Hand-picked business growth reads

Top business growth reads - January 2017 Signority

Here at Signority, we strive to improve ourselves, our product, our company and the lives we touch. That goal requires a level of commitment to keep making things better and more efficient. Making things better requires us to be open-minded and challenge the status quo. This is why every day, we make the time to look outward at leaders and change-makers – in our community and far away – to learn from their stories.
Recently, it occurred to us that we should share with you a list of the top business articles our team stumbled upon this past month. We hope this helps you and your business to grow and keep improving at whatever your craft is.

On Managing your Business

From Brad Feld, Managing Director at Foundry Group
Brad Feld, a successful entrepreneur and early stage investor. Brad shares with us his views on organizational structures. He describes for us what he calls, “The Three Machines” (Product, Customer, and Company). This is one of our top business articles for any business owner or leader starting a company or looking to shake things up!
>>> Read “The Three Machines” <<<
From First Round Review
We love what they write at the First Round Review, seriously, big fans! When they started out, they claimed their goal was “to become the Harvard Business Review for Startups” and they do not disappoint.
In this post, they share the importance and benefits of finding advisors for your business early on, and how to find the best advisors for you.
>>> Read “Snag the Best Advisors for Your Startup, from Best-selling Authors to Fortune 500 CEOs” <<<
In this post, First Round covers, at length, many strategies to develop your team. Seriously, great insights and best practices you can put to work ASAP.
>>> Read “Three Powerful Conversations Managers Must Have To Develop Their People” <<<

On Marketing & Growth

From Pierre Lechelle, SaaS growth thought leader
Pierre shares his model to help you audit and analyze business growth. The main goal is to give you all the keys you need to develop a cohesive strategy. Plan to lose yourself for an hour or two with this top business article and other posts on his site. They rock.
>>> Read “How to Perform a Growth Audit” <<<
From Alvin Hsia, Product Designer at AirBnB
This is an 11 min read from late last year but it has so much that I’m sure you will immerse yourself in it for a lot longer. Any time you put in here is worth it as you’ll end up knowing so much more about the human mind. This new knowledge will sure help you in your communications, marketing and more.
>>> Read “Cognitive Bias” <<<
From Rand Fishkin at Moz
Rand shares his 8 predictions for SEO this year, as well as, shows a frank grading of his 2016 predictions. If you are into optimizing your site for better ranking, please read their blog. This post is a good start.
>>> Read “8 Predictions for SEO in 2017” <<<

On Tools to Increase Productivity

From Product Hunt
This post shows a list of key tools to help you in your writing. Mentions include: Hemmingway Editor, Refly.it and more.
>>> Check out: “9 Tools That Will Help You Become a Better Writer” <<<

Making the Most Out of Your Online Ad Spending

online-ad-spending-done-effectively

Back in January, waspbarcode released fresh data from their small business survey indicating that not only do small business have a marketing budget, they also intend to increase it in 2017. Investing in marketing is great for business growth, especially if the investment allows businesses to reach new customers. The report did mention those small businesses are considering investing some of that budget in online marketing, but is that the right thing for your growing organization?
When I talk to owners of small and medium businesses, they quickly mention Facebook and Google Adwords as the place to start, and that is understandable, these platforms have great targeting ability and the largest audience reach. Google also has the added advantage of search intent. If I am searching for Car insurance, I am more likely to be looking to purchase a policy soon. But are there any things to look out for? Let’s look at the insurance industry.
It turns out that keywords related to insurance are the most expensive ones to bid on, $54.91 USD is the cost of a click on an insurance related ad according to data released by wordstream. Using this data 100 clicks would cost a company $5,491, and if your website is typical it would convert at an 4% rate, that means of the 100 customers that clicked 4 would have provided their information and become a lead, a cost of $1,372.25 per lead. There are ways to optimize that experience, no doubt one can get to a 10% conversion rate by using well-designed web pages, placing good offers on the website, etc…, if we use a 10% rate, the cost per lead is $549.1
That is the range for Cost Per Lead online, approximately $549 – $1,372.25 for an insurance broker. If your brokerage is looking to acquire 100 customers from the web channel, what should your budget be? That number highly depends on how well your brokers/agents close leads, if we assume that they are able to close 54% of all leads, then the cost per customer would be 2*Cost per lead, or $1,098 on the low end or $2,744 on the high end.
The question is, can this be optimized? Remember that customers searching for car insurance probably clicked a few ads and are getting quotes from various parties, converting these customers fast is key to success, here are some tips to convert potential customers.

Optimizing Your Online Ad Spending

  1. Create a Well-Designed Web Page and Clear Value Proposition

Make sure you have a well-designed web page and a compelling offer to increase your website conversion page. In a previous article on usability, we gave some tips on how to optimize your website for a better customer experience
What is important is to create a compelling and clear value proposition: A value proposition is a business declaration that describes why your potential customer should use your product or service. Usually, a great value proposition should address what your company does, how are you are different or unique and who your company serves.
A/B test website content: Split testing, most popularly known as A/B testing, is a method of determining the more successful content piece (that could be a web page, copy or even buttons) by putting two variations of content against each other and basing it on a common goal set by you.
The goal could be, the number of conversions, sign-ups, increase in downloads etc.  

  1. Responding and Interacting to Leads

Responds to leads fast: the 5-minute rule is in full effect here, data released by The Lead Response Management study show that the odds of contacting a lead if called in 5 minutes versus 30 minutes drop 100 times. The odds of qualifying a lead if called in 5 minutes versus 30 minutes drop 21 times. So stay on top of those leads.
Address objections: Objections are a part of the buying cycle and are inevitable. The critical part about an objection is to understand that it might be due to your potential customer’s lack of knowledge regarding your product or inability to understand your solution thoroughly.
Listening to your customer and addressing these objections in a concise manner is primary for your business’ success. In terms of your site, spend the time to address typical questions that you expect or have been asked frequently through an FAQ page or even landing page copy and imagery.

  1. Increasing Trust

It’s natural tendency to make a purchase from a person or company that you trust, so why would this be different for your potential customer? Ensuring you give your potential customers a reason to trust you and your product can be critical in the conversion process. Few ways you can do that is:

  • Being transparent about the services or product features you offer.
  • Always honor any promises you make to your customers, whether online or offline.
  • Display your product or service’s price on your website.
  • Show social proof by creating a section for mentions or quotes about your product or service from happy customers.
  • And finally, be consistent with your brand and product throughout your website, collateral and communication.

  1. Sealing the Deal – Online

Remove the possibility of leakage: customers do not want to print, sign, scan, fax, it’s inconvenient and if I am shopping my quote around and your competitor sent me a document ready for my digital signature, you would have lost me as a potential customer. Stats show that 46% of customers drop off after a broker sends them a paper based quote. In terms of Google online ad spending, that equals $43,920, meaning that if a digital signature solution saves one customer dropping off, the $50 investment is well worth it!
Looking to seal the deal? Why not try Signority’s Digital Signature solution for free. Click here

The Benefits of eSignature

the-business-benefits-of-eSignature

Thankfully, most eSignature software (like Signority) are easy to use—even for the most inexperienced users. In fact, it’s ease of use has been one of the contributing factors to its sky-high adoption rate.
Though the exact process may vary depending on the software solution, the basic workflow is virtually the same.
Here’s how a basic eSignature solution works:

  1. A document is uploaded to a website (usually a third-party software)
  2. The document is tagged to pinpoint exactly where a signature is required
  3. The document is then emailed to the participants who are required to sign
  4. The signer(s) completes all required fields, then signs the document electronically
  5. The completed document is then automatically emailed back to the original sender
  6. The document is automatically stored for safe, secure, and easy access

Now that you understand the basics of how eSignatures work, let’s look at some of the benefits of eSignature.

