIn addition, if you purchase personal information about consumers from a CCPA-covered entity, the CCPA may limit your ability to resell the information without providing notice and the opportunity to opt-out to those consumers. If you have questions, you should reach out to legal counsel for assistance. \nWhat does “selling consumers’ personal information” entail? And how do I know if I’m doing that or not?\nThe CCPA defines “selling” as sharing personal information with another entity in return for “monetary or other valuable consideration.”  \nThis means that you don’t have to receive money in return for the information; receiving a non-monetary benefit can be sufficient to make the data transfer a “sale.” So if you’re giving someone personal information in exchange for money or another set of personal information, or getting some other benefit in return, you may be “selling.”\nThe CCPA has a number of exceptions to “sales,” such as:\nWhere the customer directs you to share personal information with the other entity, or uses your business to intentionally interact with that entity, so long as that entity doesn’t sell the information.\nWhere you share personal information with a service provider with which you have a written contract. That contract must prohibit the service provider from using the information for any other purpose other than providing services to you.\nI definitely don’t sell my consumers’ information, but I’m concerned the product or POS I use may make money from that info — would the CCPA’s requirements regarding “selling” information still pertain to me? Or does my business need to the one actually receiving money in exchange for customer information?\nAgain, you don’t necessarily have to receive money for personal information in order for the transfer to be a “sale” — receiving some benefit for the information may be enough. But if your provider is the one that is deciding whether to share the information and receiving the money or other benefit in return, it is unlikely that you would be considered to be “selling” personal information.\nWhat are some types of businesses that are most likely to be impacted by the CCPA?\nThe CCPA covers any type of business that collects personal information, including offline businesses, but it will be more likely to affect consumer-facing companies that do business online. \nIf my business is required to comply, what steps should I take?\nThe main steps you should take are:\nUpdate your privacy policy to disclose the categories of personal information you collect and how you use and share them, and to describe consumers’ privacy rights under the CCPA.\nCreate a process for honoring a consumer’s rights to obtain a summary of personal information you collect, to obtain a copy of the consumer’s personal information that you hold, and to delete that information.\nCreate a process for honoring a consumer’s right to opt out of the sale of their personal information, if necessary.\nReview your contracts with vendors that receive personal information and update them with service provider provisions, if necessary.\nEnsure you’ve implemented reasonable security measures to protect consumers’ personal information.\nTrain your employees on CCPA compliance.\nThe California Attorney General has created a webpage with more information about the CCPA. You can learn more about the rulemaking process and read the regulations on the California Attorney General’s Website here: \nhttps://oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpa\n.\nWhat might happen to me if I’m out of compliance?\nGenerally, the California Attorney General’s Office is responsible for enforcing the CCPA. After the Attorney General’s Office notifies you of the violation, you should have 30 days to attempt to fix the issue. If you’re still out of compliance after 30 days or the AG determines that you cannot adequately fix an issue, then you could receive a fine from $2,500 to $7,500 \nfor each violation\n.\nThe one exception to this relates to data breaches. If you fail to implement reasonable security measures and experience a breach of personal information, you can be sued by private plaintiffs. If the suit is successful, you can be required to pay $100 to $750 per consumer per incident, or the plaintiffs’ actual damages, whichever is greater.\nWhere can I go to find someone who can help me make sure I’m doing all of the above requirements?\nThe CCPA is a complex law that has a number of ambiguities. Because of this, you should consult your lawyer about how you can comply. If you don’t have an attorney already, you can get referrals from your local bar association or any trade association to which you belong.\nNote:\n This article is meant to be informational only. It’s not a legal document and doesn’t provide legal advice. Solo assumes no legal liability that may arise from the use of this article. If you have questions about your legal obligations, you should consult your legal counsel.\n


