Some online giants announced changes to their offerings this week. Online payments solution PayPal made some changes to its user agreement after concerns over robocalls came to light. And social giant Twitter launched a new mobile ads manager to help businesses better manage their advertising campaigns on the platform.
Those changes top the list of news that could impact your small business this week. Read on for the full list in this week’s Small Business Trends news and information roundup.
Finance
PayPal Will Change User Agreement After Robocall Concerns
PayPal recently came under fire for possibly violating the FCC’s robocall policies. The new User Agreement, which was set to go live on July 1, indicated that the company intends to robocall and text users on any number they have from them, possibly even ones that are not associated with their account.
Social Media
Twitter Officially Launches Mobile Ads Manager
Twitter has officially announced the launch of a new mobile Ads tool. Being referred to as the Twitter Ads companion, the tool allows advertisers to manage their campaigns from their smartphone or device while away from their desk.
Tweeter in Chief: Obama Twitter Account Gets Heavy Engagement
“Hello, Twitter! It’s Barack. Really! Six years in, they’re finally giving me my own account.” That was President Obama’s first tweet, sent on May 18 of this year, from the new Obama Twitter account. Five hours after sending it, he’d gotten more than a million followers, breaking the record set by “Avengers” actor Robert Downey, Jr. when he joined Twitter in 2014.
Marketing Tips
This Team Gets Inside the Heads of Small Business Owners
Naumi Haque (pictured) of Toronto, Ontario, gets inside the heads of small business owners across North America. That’s what he and his team do for a living at CEB, where he is a Research Director in CEB’s small business program. CEB is a best practice insight and technology company serving over 10,000 client companies.
Small Biz Spotlight
Spotlight: Veteran Finds New Challenge in Window Genie Franchise
For some, starting a business can be a lifelong dream. For others, realizing the desire to own a business can take a little longer. Duane Turner falls into the latter category. Turner enjoyed a full career in the U.S. Army before deciding he wanted to own his own business. Now, Turner is the proud owner of a Window Genie franchise in Florence, South Carolina.
Small Business Operations
Minimum Wage Increase Proving Successful for IKEA Stores
While many cities are contemplating increasing the minimum wage, IKEA has already done so. A year ago, the company announced its first minimum wage increase for American stores. Then recently, IKEA said another rise is in store for 2016, making the average starting pay at the retailer $12 an hour. The minimum wage for IKEA employees varies across different cities.
Enjoy Your Vacation, Work When Necessary With These Essential Apps and Solutions
No matter how amazing, super-performing and highly productive a person may be, breaks are needed to refresh both mind and body. That’s why it’s important to take a vacation away from the hustle and bustle of running your small business. Many small business folks however, find it hard to leave their business “baby” with someone else.
Startup
Girls Auto Clinic Teaches Women About Cars
Women as a whole aren’t typically known for their knowledge of cars. But the same cannot be said about Patrice Banks. The materials engineer studied to be an auto tech and even worked for free at auto repair shops to learn about auto repairs and maintenance. Now, she has her own auto repair business, Girls Auto Clinic.
19-Year-Old Girl Makes $100k on Etsy for School
LeiLei Secor, a 19-year-old girl from upstate New York, was excited to be accepted into the University of Virginia. But because Secor was an out-of-state student, the cost to attend was extremely high: around $40,000 a year. In 2012, she started thinking creatively about what she would do to pay for her tuition. That’s when she thought of an Etsy business.
WixHotels Integrates MyAllocator to Massively Market Hotels Online
Last year, Wix unveiled WixHotels, an app that lets hotel owners tell the world when they have rooms available. Now, Wix is launching a partnership with Cloudbeds to add a new feature to its hotel service.
13 Colonial Small Businesses Making a Big Comeback Today
Small businesses have been at the core of America’s economy since people started calling this place America. If you weren’t making it yourself, there was a shopkeeper in the middle of town peddling the wares you needed. Wagon running a little wobbly? Take it to a wheelwright. Well, you’d be hard-pressed to find a qualified wheelwright today.
Technology Trends
LG Unveils Mid-Range G4 Beat
LG has just unveiled its newest version of the company’s flagship smartphone, the LG G4. Named the G4 Beat, LG claims this mid-range smartphone delivers value without compromising performance or usability. Whether this claim is true or not, the G4 Beat looks similar to the LG G4 but won’t feature similar specs.
Intelliverse Will Track Your Gmail — Everywhere
The software company Intelliverse said Wednesday it was adding a Google Chrome plugin for its email tracker app. Free for a limited time, the tracker gives Gmail users the ability to see the status of their sent emails. It tells them when the email is opened, what type of device the recipient used, and the geographic location of where the email is opened.
7 Ways Cloud Computing Makes You Better at Your Job
Cloud computing is changing the way people do business. A study (PDF) earlier this year by Tata Communications found that most companies will have 58 percent of the data stored on the Cloud within the next 10 years. The same study found that 69 percent of respondents said that using the Cloud increased their productivity.
Citrix Hops on Grasshopper Deal
Citrix, a software company known for its collaboration tools, announced back in April that it would be entering into an agreement to acquire Grasshopper Group. But the deal has waited until the second quarter of 2015 to close. With the acquisition now official, company officials discuss the reasons for the deal and plans for the future. Grasshopper is a cloud-based communications service.
PayPal Mobile Photo via Shutterstock
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Aira Bongco
PayPal has been changing its rules massively. Now they are now covering purchases of services and digital goods. I think it has just become safer for people to pay but it is not so safe for sellers.
THanks for collecting all the modern trends and changes here, very useful. As for me Paypal is very useful system and I think these changes will only make it better.