Benefits of eSignature

Legally-binding eSignatures have a number of important benefits for businesses:

  1. Easy to use. Signing an electronic document is super simple for all those involved. In fact, most eSignature software is intuitive even to complete beginners, which means less time spent learning how to use new software.
  2. Save money: Paper isn’t cheap, especially when you account for purchasing, copying, scanning, and printing costs, among other paper-related expenditures. Needless to say, these costs add up quickly. Moving to a paperless system can reduce expenditures and instantly increase your profit margins. You can access our post ”A Paperless Business and 5 Ways You Can Achieve It Now”.
  3. Save time. Printing, copying and scanning take time. Preparing documents for signature takes time. Tracking down (and waiting for) signatures take even more time. eSignatures can shorten the turnaround time by as much as 90 percent.
  4. Improve accuracy. There’s nothing more frustrating than waiting for a signed document only to realize the recipient forgot to fill out a required piece of information, eSignature software allow you to specify mandatory fields, which, as you probably guessed, require the recipient to complete all such fields before the document can be signed.  
  5. Stay organized. Keeping track of paperwork (regardless of how efficient your filing system may be) is often burdensome. eSignatures create an easily sortable, organized filing system by which you can easily store and retrieve important documents.
  6. Add an extra layer of security: Electronic documents can be protected by a variety of methods, including passcodes, encryption, two-factor authentication, and even biometric authentication methods. These methods instantly make your important documents more secure.
  7. Make things easier for customers and/or vendors. While the benefits of eSignature can be obvious for your own business, they also make things much easier for your customers, partners, suppliers, or other vendors (for many of the same reasons we’ve already covered). Customers prefer eSignature solutions not only because it is more convenient, but it brings a number of important advantages, including eliminating unnecessary back-and-forth (saving time), simplifying internal processes, facilitating quicker onboarding, and increasing operational efficiency, among a laundry list of other benefits.

Planning to take your business paperless? Check out our recent guide “A Brief Introduction to eSignatures”, you can download if for free here.

The Millennial Movement: 7 Ways Your Business Can Optimize for Mobile-Savvy Consumers

The Millennial Movement - How to Optimize for Mobile-Savvy Consumers

Quick, throw out your desktops and burn all your landlines, the millennials are coming!
Millennials are non-traditionalists who want things their way, and they want them now. According to Pew Research, there are 75.4 million millennials in the United States alone; officially surpassing the number of Baby Boomers. With a buying power of over $200 billion, they are quickly becoming a hugely untapped market. With this in mind, millennials account for 41% of the total time Americans spend using their phones. Turns out the stereotype is true, millennials are glued to their phones. Predictably, they use their phones for shopping. In fact, millennials use their phones for every step of the buying process; for researching, browsing/evaluating alternatives, and during the actual purchase. As such, your small- to medium-sized business should change with the tide and implement an optimized, mobile-first strategy, or else face the same fate of the once popular Blockbuster video. 

How to Optimize for Mobile: The Basics

First things first, before you personalize your site to tailor the needs of millennials, let’s go over some basics:

1. Functionality

In order for Millennials to use your mobile site, it must be easy to use. Concentrate on clear, focused content, with large, easy to read text. Smaller screens will already make navigating your website harder, so having a cluttered/distracting layout and small font will only amplify this. Users should never have to pinch or zoom their screens in order to see something more clearly. Along the same line, keep menus and navigations limited. If your users have to transition between four different pages before they get to the one they want, they’ll be gone after the second page. You should also limit things that will slow down your pages speed, like pop-ups (which can sometimes be super-frustrating to close!)

2. Design

Mobile-friendly layouts are simple and well-integrated with your main website. User’s want the same feel and experience on a mobile site as they would from your desktop website. Having your sites match each other presents a united front and a stronger brand image. And don’t forget about your big-handed customers! Make sure the buttons are big enough for easy usage. Along the same lines, keep your fill-out forms to a minimum, as small screens and big hands can make them difficult to complete. Lastly, the site must be configured in a way that allows for easy scrolling.

3. Use Already-Existing Mobile Features

Take advantage of the various functions and features that are only available on mobile phones. You’ll be able to know where all of your users are located in real time, allowing you to better their search results, and better promote yourself. The camera and microphone also open up a ton of opportunities for user engagement, like barcode scanning, and visual/verbal searches. You can also utilize push notifications, as they are less annoying than email notifications, and easier for users to see. For example, instead of notifying a customer through email when an item has come back in stock, send them a push notification. Not only is this more convenient for them, but it also speeds up the buying process for you. Another way to shorten the buying process is by incorporating click through links on your site. A specific example of how to optimize for mobile is allowing users to click on your business’s phone number, and having their phone directly call.

How to Optimize for Mobile: Tech-Savvy Millennials

Customer experience is taking center stage in 2017, and millennials know exactly what they want. If you can successfully cater to this new and profitable target segment, you will be, as they say, “on fleek”.

4. Online Browsing

According to Data Mentors, 50% of millennials use mobile devices to research products and reviews, a whopping 30% increase compared with non-millennials. They search for product information, product details, and past customer reviews. As such, each item on your site should have an accurate picture, a concise description and a place for customers to directly comment their reviews.

5. In-store Shopping

Millennials use their phone during their entire purchase; a colossal 84% use their smartphones in-store to assist with their shopping. As explained by DigiDay, retailers can leverage this to their advantage in many ways. Home Depot lets their customers see an item’s inventory, location in the store, price, product details and customer ratings, all by using their phone to scan an item’s barcode. Millennials are price sensitive shoppers, and two-thirds use their phones to compare/check prices. As such, you should strongly promote any deals and price promotions on your mobile site.

6. Online Purchases

Unsurprisingly, millennials are not scared to shop online. Roughly 40% prefer to shop online and they are comfortable with paying through their mobile phone — Apple and Android Pay have made this possible. However, millennials are not immune to security concerns. One solution to combat this could be to allow customers to pay through gift cards, as 64% of millennials believe gift cards to be the safest online payment method.

7. Other Features

Since the majority of millennials still shop in store, your mobile site should support this. You can monitor visitors’ behaviour on your site, and, based on their GPS location, refer them to the nearest store location when the time is right. You should also have your store directory easily accessible and noticeable. Additionally, millennials are active social media users and value the ability to share everything online. You can add sharing features on your products, enabling customers to send any items they’re interested in to their friends. Through this, you can increase your exposure and reach, and millennials will appreciate their ability to easily share over their social media pages.
Plot twist, I’m a millennial (and yes, this may have been written on my phone). A new age is here, and your business needs to keep up with the times. Millennials are unlike any other consumer group and we have immense buying power. Ditch the old way of thinking, take a millennials advice and start investing in upgrading your mobile site.
Gotta run, my phones almost out of battery!
If you liked this post, you may also be interested in our recent article on how to “Modernize Your Business for Under $1000 Per Month”.
Looking to take your business paperless? Sign-up now and get a 14-day free trial to a Signority eSignature Plan.