CCPA compliance: 8 things every small business should know

In this article:\nWhat space do you need?\nWhat do you want?\nBudget, size, and other necessities\nA large part of starting a new business, or expanding your current business, is finding the perfect location. You may start out working from home, and eventually need to find office space. As you are looking for a new business space, several factors come into play and will affect what may or may not work for your company. \nTake some time to do your research and learn more about what you need for your business and what kind of commercial rental will work best. This article will go over several things that you should consider when renting your first business space. \nDo you really \nneed\n a rental space?\nFirst, determine if a rental space is even a necessity. You may think that you need to have a separate space for your business, but if you only meet customers off-site and don’t have any additional employees, do you actually need to pay for a commercial lease?\nAsk yourself these questions to help determine if a rental space is necessary for your business:\nIs running your business from a home office an option?\nDo customers need to visit you at your place of business?\nDo you have employees who need an office to work from or can they work remotely?\nHow much of your business is handled off-site versus on-location?\nIf you’ve determined that you do need a rental space, then continue down this list to learn what you should be thinking about as you engage in this endeavor. \nWhat features and space does your business need? What do you want?\nMake a list of the things that you need for your business and a list of things that you want. The necessities might include things like:\nParking for employees (if you have any)\nRestrooms\nGood security\nSize specifications\nEasy access for customers\nBreak room\nKitchen\nThese are the features that you are not willing to compromise on, so you should make sure each space you look at has these if you are considering them. \nThings that you want for your rental space might include:\nOpen floor plan\nGround-level entrance\nSkylight\nLots of windows\nIndividual offices for employees\nOther unique features\nThese are the things that you may need to compromise on when looking for the perfect space to rent. Make a list of both and keep these in mind as you begin your search. \nLocation\nLocation is critical, especially for retail, restaurant, or other business types that rely on foot traffic. A good business location can help you acquire new customers and make it easier for your current customers to find you. \nLet’s say for example you have a retail business. You’d want that to be in a central location that gets a lot of foot traffic and will catch drivers’ attention as they are passing by. This will help you get more walk-in traffic and will help with marketing. \nBut if you choose a location that is out of the way where people rarely visit, you may have a hard time drumming up new business without a really solid marketing plan and a truly unique set of products and services that will motivate people to go out of their way.\nThink about your ideal customers, where they spend their time, and what their needs might be for finding your business. Use that information as you look for the right location. \nbusy street with traffic for commercial space for rent\nAccessibility\nYour business space should be accessible in every sense of the word. If you have customers that come to your space, it needs to be easily accessible from the street, including a place to park and an entrance that is easy to locate. \nOn the other side of that, if you have a lot of walk-in traffic or employees with disabilities, your space should be accessible in that sense too. Is it easy for wheelchairs to access? Can people who are less mobile access your location? \nCheck your local ordinances to ensure you are compliant with any accessibility requirements, and if not, be sure to work with your landlord to bring things up to code before you sign your lease.\nSize\nSpace is a definite necessity. You should already be thinking about the size of the space that you need for your business. How many employees do you have? What is the customer capacity that you want? Do you have large equipment or inventory that needs to be stored on-site?\nAlong with these things, you also need to think about the growth of your business. How quickly do you plan to grow? Are you going to be in this space for a while and will you need to bring in more employees? The answers to these questions will largely impact the size of the space that you should consider. \nAmenities\nConsider the amenities that the building itself has and that the general location offers. What features of the rental space are going to benefit your business, your customers, and your employee?\nWhat amenities are located near your business? Is there a mall, a movie theater, a park, medical offices, playgrounds, or other customer-friendly venues? \nThink about your target customers and how they spend their day and whether or not these nearby amenities make your location more appealing and convenient to access. \nBudget\nObviously, you need to determine what your budget is for a rental space. You can’t rent a space that isn’t going to make sense for your business financially. \nGo over the numbers carefully before you begin your search and then strictly stick to your budget allowance for a rental space. Don’t rent anything that is outside of your budget, no matter how appealing it may seem. \nBut, that doesn’t mean not to \nlook\n outside of your budget (within reason). Landlords may be willing to negotiate on prices, especially if they have a lot of vacancies in their building. So don’t be afraid to reach out and see if you can negotiation a lease that fits your business plan and finances. \nAdditional expenses\nThink about any additional expenses that may arise related to your office space. These should be included in your total rental budget as well. \nCommon regular expenses include:\nInternet and phones\nParking permits\nSecurity deposit\nSecurity features (cameras, new locks, etc.)\nFurniture to fill the space\nNOTE: many landlords will also charge you for common area maintenance (CAM), your portion of the insurance on your space, and possibly a percentage of your profits, depending on location and your revenue. Be sure to get it all in black and white and discuss it with your broker or realtor.