Author: knjohn

Why cable companies basically don’t care if you cut the cord | Fast Company

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After a quarter in which another million customers cut the cord on cable or satellite TV, the research firm eMarketer expects a 4% drop in pay-TV subscribers this year, bringing the total down to 86.5 million. The firm also expects customers to defect at a faster rate of 7.5% next year, with subscriptions dropping to 80 million. By 2023, eMarketer predicts that pay-TV households will drop to 72.7 million, versus 56.1 million households that will have cut the cord.

Cable companies aren’t really sweating it, though. Instead of extending promo deals to keep customers from dropping TV service, they’re simply extracting more revenue from those who haven’t formulated an escape plan. Either way, companies like Comcast profit from selling high-margin internet service.

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Beware: Fake IRS Letters Are Making The Rounds This Summer | Forbes

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Correspondence season is in full swing. That means that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is sending out bills and notices to taxpayers – including correspondence focused on cryptocurrency and healthcare reporting. It may be hard for taxpayers to tell the real thing from the fakes – and scammers are taking advantage of the confusion. Here’s what you need to know.

Many taxpayers are aware that the IRS will never call to demand immediate payment over the phone, or call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill. To try and trick taxpayers, some scammers are sending letters, hoping that folks will take the bait.

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Natural Disaster Protection: 5 Ways to Prepare Your Business | AllBusiness.com

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Many small businesses protect themselves by incorporating. However, companies should also understand how to protect themselves from natural disasters. Forces of nature, like major hurricanes and earthquakes, can have a deadly impact on a small company. It could take weeks, months, and potentially even years for a small business to get back up and running again after a natural disaster.

My company is based in California. We’ve been through earth-rattling quakes and massive wildfires—all within the span of the last year. Luckily, we have been fortunate enough to stay safe, thanks to careful planning and communication.

No matter what your startup may face, here are five simple ways you can prepare your business before, during, and after a natural disaster.

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What is Holistic Marketing and Should Your Small Business Use It? | Small Business Trends

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Holistic marketing refers to a marketing strategy that considers the whole of a business. And all the different marketing channels as a system. Under a this approach, a business with different departments comes together. As a result, departments collaborate in interconnected marketing activities.

Holistic marketing creates a united and positive business image. So it encourages customers to purchase a business’s products or services rather than going to a competitor.

Do you own a small business or are you thinking about starting one. Then this strategy can increase efficiency and provide opportunities for growth.

Take a look what holistic marketing is. And decide whether your small business should use it.

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What is Operational Transparency | Management Consulting Connection

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Operational transparency is exactly what it sounds like. Showing the customer how hard you are working for them. Think of a restaurant with an open kitchen format so you can see the food being made. Think of Amazon that let’s you track the progress of your package. Think of your landscaper who leaves a note on your door, that indeed, he did cut the lawn today. In a world where we’ve been accustomed to friction-less transactions (read: everything is easy and available), it’s often helpful to remind customers of the work involved. Yo, this ain’t easy. . .

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What to Know When Expanding to a Second Location | Business

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After your business has seen success, a natural step is to consider expansion. When that expansion includes a possible secondary location, then there are more questions that need to be asked. What do you need to look for in a location, for instance? How much of your time will setting up a new location take? What do you need to know about communicating ideas or processes?

To help you with all of these questions, and others, we asked members of the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) to share what they think you should keep in mind when considering expanding to a second location. Here is what they said:

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Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 Hands-on Review: ECG and LTE | Digital Trends

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Barely six months have passed since Samsung debuted the Galaxy Watch Active, its smartwatch with a more fitness-focused design over the 2018 Galaxy Watch, but there’s already a new entry: The Galaxy Watch Active 2. It’s an iterative upgrade, but there are worthwhile additions that enrich the wearable experience, like two size options for more comfort, a digital rotating bezel for easier navigation, and LTE connectivity so you can leave your phone behind.

But the biggest changes are more subtle. The Watch Active 2 has a host of more sensors for more accurate fitness-tracking data, not to mention an ECG sensor like on the Apple Watch Series 4. It’s shaping up to be a strong contender, all while maintaining a sleek aesthetic and enticing price point at $279.

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Stretch Sensing Tech | CoolBusinessIdeas.com

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Getting real, physical movements accurately depicted in the digital world remains a challenge for programmers and engineers, but a newly developed glove promises to advance the tech significantly. It’s able to capture hand movements with much more detail and nuance than most existing solutions.

To achieve this, the researchers behind the glove created a silicone compound holding 44 embedded stretch sensors, combining it with a soft fabric layer. The input device requires very little training, and uses a special constructed set of algorithms to process the sensor data coming through from the gloved hand.

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5 Common Mistakes Startups Make in Product Prototyping | The Startup Magazine

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Prototyping is that critical step between concept and mass production. Your product prototype is what will often be used to sell the product to retailers. It is also regularly used to promote your business to investors since it is easier to imagine consumer interest in the item you’re currently holding. The lessons you learn from the prototype shape the processes you use to mass produce it. This is why it is essential to create prototypes and make sure that they’re done right. Here are five common mistakes startups make in the prototyping stage.

Making It Overly Complicated

There are several reasons why an overly complicated prototype or first run product is a mistake. First, the more complex the structure, the harder it is to make. Secondly, the product prototype and your first production runs will cost more at the point when you’re likely strapped for cash. Choose a design that is as simple as possible for your prototype so that you get a working prototype faster and can get a good quality product out at a reasonable price. Once you have the cash flow, you can design a more complex structure and experiment with extra features

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