The Ultimate List: 70+ business experts you should follow for explosive business growth

Ultimate List of Top Business Experts to Follow on Social Media

All of us, including some of the greatest thinkers in the world, have turned to other great achievers and experts of their time for inspiration.
In fact, I think it’s safe to say, that the road to achieving success — whatever success may mean to you — has quite a bit to do with hearing what the experts have to say, looking at problem-solving from their perspective and hopefully learn from their mistakes.
So, I compiled a list of business experts, marketing gurus and those rising business stars that, I believe, can be of great help to small and medium business owners out there. In business, growth and marketing, these women and men are transforming the world and inspiring others to do the same.
The list is broken into Top Content Marketers, Top Business Growth Experts, Top Canadian Business Experts, Top Social Media Marketers and Top Up-and-Coming Experts.
So, who are these prominent business leaders and experts in the world you should look out for?
Let’s take a look!

Top Content Marketers

Because content marketing works, yes, even for small and medium businesses. Take a look the list below and make sure to follow these experts to supercharge your learning. The best thing is that all of them put out great free content and resources so you don’t have to spend a dime to get this knowledge

  1. Jeff Bullas–  Jeff was voted  #1 Content Marketing Influencer and h.as been featured in Forbes’ Top 10 Social Media Influencer list, among his other awards. Jeff is also a speaker and author. His self-proclaimed mission is to“Inspire and educate people to win at business and life in a digital world”.
  2. Sam Hurley – Sam frequently published a variety of easy-to-understand articles on Digital Marketing and always pushes the value of strong relationships in business. He also shares heaps of friendly, helpful material each day across Twitter, LinkedIn + Facebook. Interact with him and you can guarantee a vibrant response in the form of emojis and GIFs! Sam’s been featured in Forbes, Inc and FastCompany Magazine.
  3. Kevan Lee – As the Director of Marketing at Buffer, Kevan writes about the importance of content writing and publishing. You can see more about what his thought-process are like and follow his updates here.
  4. Joe Pulizzi – Best-selling author and self-proclaimed “content marketing evangelist”, Jeff Pulizzi is the founder of the Content Marketing Institute and is often found blogging or hosting one of his two podcasts —  ‘Content Inc.’ and ‘This Old Marketing’.
  5. Steve Cartwright –  Is an influencer and content marketer, whose Twitter feed is a curated list of content marketing articles about design, social media, website design and strategy from around the web. His blog is a great resource for marketers and entrepreneurs looking to understand how good design experience can help make great content.
  6. Lee Odden – CEO at TopRank Marketing —  a company that helps attract, engage, convert & retain more business with integrated marketing services: content, SEO, influencer marketing Author, Speaker & Consultant on B2B Content & Influencer Marketing, Social Media, PR & SEO. Proud Dad, World Traveler, Foodie, Beardie.
  7. Ann Handley – Ann is the Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs and a veteran when it comes to content creation. She is also a Wall Street Journal best-selling author for Everybody Writes, co-author of another best-seller Content Rules, and a big LinkedIn influencer. She was cited by ForbesWoman as one of the top 20 women bloggers, and her knowledge and experience is worth checking out!
  8. Martin Jones – Is a leading content marketer and currently Sr. Social Media & Content Marketing Manager with the corporate Cox Communications marketing team.  He is also a recognized writer and keynote speaker.
  9. Heidi Cohen – Actionable Marketer, speaker, professor, journalist shares practical advice on social media, content marketing, small business & life.
  10. Jason Miller – As a global Content & Social Media Marketing leader, Jason leads content and social media marketing for LinkedIn. He is the author of the best seller ‘Welcome to the Funnel’.
  11. Jay Baer – Jay Baer is a prominent Keynote speaker & emcee. He is also the President of Convince and Convert, a marketing & social media customer service consultancy.
  12. Mark Schaefer – Mark is a professional keynote speaker, internationally acclaimed author and strategy consultant, He was recently voted #1 Social media keynote speaker and has five best-selling marketing books under his belt.  Check out his podcast ‘Marketing Companion podcast’.
  13. Joanna Wiebe – Is the founder of Copy Hackers, a site that teaches — just about anyone — how to write persuasive copy that converts. She is also a prominent speaker and a social media maven.
  14. Aaron Orendorff – Featured in Forbes Top 25 Marketing Influencers, Aaron is an expert content writer and marketer. He writes at Mashable, Lifehacker and Huffington Post to name a few.  You can read more about him here.

Top Business Growth Experts

The majority of the people on this list are from the technology world, and that’s because I firmly believe you can take away a lot from their successes in high-tech and still incorporate key learnings into your business — no matter the size.

  1. Sean Ellis – Entrepreneur, angel investor and startup consulter, Ellis is the “original growth hacker”, the person who both coined the term and founded GrowthHackers. He was the first marketer for EventBrite, DropBox and LookOut, and clearly a solid foundation of their successful and fast growth.
  2. Noah Kagan – Originally FaceBook’s 30th employee, now he’s known for founding and growing AppSumo, a web-based company trading in digitally distributes goods such as software and digital material for e-learning.
  3. David King – Another FaceBook-related growth expert, King is the founder of (Lil) Green Patch apps, which in itself is a growth hacking technique, as the brackets will make the apps list first in search results.
  4. Dave Zohrob – Currently an angel investor and working to create the perfect startup job environment, Zohrob comes from a technical background as a web engineer for Hot or Not. He started and launched, among others: Readr, Mix.io, LOLQuiz, 140 Mafia etc.
  5. Andrew Johns – Working with the likes of Quora, FaceBook, Twitter and Wealthfront inc., he boasts an impressive resume, dedicating his career to growth hacking, SEO management and content marketing.
  6. Joe Greenstein – Co-founder and CEO of Flixster and Rottentomattoes.  Prior to Flixster, Greenstein was part of the startup team and Director of Product Management at Edusoft, a curriculum and assessment platform for public school districts. Edusoft grew to serve over 4M students nationwide before being acquired by Houghton-Mifflin in 2003.
  7. Pierre Lechelle –  With a track record of helping 60+ companies reach higher goals. Pierre Lechelle is a passionate growth hacker and SAAS marketer, you can learn more about him and check out his tools on his site.  
  8. Wade Foster – Zapier CEO and co-founder Wade Foster, built the earliest prototype of their product (Zapier) in just two days at a Startup Weekend event in Columbia, Missouri. Since then, Wade has helped  Zapier become the leading automated app integration platform it is today.
  9. Ryan Singer Currently handling the Product strategy at Basecamp, Ryan often writes and speaks about: Product, Design and  Strategy. You can find out more about him via his site.  
  10. Clate Mask:  As CEO and co-founder of Infusionsoft, Clate has been educating and inspiring entrepreneurs for over ten years. Highly popular in the small business community, he is regarded as a visionary leader by many and has also, co-authored ‘Conquer the Chaos’, a New York Times best-selling book.
  11. Eric Siu: Popularly know for insightful weekly interview series, where he interviews leading industry experts. Eric Sui is currently the CEO of Single Grain LLC — a digital marketing agency focused on driving scalable and predictable growth using SEM, SEO and content marketing.
  12. Sujan Patel: With over a decade of experience in digital marketing, Sujan Patel is now a popular name in the digital marketing and tech space. He has led the marketing strategy for Fortune 500 companies, including Sales Force, Zillow, Linkedin and Mint. He is also a  weekly contributor to Inc. and Entrepreneur magazine.
  13. Jeremy Goldman: Jeremy is a marketing strategist and author of the book ‘Going Social’. He is also the founder & CEO of Firebrand Group, a digital branding and marketing consultancy devoted to Fortune 500 brands and high-growth startups.
  14. Ben Thompson: Has worked on strategy for some of the largest tech companies out there,  including Apple and Microsoft. He is the author and founder of Stratechery a blog that is dedicated to strategy, technology and business.
  15. Guillaume Cabane: Is the marketing expert and VP of Growth at Segment, a platform used for collecting important customer data and used for effective business decisions. He currently a startup Mentor.
  16. Andrew Chen: Andrew Chen is a marketer that I personally look up to. His writing is practical, insightful and can almost be applied to any type of growing company. He currently works on the growth team in Uber.  