\nRead more: \nHow much does it cost to rent space for a small business?\nThink about the duration of your lease\nYou don’t want to get locked into something for a longer period of time than you plan on being there. \nThink about your five-year plan and how to plan to grow and expand your business. How long can you realistically remain in this first rental space?\nConsider how long you want to be in the space and find a lease agreement based upon that. Find a landlord that will work with you on this arrangement. Don’t settle yourself into something long-term if you don’t have a pretty good idea what the future looks like. \nConsider your market\nIt is important to educate yourself about your market. If you’re looking for a rental space for your business, you’ve likely done your market research and are familiar with what the market looks like for your industry in your particular location. \nYour market can widely influence what will make a location good for your business. Consider your target customer, where competitors are located, use what you know about your market to find a suitable location for your business space. \nInvestigate your landlord\nDon’t get yourself into an agreement with a company or individual that you know nothing about. Do your research on them to make sure that this is going to be a worthwhile arrangement for your business and that there aren’t going to be any surprises along the way. \nSome things to ask about your landlord:\nWhat do current renters think of them? (Ask for references)\nWhat’s their BBB rating?\nWhat is their credit like?\nSet up a time to meet with your landlord and ask them your questions to get to know them better and determine if they are someone you could easily work with. \nIf you plan on being in your rental space long-term, this will be a beneficial relationship to maintain. \nUnderstand your commercial lease\nBefore ever signing any kind of lease agreement, you need to fully understand what it says. You need to know what your responsibilities as the renter will be and what the landlord will be responsible for. \ncouple carefully studying commercial rent agreement\nPay attention to the lease terms and make sure you know what is required of you. The last thing you need is to get evicted from the building because you neglected something of import in the agreement. \nHere are some questions you should ask and understand within your lease agreement:\nHow long is the lease? \nHow much is rent? Will there be any changes in rent for the duration of the lease?\nHow much will rent increase when the lease is up?\nCan you sublease?\nIs there a penalty for vacating the space?\nCan I pay up front and get a discount?\nIs renewing your lease an option?\nWho is responsible for what? (i.e. repairs, insurance, utilities, etc.)\nWhat building services do you get? (janitorial, utilities, wifi, HVAC, etc.)\nWhat changes are you allowed to make to the space? \nAll of these items should be made explicitly clear within the lease agreement so you know exactly what your responsibilities are as a lessee. \nSecurity of your commercial space\nWhat is the building’s security like? Are there security cameras on site? Have the locks to your doors been changed since the last tenant? How often do police patrol the area? Is there any after-hours security? Is there an alarm system?\nFind out what kind of security is available so you can cover your bases by ensuring the best security for your assets and employees. \nLayout of the office\nAs you are looking at commercial spaces to rent, consider how you will fill the space. How will you lay out your office?\nSome questions to ask as you consider the layout:\nWhere will your employees work?\nWill you have your own office?\nWhere will customers be allowed?\nWill any space be off-limits to customers?\nWhere can employees take their breaks?\nWill you need a conference or meeting room for customers or business partners? Where will that be?\nThe condition of the building\nYou should have an agreement about the condition of the building when you move in. If there is a current tenant in that space prior to your arrival, how will the space be left for you? Will it need any renovations or repairs? Will you be responsible for that?\nIf you want a move-in ready space, be sure that it is detailed within your lease agreement. \nParking\nDo not neglect the need for parking. Whether you will only have employees working from your rental space or you want customers to come into your space on a regular basis, you need to know what the parking situation will be like. \nIs parking included as part of the arrangement for the rental? Does your space have its own parking lot? Do you get an allocated number of parking spots or an entire lot? Is there public parking? Will there be enough space for your employees and customers? Are you responsible for maintenance costs, snow plowing if applicable, etc?\nKnow what your needs will be for parking and be sure that the rental you get can fill those needs. \nOutside perception and appearance of your rental space\nThis is your place of business, and if you plan on inviting customers in for meetings or are providing a service or product in this space, it needs to be presentable. How will your customers perceive this rental space?\nIs the building well-kept and comfortable? Are there potentially strong/weird smells from nearby restaurants?\nYour space will send a message about your business to all who come into contact with it. Whether they are just looking at it from the outside or have the opportunity to visit with you inside, people will form opinions about your business based on your location. \nThe right rental space can enhance your small business marketing\nThink about how your rental space will enhance your marketing capabilities. Is it in a location where it gets a lot of walk-in traffic and can market for you in that way?\nWhat features of your location can you use to help market it to customers? Are there nearby amenities that compliment your services or products? How close are you to other regular shopping venues?\nMarketing is a huge part of growing your business so be sure to consider this as you are looking for your rental. 

