Category: Tools and Information

How Video Conferencing Software Makes For More Productive Teams | The Startup Magazine

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Half the battle of keeping your team productive is finding an easy, accessible platform to communicate on. Email chains often become confusing, and in-person meetings can be tedious and uncomfortable. So, what’s a modern team to do in order to circumvent these issues and maximize its productivity? Online conferencing tools are a good place to start.

Using video conferencing software allows you to connect with team members all over the world with no extra costs via HD video and audio feeds hosted completely online.

Forget the old landline conference calls, endless email chains, and audio-only services. Here’s how video conferencing makes for a more productive team overall.

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Be Careful With Cares Act Taxes | Inc.com

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With many businesses operating under constrained financial circumstances because of the coronavirus pandemic, finding available cash to pay current operating expenses can be difficult. Although the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (Cares Act) provides assistance to cover expenses such as payroll, rent, and insurance through both the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and the Paycheck Protection Program, many businesses are finding that these sources of funding aren’t adequate to meet their current needs and they are facing a cash shortfall.

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How To Delete Your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok | WIRED

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SOCIAL NETWORKS WALK a fine line between being a useful tool and a crippling addiction. They’re also fraught with critics, who say that they damage our personal privacy, and can convey misinformation. Whether you want your free time back or don’t like your personal info scattered about on the internet, you may be considering deactivating some accounts.

Wanting to delete your account is one thing, but actually being able to hit the delete button is another story. Social media outlets make money off of you and your information, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they don’t want to let you go. Because of this, the biggest networks have made it overly complicated to delete your account. But if you are set on getting rid of them, here’s what you’ll have to do.

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New To Instagram Live? Here’s How To Show Up Like A Pro | Entrepreneur

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From the entertainment sector to the health and fitness industry, stay-at-home orders have forced many entrepreneurs to improvise and share their skills virtually. Instagram Live has emerged as an outlet of choice for enterprising business owners. Hop on Instagram right now, and you’ll likely see dozens of users and brands either going live or advertising an upcoming live stream.

Though it’s becoming more popular in recent months, live-streaming has largely been underestimated. But it won’t stay that way for long: Instagram’s algorithm rewards live-streaming with additional push notifications and a position at the front of the line in users’ Stories feed, so it’s only a matter of time before brands and businesses catch on. Streamers can also see and respond to comments in real time, which opens up the potential to directly communicate with and engage your audience.

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Basics of Franchising | Getentrepreneurial.com

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When entrepreneurs dream about their future, franchising is rarely the starting place for their fantasy. While it’s not always choice No. 1, the benefits of franchising make it an enticing career opportunity for entrepreneurs. With an established brand and support system, franchises offer franchisees a chance to taste running a business while also giving them significant help.

“A franchise is a business with training wheels,” said Tom Scarda, founder of The Franchise Academy, a podcast dedicated to franchising. “For a majority of franchisees, franchising has proven to be a viable way to become a business owner. For the most part, it offers the lowest risks and the highest level of support. Because a franchiser doesn’t succeed until the franchisees do, you’ll find a team of dedicated professionals willing and able to help you every step of the way, from site selection to employee hiring to grand opening.”

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Boost your productivity with a second screen that attaches to your laptop | New Atlas

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Working with two screens can save you precious resources, like time and money. If you have two monitors at your place of work, but can’t access them for the time being, then your productivity may be stunted. Rather than pick up a desktop monitor that takes up a lot of space, it’s better to get a more versatile tech solution that lets you work productively anywhere. The Mobile Pixels DUEX Pro Portable Dual Monitor gives your laptop a second screen.

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Google Assistant can now use your voice to verify purchases | Mashable

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Making purchases with your voice is convenient, but it’s far from secure. Google is attempting to change that when using Assistant by introducing an optional voice verification test.

As The Verge reports, the new security feature relies on Google Assistant’s Voice Match and it’s being rolled out slowly as part of a limited pilot program to test how well it works with smart speakers and smart displays. The Voice Match training feature was updated recently to include phrases so that Assistant could more accurately determine who is issuing commands.

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Popular Alternatives to Direct Deposit | Business News Daily

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For many years, the only people who needed an alternative to direct deposit were those who had limited access to traditional banking services. This is no longer the case. The demand for alternatives to direct deposit is on the rise across all sectors of the economy. Many businesses are now expected to offer various methods of payment to their workers.

If you’re a business owner searching for checking account alternatives for your employees, you’re not alone. Here are a few solutions we’ve seen gain the most traction recently.

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10 Ways to Find Your Focus When You’re Stressed Out | Life Hack

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How do you focus when you’re stressed? The truth is, you don’t.

You know what anxiety is like: Your mind can’t stick to any one topic for more than a few seconds. You shift restlessly, as if settling your body might also settle your thoughts.

Stress short-circuits the mind in all sorts of ways. Before you can learn how to focus when stressed, you need to understand what’s going on in your brain.

Why We Lose Focus When Stressed

When you experience stress — whether the cause is a tiger chasing you or a snarky comment by a co-worker — a chain reaction happens in your brain. Harvard Medical School lays this out in detail, but what’s important is understanding how an emotion can trigger a fight-or-flight response[1].

Changes begin in the amygdala, a brain area that is responsible for processing emotions. The amygdala then contacts the hypothalamus, which acts as the brain’s command center. From there, the hypothalamus spreads stress signals throughout the nervous system.

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