Top Canadian Business Experts

We’re Canadian, so I had to include some of the top Canadian experts we follow at Signority. These people are change makers that inspire us every day. Follow them and learn about their stories and the knowledge they share.

  1. Mitch Joel – A communications and digital marketing visionary, Mr.Joel is often seen speaking at tech conferences on how digital technology and data are transforming the business world. He is president of Twist Image, a digital marketing agency and president and a founding partner of Distort Entertainment.
  2. Michael Hyatt – Executive Chairman of Bluecat, one of the leading growth companies in Canada focused on Internet of Things (IoT), he is a “virtual mentor”, open to discussing everything entrepreneurship, building and developing successful teams and how IoT is shaping up to be.
  3. Byron Holland – Byron Holland has been the president and CEO of the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) and has held many other leading positions. He gives his opinions on technology and recent trends in the blog “Public Domain”.
  4. Tobias Lutke – He’s the founder and CEO of e-commerce company Shopify, and a the same time, a part of the core development team for Ruby on Rails. An important name in the tech industry, making Shopify one of the biggest companies in the world was definitely one of his biggest achievements.
  5. Ryan Holmes –  Founder and CEO of Hootsuite, a social media management tool for businesses developed by him through his agency Invoke Media. Additionally, he is an influencer and contributor to LinkedIn’s Influencer Program, writing about tech and entrepreneurship.  
  6. Peter Aceto – Peter Aceto is the CEO  of Tangerine Bank. He is a globally recognized business leader and is the author of Weology — an insightful and practical approach to successful business leadership.   
  7. Eli Fathi – Eli Fathi is a serial entrepreneur with several successful exits and currently the CEO of MindBridge Ai.  He helps other emerging leaders and entrepreneurs, by sharing his experiences in business on his blog ‘My Take On Business’.
  8. Adrian Salamunovic : Founder of several multi-million dollar companies including CanvasPop.com, DNA11.com and Crated.com. He’s been featured in Techcrunch, Mashable, CNN, The Verge, WIRED.  He loves working with and helping entrepreneurs like you kick ass. You can connect with him on Clarity.
  9. Mathew Ingram: Mathew is a senior writer at Fortune and a former columnist for the Globe and Mail. He is also an active player in the Canadian technology space and co-founded the Mesh Conference in Toronto.
  10. Rick Spence: As a former editor of Profit magazine, he has an extensive career helping entrepreneurs and SMBs evolve into revenue-generating powerhouses. He’s a columnist for the National Post and regularly publishes on LinkedIn.
  11. Sarah Prevette: Sarah has a wealth of experience and knowledge when it comes to the SMB market. She was the co-founder of Sprouter, an online community that helped connect small businesses with helpful advisors, as well as, founding BetaKit, an online magazine about tech startups. She’s currently a managing director at BrandProject, a venture capital firm looking to help push innovation within Canada.
  12. Andrew Patricio: Andrew is the CEO of BizLaunch, a company that specializes in webinars for small and medium businesses. With a bevvy of knowledge in search engine optimization, email marketing and other areas of marketing operations, Andrew has a wealth of knowledge, having started seven businesses himself, written two books on running a small business, and has a YouTube channel, BizlaunchTV.
  13. Victoria Lennox: The co-founder of Startup Canada and is one of the most recognized young entrepreneurs in Canada, as recognized in 2012, where Victoria was one of Canada’s Top 30 Entrepreneurs by PROFIT Magazine. She is also the first Canadian and one of the youngest recipients of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion thanks to the work she did in the UK with the founding of NACUE.
  14. Erin Bury: Erin is the Managing Director at 88Creative, a creative communications agency in Toronto, as well as a columnist at the Financial Post and part of the founding team for Sprouter. With experience as the Managing Editor at BetaKit and Marketing Advisor for Abacus.Agency, her knowledge and skill set have made her one of Marketing Magazine’s Top 30 Under 30 Marketing Pros in 2012.

Top Social Media Marketers

It’s very likely that you found this list via social media and that you’re active on it, so I’m not going to sell you on the benefits of having your business being present there. Read on to find out about the top minds in this category and take your social media business account to the next level.