Top things to consider when renting your first business space

In this article:\nWhat is swag?\nHow can you use swag?\nBest swag ideas for restaurants and cafes\nTips for choosing your swag\nAs you think about upping your marketing game for your restaurant or cafe, you may want to consider the potential that lies with swag. From increased brand awareness to better customer loyalty, swag can provide great perks to your customers and your business. You just need to have the budget to get started. \nWhat is “swag”?\nSwag is essentially merchandise with your branding on it. You know those pens you “accidentally” take from the bank now and then? That’s technically swag. \nSwag can come in the form of t-shirts, water bottles, key chains, pens, and so much more. Basically anything you can slap your logo on!\nHow can your restaurant or cafe use swag?\nBrand awareness and customer loyalty are big components of marketing. The more your brand is out there and the more people see it, the more potential you have for getting new customers. And the more customers you have that are loyal to your brand, the more people you will have spreading the word about your restaurant. \nSwag can help enhance your brand awareness campaigns. Instead of billboards and radio ads, you have people out there in the community wearing your t-shirts and hats. It might stir up a conversation, or at the very least be seen by many other people, sparking that initial view of your brand. \nPeople love freebies and touting brands that they love. Giving away fun items like restaurant swag to your customers can help increase their loyalty to your brand. It helps build and maintain a relationship with them. \nThat’s not to say that you always need to give swag away for free. If you have a killer brand that people love and want to show off, you might consider selling some merchandise right from your front counter, on your website, or even right on the menu! \nIf you have a unique restaurant that creates a memorable experience for customers, they may want a souvenir to remember you by, especially if they’re only visiting. Think of chains like Hard Rock Cafe and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. People love to buy their merchandise when they stop by. \nSome restaurants even leverage their swag to create a type of loyalty program. Anyone wearing a restaurant’s official cap, t-shirt, or other gear gets a free dessert, or a 10% discount, or priority seating, or whatever else you can think of. This builds customer loyalty and encourages them to market your restaurant by wearing your brand more often.\nBest swag ideas for restaurants and cafes\nConvinced that you need to get in on the swag game? Check out these fun swag ideas for your restaurant or cafe. \nT-shirts, hoodies, and other apparel\nApparel is a great way to get your brand out in the community. People need to wear clothes, and they love to support local brand that they are fond of. Create some fun t-shirts and hoodies that your customers will want to purchase. Maybe even have a punch card system where they get a free t-shirt after a specific amount of purchases or money spent to encourage repeat business. \nOther apparel ideas include baseball caps, beanies, aprons, and sweatpants. \nSites like Vistaprint and AnyPromo.com are great places to get your branded apparel from. \n(Image)\n\nCups, glasses, and mugs \nTravel mugs, wine tumblers, cups, and shot glasses are all popular swag items in the restaurant and cafe industry. They are great souvenirs that your customers will use for years to come. It may even spark a memory now and then that drives them to come to your restaurant or cafe for their next meal. \nFor cafes in particular, you have a great opportunity as you sell travel mugs. You can offer to fill the customer’s mug for free with any mug purchase. \nWant to get started? Check out \nAnyPromo.com\n where you can get insulated travel mugs starting at less than $3 a piece. \nReusable bags\nReusable bags are great items to giveaway as freebies, particularly for sit-down restaurants. When a customer leaves and has leftovers, you can give them a reusable grocery bag for them to take their leftovers home in. They now have a bag with your logo on it that they will use over and over again. \nYou can find several options starting at less than a dollar a piece at \n4imprint.com\n. You can also find t-shirts, cups, and reusable bags at \nqualitylogoproducts.com\n.