  1. Kristin Maverick – Director of The Barbarian Group, she’s one of the top social media marketers in the world. She has led social media campaigns for the likes of Samsung, General Electric, Attention and BBDO.
  2. Laura Olin – If you think you don’t know Laura Olin, think again. She’s the moving hand behind President Obama’s social media campaign. Except from overseeing the social media presence of  no-ex POTUS, Michelle Obama and Joe Biden, she also has created a ton of Obama-memes circulating around the internet.
  3. Sarah Hofstetter – As President of 360i and leader of one of the coolest social shops of the moment. Her company was behind Oreo’s viral response to SuperBowl blackout, and this was successful not because of dumb luck but because she had a team waiting to live comment on any occurrence during transmission.
  4. Jeff Greenspan – Now a freelancer, his most notable stints include BBDO, FaceBook and most recently being Chief Creative Officer at Buzzfeed. He is one of the few creatives who has experienced social marketing from every end of the spectrum. He has worked inside agencies, experimented with native advertising on one of the most viral publishers out there, and even has insider knowledge of what works on social media from his days at Facebook.
  5. “The Squirrels” – DraftFCB has a group of four creatives (Jared Isle, Noel Hamilton, Michael Lubrano, Jackie Anzaldi)  who worked together on one of Oreo’s most successful FaceBook campaigns: Oreo’s Daily Twist. They did some pretty memorable, culturally relevant posts, such as the one for Gay Pride, or celebrating the landing of the Mars Rover.
  6. Ram Krishan – He’s the one leading Lay’s and Doritos’ “Do us a flavor” and “Crash the SuperBowl” social media campaigns. His speciality is engaging users; they were asked to choose the Lay’s flavor that would get to go on markets on a very successful FaceBook campaign.
  7. Michaela Alexis – Michaela is an Ottawa-based content marketing specialist, turned Linkedin influencer. Her first viral article garnered over 120,000 views, shares, likes and comments to followers in less than a year! Her writing has been published on Yahoo! Finance, PR Daily, The Muse, Job.com, CNBC, and other large publications.  
  8. Ryan Biddulph –  Besides being a social media master, Ryan’s writes and manages his blog ‘Welcome to Blogging From Paradise’, an active community to help people build a full time, professional blogging career. As his blog’s title suggests, he primarily blogs as he travels the world. If travelling is your passion, then his blog is a must-read for you.
  9. Neal Schaffer – Neal is the founder of Maximize Your Social and a three-time award-winning author, most notable for his definitive book “Maximize Your Social”. His success has awarded and recognized him as a leader in social media, being named as CMO.com’s top 10 biggest thought leaders, Forbes Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers, and Forbes Top 5 Social Sales Influencer. His wealth of knowledge and success is tremendous and definitely worth checking out!
  10. Mike Kawula: Michael is the CEO of Social Quant, a top ranked Twitter Marketing tool by Hubspot, and ranked as one of Inc. Magazine’s Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Businesses in 2012. He is the author of “Twitter Marketing That Sells” and has great experience and knowledge when it comes to all things social media.
  11. Sandi Krakowski: Sandi is the founder and president of A Real Change International, Inc., that deals with helping businesses with marketing strategies, as well as working together to help bring faith and cohesion into workplaces. She has been featured on the Forbes Top 20 Online Marketing Influencers, Top 20 Women Social Media Influencer, and Top 50 Social Media Power Influencer lists.
  12. Ian Cleary: Ian is a huge player in the world of influencers. Founder of RazorSocial, he helps businesses understand social media tools and how to leverage them to be more efficient and effective. Ian’s credentials are outstanding, especially with blog content, becoming one of Social Media Examiner’s top 10 social media blogs within 6 months of the start of RazorSocial.
  13. Pam Moore: Pam is the CEO and Founder of Marketing Nutz, a full service, social media and digital marketing agency and has helped businesses develop and integrate digital marketing, social media, and content marketing strategies. Pam’s success hasn’t been unnoticed. She is one of Forbes’ Top 10 Social Media Power Influencer and Top 10 Social Media Women Power Influencers for her influence in the marketing world.
  14. Michael Stelzner – Michael Stelzner is a social media champion and founder of Social Media Examiner, the absolute resource for everything social media and online marketing. Besides this, he is also an author and speaker.
  15. Kim Garst – Through Boom!Social — a consulting firm that Kim Garst founded — she trains, educates, inspires and motivates entrepreneurs on how to use social media for personal branding. Kim is also the author of, “The Quick and Easy Guide to Branding Your Business and Creating Massive Sales with Pinterest”.
  16. Chris Brogan – As CEO, of Owner Media Group, Inc. Chris uses his expert background in business strategy to provide actionable skills to businesses to grow their capabilities and connections for businesses of all sizes.

Top Up-and-Coming Experts

Like the name implies, these experts are not widely known yet, but they will be, trust me. Read and follow their stories from now on so you can get inspired and informed.

  1. Nathan Lands – CEO and co-founder of recently emerging Blockai, or else artificial intelligence that protects the copyright of your Instagram photos with only the use of a hashtag. This is such a genuine way to avoid copyright infringement that the general public can’t help but love.
  2. Rob May – Characterized by a fresh way of looking at things, except for being a blogger and publishing his own articles, Rob has founded chatbot startup Talla. He’s expected to be one of the biggest names in the industry in a few years time.
  3. David & Orion Hindawi – This father-son pair have founded Tanium together, a cybersecurity firm that offers a new approach to endpoint security systems.
  4. Marcy Boyle – feature filmmaker and founder of HotBit VR, a virtual Reality startup aiming to bring virtual reality stunt and make it the next thing.
  5. Noah Kraft – Founder of The Doppler Labs, he’s also a business expert to watch out for. He’s behind all this “augmented reality for the ears” thing, that sooner or later will have to bloom in between us common folks. This guy’s such a visionary, that he’s bringing it to us in the “sooner” part of the spectrum.
  6. Melanie Pinola – Melanie is a former Lifehacker writer and current Zapier editorial team manager. She writes on various topics, from technology to investing. You can view her work here.   
  7. Lisa Sicard – Is a social media marketer and blogger. Her blog ‘Inspire To thrive’, contains some great material about social media today, blogging and SEO tips.   
  8. Kimra Luna – Kimra is a personal brand strategist and a must-follow for 2017, according to Forbes. She exploded into the industry just a few years ago and built a multi-million business through her brand ‘ Be True Brand You’  from scratch.
  9. Jason Stone – With over 1.6 million followers on Instagram, Jason is a true social media maven and his motivational posts are great picker-uppers if you’re in need of it. He is also an internationally recognized sales trainer.
  10. Reach Branding – Another branding and personal branding to look out for is Reach Branding. William Arruda, founder of Reach Branding gives tips, tricks and expert advice on how to build your personal brand. Aside from blogging, William delivers workshops on the power of personal branding for some of the world’s most successful companies.

Bonus: Top Content Marketing Platforms

We covered experts in business, now here’s a look at brands and platforms that have put content marketing at the forefront of their marketing strategy and executing it almost flawlessly. Take these learnings and inject into your small business for a 2017 full of success and growth.

  1. LinkedIn – LinkedIn is today’s social media leader as far as content marketing goes. With its long-post feature and promotion for its users, the possibilities are endless, hence it getting first place.
  2. Salesforce – With its myriad of webinars, whitepapers and expert opinions on industry matters, Salesforce is another winner of the content marketing game.
  3. Stanford Graduate School of Business – Stanford publishes Insights, which is very well received among students and professionals alike for its in-depth articles, research and documentation on a range of topics such as finance, social innovation, energy, all with well-known and established authors and researchers.
  4. IBM – This is another example of how tech companies are leading in the content marketing matters. By regularly posting tutorials, research and whitepapers on specific issues, this company has built quite a following.
  5. Adobe – Adobe’s strong point regarding content marketing is their digital magazine CMO.com. It contains slideshows, digital marketing news and insights, interviews and general articles on a variety of categories such as technology, research, strategy, management, etc. The real gem though, is their interview section, with original and straightforward expert opinions.
  6. Cisco – Cisco made waves with their documentary-style video sessions: My Networked Life, consisting of personal stories of young engineers and technology people showing how they used hardware and software to improve their lives. It was both inspiring and helpful for the careers of many young people featured there.  

A quick shoutout to Danny Schreiber (Zapier), Cody Jones (Zapier), Adrian Salamunovic and Sam Hurley for the help!
In case you missed our massively-helpful post on ‘The Ultimate List: 100+ Tools & Resources For Skyrocketing Business Growth in 2017’, you can read it here.

The Insurance Risks of Cyber Attacks

The Insurance Risks of Cyber Attacks

As the use of technology is becoming more prevalent in everyday business, insurance included, there are aspects that are prone to high levels of risk, and require ramping up on security. While it may look like a mundane issue at first, it can have severe consequences for your company. As more insurance companies, in particular, are migrating towards digital channels in order to create tighter relationships with their customers, they also are trusted with sensitive personal information for each client such as Social Security Numbers, credit card data, and so much more. In case —  but, hopefully not — you are a victim of a cyber attack, what does this mean for you? Let’s take a look at some of the insurance risks to consider when looking at cyber attacks!

Lost Sales

Cyber attacks are not always orchestrated by large-scale, highly qualified hackers, but even small DOS (denial of service) attacks can pose a great risk and affect your company severely if they catch you unprepared. Seeing as insurance companies collect data from their customers that range from personal information such as addresses, passport numbers, Social Security Numbers (SSN) or EIN, to financial info including, but not limited to credit card numbers, PINs, anything really, it is understandable for your customers to be wary, in case you have had to deal with a cyber attack previously. Studies say that 60% of SMEs who have been a victim of such attacks go out of business within three months.
Another type of cyber attacks that can cost your company quite a lot is called ‘Social cyber attack’. The most clear-cut example was the group of protesters who collectively attacked PayPal for not allowing payments to WikiLeaks. While it didn’t go down entirely, the lost sales were tremendous.

Protection Costs

According to a recent article published in Forbes magazine, cyber crime costs are projected to reach $2 Trillion by 2019. Which means that businesses need to be extra-vigilant when it comes to protecting their data.
Doing business online comes with a great number of rewards, but also with a risk or two. If you do insurance online, then you have to be aware of the cyber attacks at all times. For this, you have to prepare and protect yourself before hackers even try to get to you, and this preparation has to be thorough.
To avoid the risk of getting hacked and losing critical data, you have to hire qualified and capable people who can take care of the cyber-security section of your digital business. If you want your help to be highly professional, then you will have to spend a good amount of money for supporting it, both in terms of hiring competent IT staff and for other overheads required for smooth operations.

Changing your business model

Financial costs are not the only thing insurance companies have to worry about when dealing with cyber-crime. They have to remodel the way information is collected, stored and handled, so as to ensure that sensitive information is safe and non-vulnerable to these kinds of attacks. Many businesses have elected to altogether stop storing their customers’ financial and personal information, some others have shut down their online presence, at least online stores, if not all. This is all done when they cannot protect themselves properly, as the implications such attack can have on them, can be fatal.
Lately, customers also are being more proactive in educating themselves on online security and request to be informed on how their insurance company of choice handles security issues. You may have noticed that clients are more likely to choose businesses that are upfront and sincere about their methods — we noticed this soon after we launched our post on transparent pricing!
Making these changes to prepare and protect you and your company from these cyber risk are integral and can be daunting, but minor changes in the way you conduct business, the infrastructure, and various technological advancements can all be used to help mitigate much of the risks and improve your company.
Begin looking into cheap and secure methods to improve small processes of your work before ramping up to bigger, more complex security issues. Try looking into things like eSignature solutions, that can provide extra layers of security to already existing workflows and processes! Learn more by checking out our website or feel free to contact us directly with more questions!
Looking to take your business paperless? Sign-up now and get a 14-day free trial to a Signority eSignature Plan.

Top 5 conferences and groups in 2017 for Women in Tech

List of top 5 groups and conferences for Women in Tech for 2017

One of the best ways to get ahead of the game in for a women in tech, is attending conferences and gatherings on the topics you’re interested in. As a female in tech, this could mean you finding yourself surrounded by an audience consisting of more than 80% male. For many, it can be daunting, intimidating and dealing with prejudice is almost a given.
Why choose All-Women-in-Tech conferences?
There are many reasons why women in technology should choose to go to conferences, with the top reasons being: a chance to learn industry best practices, career advancement and networking opportunities. That being said, we can find so many other reasons why you should go to one as soon as possible. Some of them are:

  • Sharpening your skills – Sometimes we have to take a break from all the work, not to rest per se, but to learn how to work better and more efficiently. Conferences are a great way to do just that.
  • Meet experts and influencers face-to-face – There is no better way to get feedback from people you look up to as a business person, which wouldn’t be possible with online webinars or emails.
  • Networking opportunities – Except for all gurus you will get the chance to meet, you can also network and make some new connections and friends in high places.
  • New tips and tricks – Being in the same space as other people with the same interests as you, you’re bound to get some recommendations on what tools to use, how to use them and what they’re good for.

So basically, all-female conferences are just as good as mixed-gender ones, except being surrounded by like-minded females, which are more likely to have the same problems juggling housework and career. Which are the best groups and conferences to attend in 2017 if you are a woman in tech? Let’s see!

Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing  

The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference is the world’s largest gathering of women in tech, it is organized by the Anita Borg Institute and will be held on the 4th– 6th October of 2017 in the Orange County Convention center in Orlando, Florida. It has been going on for almost 15 years now and its aim is to raise awareness of the contribution of women in the computing world. With its focus on topics such as Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Software Engineering and Security/Privacy, the conference offers professional development for its attendees through the means of mentoring and collaborations.

The Women in Tech Summit  (This summit is no longer in production)

With a combination of hands-on workshops, networking and multiple career discussions with other women in the technology field, the Women in Tech Summit conference’s main goal is to inspire, educate and connect their attendees to one another. There are multiple editions of it, so if you can’t make it to one of them you can always get to another one. The dates are as follows:  Washington D.C on March 24th, Philadelphia on 21st and 22nd of April,  Boston on July 22nd and finally, Raleigh-Durham on November  11th.

Fortune’s The Most Powerful Women Summit 2017  

Fortune’s The Most Powerful Women Summit 2017 gathering is built specifically for inspiring women, with speakers sharing their road to success. On October 9th-11th in Washington D.C, you will have some of the biggest names in the technology world and beyond answer your questions about how you can reach the same levels of success. Past speakers have included now-ex first lady Michelle Obama and many more.

WITI Women in Technology Summit 2017

Currently in their 23rd edition, WITI Women in Technology Summit 2017 conference is one of the most important meetups for women in technology. Held in Silicon Valley on June 11th-13th, You will find yourself in the midst of top women executives, entrepreneurs and thought leaders. The WITI gives you the opportunity to collaborate with peers on innovative solutions for some of the most pressing problems, explore new business opportunities and make new connections.  

InnoTech Women in Tech Summit

Organized as a friendly fireside chat, along with some workshops and discussions, the 2017 InnoTech Women in Tech Summit focuses on keeping you and IT relevant. Held in Dallas on Wednesday, April 26th, some of the main topics that will be discussed during this meeting will be: IT leadership, operations and digital transformation, analytics as well as how to embrace digital disruptions.
Looking to take your business paperless? Sign-up now and get a 14-day free trial to a Signority eSignature Plan.