\nCoasters\nCoasters are another fun souvenir item. You can offer these for purchase as customers check out or on your website, or you can use the coasters at your table and let customers take them home. This is a great swag item for bars, cafes, and restaurants that have specialty adult beverages. \nAnyPromo.com\n has coaster options starting as low as $0.40 a piece. \nChildren’s toys\nThere are so many things you can offer in the way of children’s toys, from freebies like balloons and coloring books to items you can sell like teddy bears and puzzles. \nIf you want to go the freebie route, do what Red Robin does and give away inflated balloons to every child who comes through your restaurant. These won’t last, but they provide a memorable experience. You can also provide color books and crayons to children as they wait for their food, which they can then take home when they leave. \nOn the purchasable side of things, you can get toys like teddy bears with t-shirts that have your logo on them for parents to buy as souvenirs when they leave. \n\nAnyPromo.com\n has a great selection of toys and games that you can consider for your restaurant. \nTips for choosing your restaurant swag\nAs you consider purchasing and giving away or selling swag for your restaurant, it’s important that you do this in a strategic manner. \nKeep your brand top of mind\nDon’t purchase, sell, or give away anything that doesn’t align with your brand. For example, if your restaurant is a family diner that places a high value on being kid-friendly, you may not want to provide shot glasses as swag. \nChoose a select few items\nIt can get expensive to have every kind of swag out there. And as fun as it may be to have your logo on literally every item you can think of, there is such a thing as overdoing it here. \nChoose a few items that will really enhance your brand and your marketing goals and stick to it. You can offer those items in a variety of colors and styles, but stick to just a couple of different items. Maybe even start with one to see how well that goes over with your customers and start adding more items as you find success. \nIt needs to have a purpose\nDon’t buy swag just to have swag. Make sure that you have a strategic purpose for the merchandise you sell or give away. Whether that’s creating a fun experience for your customer to enhance their loyalty or giving away items to up your brand awareness (or very likely both), make sure you have a goal in mind for the items you sell and giveaway. \nConsider the tip above about giving special treatment, discounts, or freebies to customers who wear your brand or keep your swag with them when visiting your restaurant. It makes them feel special and increases the “buzz” around your establishment.\nIncrease customer loyalty with email marketing\nBeyond fun swag ideas, you can increase your customer loyalty with email marketing campaigns. Sending out happy birthday messages or great deals now and then is a great way to get repeat business. 

209 articles found in “All”

The do’s and don’ts of business participation in general forums like Quora

How to set up a Google Ads remarketing campaign (step-by-step walkthrough!)

How do I make my website mobile-friendly? DIY tips

CCPA compliance: 8 things every small business should know

Top things to consider when renting your first business space

Best swag ideas for restaurants and cafes (plus helpful marketing tips!)

Recommended

How to spot fake online reviews

25 free business listing websites every small or local business should be on (Updated for 2022!)

How much does it cost to rent space for a small business?

The 6 elements of an effective customer loyalty program

Important market research questions to ask before starting a new business