Quick Reference Guide: Electronic Signatures & the ESIGN Act

electronic signatures and the ESIGN Act

We’ve previously covered a general description of what electronic signatures are, let’s look at it from the perspective of the ESIGN act.
For the sake of this post, we’ll first look at what the ESign act is. Wikipedia defines the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act or ESIGN act as, “a United States federal law passed by the U.S. Congress to facilitate the use of electronic records and electronic signatures in interstate and foreign commerce by ensuring the validity and legal effect of contracts entered into electronically.”   
Breaking down the ESign Act
As defined by the ESIGN Act here (more on this foundational piece of legislation shortly), an eSignature is “any sound, symbol, or process, attached to or logically associated with a contract or other record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record.” If that definition sounds vague or unclear, don’t worry. That’s sort of the idea; it is, after all, “legal-ese”. In plain English, however, the above definition simply “states” an eSignature as a legal concept. That is, its legal definition simply means that it is possible for an electronic signature to carry the same sort of legal “weight” as its pen-and-paper equivalent. That probably doesn’t make too much sense at this very moment. So, let’s take a closer look.
First, there is one critically important point you should understand: In a strictly legal sense, the term “electronic signature” does not refer to an actual signature. Instead, the term refers more broadly to the process requirements (we’ll call them components) that must be met in order for an electronically signed document to be considered legally binding in a court of law.
As far as the law is concerned, a signature is simply one component of an electronically signed document. By itself, it carries no legal authority. In order for an electronic document to stand up in a court of law, all of the components must be present. The ESIGN Act (again, more on this shortly) explicitly outlines these components in an attempt to standardize, well, the process by which an electronic document must be handled so that it carries full, legal authority. Let’s take a quick look at the basic components of an electronic signature.
As we just reviewed, the signature itself is only one component of a legally-binding electronic contract. However, there are four, primary components that you should care about most:

  1. Consent:
    Basically, any individual who signs an electronic document must explicitly consent to do so in the first place. Should an individual choose not to consent to an electronically signed agreement, a non-electronic option must be made available.
  1. Intent:
    In the simplest terms, this means that the signer clearly understands his or her intent to sign the document, and the process by which the individual signed the document was clear and understood from beginning to end.
  1. Verification:
    For an electronic document to be considered legally binding it must be signed by the same person whose signature appears on the dotted line. In turn, most electronic signature solutions have built-in verification methods.
  1. Auditability:
    This is the electronic equivalent of a “paper trail,” (popularly know in the electronic signature industry as an ‘Audit Trail’) whereby each party involved in an electronic agreement (or a legal entity, for instance) can, if necessary, easily access each step of the electronic signature process. You can read more about the anatomy and importance of an audit trail in our post titled “The Anatomy of an Audit Trail: Electronic Signature Simplified”.

We realize that navigating through the world of electronic signatures can be tricky, so we created “A Brief Introduction to eSignatures”. You can download if for free here.

Border-Free Business: Your Definitive Guide To International Contracts

International contracts for SMBs

My first experience with international contracts did not go so well. The year was 2004, I was travelling and had just recently met up with a very promising business prospect. We had the responsibility of finalizing a housing development project, by creating sandcastles from the toys we found scattered around the beach shore. Oh, did I mention I was only 8? Well, anyway, turns out my new found friend at the beach purposely hustled the only toy shovel right from my little naive hands.
This is my story.
Both of us wanted the shovel, so we decided to figure things out fairly- with a legally binding contract, aka, a game of heads or tails. Now, my new sandcastle developing partner, seeing an opportunity to push their own agenda, said “tails I win, heads you lose”… as you can probably guess, I blindly agreed to these terms. At the time, I didn’t realize the fine print of their offer and grudgingly gave away the only toy shovel. Only years later, lying wide awake at 3am, did I realize how unfair and one-sided that “contract” really was!
Don’t let yourself make the same mistake, because there’s probably a lot more at risk. So keep reading to learn what to watch out for before signing or sending international contracts (and some other useful information too).
International contracts can open up a lot of opportunities…. opportunities that you should take advantage of, like right now. If your business is not, at least, looking to expand into foreign markets, you are losing a huge slice of potential market share. Our economy would not be where it is today without the access and ease of entering into international markets. International trade is a part of every aspect of your, and my, day-to-day life. 
Now, you may be thinking, you work for a small to medium sized business and have no idea how to handle international contracts. Well fortunately for you, we have already done the hard work.
So here it is… Your definitive Guide to International Contracts!

Laws When Doing Business with a Foreign Company

Obviously, international business agreements are substantially different from domestic. For international, you have to be aware of the country’s political environment, economic environment, culture, and legal system. For example, as explained by Business Management, India’s laws protect small businesses and consumers, whereas China’s government strictly controls its business sectors. With this being said, it is very important to know the country’s specific contract laws. Countries that follow common law systems, like the United States, have very detailed contracts compared with countries that follow a civil law system, like Russia. This is an important detail to note, as common law system contracts can be time-consuming and expensive to create.

Sending International Contracts: What to Look for

The first, and most obvious, thing to look for is if your terms are properly stated. Make sure your international contract is easily understandable, free from any grammatical errors and is written in plain English. According to the State Bar of Michigan, writing contracts in plain English can improve the contract’s substantive content, and promote the client’s interests. Furthermore, your contract must follow a logical segmentation- if you can’t follow along with what the contract is saying, your signee won’t be able to either. Along the same lines, you should look out for vague standards, such as “reasonable” or “significant”, as these phrases can cloud your actual objective. Furthermore, read through and remove any implying terms. Make sure everything is explicitly stated and said with intent, especially in regards to price and payments. Making your standards more concrete and clear will make them easier to reinforce, and easier for signees to follow. Click here to learn how to include remote workers and digital nomads into your business plan. Already know how/why you want to hire international workers? Click here.

Receiving International Contracts: What to Look for

Most importantly, you need to read it over and agree to everything stated. Make sure the contract leaves none of your questions unanswered. For example, it should clearly define whether the method of payment is a fixed fee, or based on the current exchange rate (and whether you will be paid in local or foreign currency). It is usually a good idea to have a lawyer look over any international contract before you sign (don’t worry, we’ll explain how to easily find a cheap lawyer a little later on).

Receiving Employment Contracts: What to Look for

Unfortunately, international employment contracts are more technically complicated than standard employment contracts, as employment laws, tax laws and immigration laws affect them. As such, there are several things you should watch out for. First, make sure all of the nitty-gritty details are spelt out and clearly defined. For example, ensure any and all promised benefits are fully laid out. Second, be sure to read every single clause. You do not want to end up in a sticky situation because the “past” you was too bored to actually read what you were agreeing to. The non-compete clause is an important one to note, as, according to Wikipedia, this can prohibit you from working within a competing profession or trade with your soon to be employer. Especially if you’re uprooting your life and moving for this job, you want to be sure you have plenty of opportunities if you ever decide to quit (and that you’re not forced to move back home).

How to Find a Lawyer

All this responsibility does not have to fall on your shoulders; to be safe you should hire a professional to look over everything and make sure things are in order. You might be rolling your eyes and groaning, but hiring a lawyer does not have to be expensive. Let me repeat, hiring a lawyer does not have to be expensive. And the added security is definitely worth the minimal cost. You can always ask around for lawyer recommendations, but this can be extremely time consuming and friends/family are not always the most reliable source. Thankfully, there are also online sources available. LawTrades can help you find employment contract lawyers for cheap. Since they don’t have the overhead expenditure of law firms, they are about 60% more affordable – score!

Digital Vs. Paper Signatures

Contracts, in general, can be stressful, and it doesn’t help when you’re sending/receiving them half way across the world. International contracts have the added stress of time and distance. Paper signatures not only prolong the signing process, it also increase the frustration and overall inconvenience (and sometimes the associated costs). Thankfully, the future is here! Digital signatures speed up the process by sending contracts across borders instantaneously. As such, they save time, money and make everyone’s experience as stress-free as possible.
Online eSignature companies like Signority, can be the solution you’ve been waiting for. Compared with digital contracts, paper contracts make about as much sense as sending your mail by pigeon.
Well there you have it, all you need to know about the basics of international contracts. I bet heads your small to medium sized business will exponentially grow from being introduced to international markets, and tails that international contracts are not as hard as they seem.  
Thank you for reading, now please sign the dotted line below to grant us full access to all of your bank accounts: ____________________
To most of you who didn’t sign, I’m very proud of how much you’ve learned. To those who did sign, maybe just stick to hiring a lawyer.
Well, we have given you the basics of international contracts, now it’s time for you to start applying this information into your business strategy and open up a whole new world, literally and figuratively.
Also, check out our recent article on “The Ultimate List: 100+ Tools & Resources For Skyrocketing Business Growth in 2017” to help further automate and streamline your international business deals!
Looking to take your business paperless? Sign-up now and get a 14-day free trial to a Signority eSignature Plan.

How to Create, Manage and Track Your Legally Binding Contract

Legally-binding-contract-steps-tomanage-create-and-track

We know how important it is to properly create, manage and track your legally binding contract, and fortunately, we have comprised a foolproof step-by-step guide on how to do just that. Read on to learn how to impress your boss and clients with your notable contract skills.
Picture this: you have an incredibly important deal hanging in the balance, all the responsibility of tracking and managing the binding contract falls on your shoulders.
What do you do?
Well, you have two options.
One, you can stick to the basics and stunt your contracts growth and potential. Similar to a seedling being neglected and kept in the dark, no matter how much work and time you invest into making and managing your legally binding contract, it will never be able to grow. We know how dedicated you are to your work, so why work harder for less payoff? Not only is this tedious and time-consuming, but it’s also risky.
Or two, you can break through the old crutch of habit and reinvent the way you manage and track your legally binding contract. This industry is evolving and with the rapid technological advancements that we are currently experiencing, it’s hard not to believe that a completely digital future is just around the corner (check out our recent post on “The Evolution and Future of Document Signing”).
So, like Yoda from Star Wars once said, “once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will.” Similarly, missing the window for automating your sales operations, could mean a long and tedious future.

Allow yourself the opportunity to expand your skillset, optimize your operational and financial performance, all while reducing financial risk. You may be surprised at just how easy this is.

Before you start drafting your legally binding contract  


1. Work with the right people
You’re only as strong as your weakest link, so be sure your team comprises of people who are right for the job, match your company’s culture and are on the same page with your company’s mission.
According to Glassdoor:
“Employees who understand their contribution to the company’s mission are more likely to bring a positive attitude and commitment to the workplace, which trickles down to company performance at every level.”
So, building a team with passionate individuals, will lead to getting more contacts signed and ultimately leads to your team’s success.

2. Do your homework
This goes without saying, but in order for the seedling to grow strong and sturdy roots, you have to put in the work.
Research the business you are creating the legally binding contract for and the legal background of the business relationship you’re entering. Systematic planning and methodology are what’s required to be successful.
Conduct interviews with the right people and collect any needed information on the present situation, as well as any decisions the outside parties’ plan on making in the future.
A couple of other important points to research are:
Who are you contracting? What steps need to be taken for the company/business to comply with requirements? What are their specific policies and procedures regarding decision-making? Does a decision have to be approved by multiple people? If so, what order? In short, familiarize yourself with the foundation and culture of that organization.
You can also use resources such as the Financial Times, Forrester Research and  Economist Intelligence Unit for general industry and market research.

After the research   


1. Get started on the paperwork
Creating a successful, legally binding contract can be broken into 3 main segments: Drafting, Reviewing and Finalizing.
Drafting
Ask your client to prepare and outline before you draft your contract.
According to RocketLawyer, asking your client to prepare an outline of the agreement as they understand it, not only provides you with a blueprint of the points that are important to them. But also, serves as a good starting point for discussing other critical issues that that they might not have thought of and should be addressed.

If this is not possible, be sure to include all of the important points that you made note of during your initial meetings with your client.
Reviewing
Once you have created your draft based on your client’s outline, begin reviewing the contract to make sure it is precise and focussed. Filter sentences to their basic points and substitute specific sentences with general ones to avoid future confusion.

FindLaw, a website that let’s you find information about legal topics, says that all valid, legally binding contracts have to follow some basic rules, namely, intent to make a contract; a lawful subject matter; an offer made by one party; acceptance of the offer by the other party; and an exchange of something of value.
Finalizing
To ensure that all goes well and you close your deal, prepare to work fast and make the signing experience as easy and pleasant as possible for your client.  
Fortunately, this can be done easily through Electronic Signatures.
Electronic Signatures solutions, like Signority, allow you to upload and securely send documents for eSignatures with a few clicks. This allows for a seamless experience for your client, ultimately avoiding wastage of time and money.

2. Get Tracking 
Tracking your online legally binding contract sent for signature is critical.  Tracking lets you know when the document has been viewed by the required party or if it has been forwarded. There are a few ways to track your contract:
Contract Management Systems
Contract management systems allow you to gain control of most aspects of your contract, from allowing you to access critical information and tracking, to generating reports when you need them.
eSignature platforms
Most eSignature platforms (including Signority) provide you with a tracking functionality, that lets you view crucial information, such as:  when a contract is viewed and how many times it was opened in real-time.
You can set up reminders and notification for your clients, allowing you to get your deals closed faster.

2. Get Paid 
After celebrating your closed deal — hopefully, with your awesome team — now comes the next challenge:

“Payments”.
Life is busy, and keeping track of all the nitty-gritty payment details of your contract can be tedious. We all have a lot on our plates and automating the payment processes can save you a time and hours of confusion.
Online payment and transaction apps such as PayPal and Stripe (we swear by Stripe at Signority), help your clients stay punctual with their payments — with minimal effort from both sides.
Besides making it easy for your clients, these platforms allow you to sync your data with most or all your management systems, to easily generate financial reports and provide you with important data for your analysis.
As the old English proverb goes: “work smarter, not harder”.
Follow these foolproof steps and guarantee that all of your hard work will reap the rewards you deserve. That little seedling will grow into a sturdy and resistant tree that can withstand any difficult contract building/management process.
Also, check out our recent article on “5 Habits of Highly Effective Insurance Brokers”.
Looking to take your business paperless? Sign-up now and get a 14-day free trial to a Signority eSignature Plan.