Category: Insights

Insights

Emerging Technology Trends that will Change Environment Sector

Miley on October 19, 2020

The impact of global climate change is the calling for all of us to amend some actions. As it has been researched that by 2030, climate change will be killing more than 100 million people if we continue moving further on the environmentally destructive path we are currently traversing.

The green tech era is on the rise now and it is driven by innovative digital technologies, transforming it incredibly. Amongst them, technology has been upgrading in every sector including Software Development Industry, Banking sector, Finance sector, etc. Emerging technology has the power of evolving the complete impression of the industry into the next level. Considering a few of the technological innovations that will shape the environmental sector in the upcoming years.

1. Solar Glass

It would be really great to know that the glass over the skyscraper can generate energy. Here it is introduced as the solar glass which is an emerging technology that is getting popular as it’s a suitably transparent window material that could absorb the sun’s energy and converts it into electricity.

The biggest problem is its efficiency. For higher-performance, solar cells can achieve 25% efficiency or maybe greater but maintaining the transparency results in sacrificing the efficiency of letting the light turning into electricity.

This will allow the environment to converse electricity and generate new possible ways to save the environment from getting extinct.

2. Plant-based plastic

We have to end up the use of every single piece of plastic. Several initiatives have already taken the stand and have severely limited its use. Currently, the use of plastic bags has been banned across the whole globe. But there is one problem that is deep-rooted and deeply ingrained in our consumption economy.

Becoming a responsible consumer in the next decade will be knowing the life-cycle of the product we choose to buy, from creation to the entropy.

3. Public electric transport

Various companies are manufacturing vehicles. There are 160 electric and hybrid vehicle models available but engaging in other transportation like buses, cars, and two-wheelers. Although, buses came up to be a great discussion as it is conserving the fossil fuels from the environment and having an eco-friendly environment in the world.

Many countries have started using electric public transport but yet other countries are planning to use it. Even these vehicles are not costing a fortune to buy. Moreover, electric vehicles are independent of the pricy diesel.

4. Carbon capture

There is, unfortunately, a widely spread carbon dioxide in our air and it is resulting in our planet warmer. Is it possible to capture carbon dioxide and sequester it? It is possible said, the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).

It is an emerging class of technologies that are primed to play an important role in maintaining the health of the planet. CCS uses technology that allows the separation of carbon dioxide from the gases emitted from the electricity generation and industrial processes.

It is done in three processes- pre-combustion capture, post-combustion, oxyfuel combustion. However, the captured carbon is transported through a pipeline and stored in the rock formation far below the ground.

5. Cheap Energy Storage

The new age of electric vehicles has constantly grown the market for the cobalt and lithium batteries with reduced prices. The market for batteries has implicated far more than just for EVs. Several industries and utilities are searching for wider use of it for energy storage solutions.

Due to this, the battery prices get reduced, proving value for the reduced costs, increased reliability, and make the power system more flexible for the usage.

These are the mentioned emerging technology trends that will change the picture of the environmental sector in the near future.

How AI is Useful in the Environment Sector?

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The most trending technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to evolve around with environmental concerns. It is not only making its impact in Software development industries but in the Environment Sector as well. Experts are migrating toward the use of AI to figure out the sustainable solution. But using this technology comes with the amount of the present risk.

In today’s times, technology has advanced in a progressive way that today we just need to pull out the smartphone we carrying and get access to any of the mobile applications to enhance the lives of the other people. Digital assistants such as Apple Siri or Amazon’s Alexa can perform various helpful number of tasks in and out of the home. Developed by complex coding and algorithm, these technologies allow us to interact with the things around us and with the other people as well.

However, the changes are changing from the user-friendly AI to ensuring the earth-friendly AI. As one knows that the urgency of the economic and human health impacts from our natural environment grows, we are here to see how AI can help to transform the traditional sectors and the systems to address the environmental problems such as food and water security, climate change, design the sustainable cities and protect the biodiversity and human scale.

Here are the 5 identified AI applications to address the challenges of the planet,

1. Self-controlling and connected electric vehicle

Vehicles such as AI-guided autonomous vehicles (AVs) ensures the transition of vehicle mobility over the coming years and decades. Greenhouse gas reductions for urban transportation will be possibly unlocked through the route and have traffic optimization, eco-friendly driving algorithm, and autonomous ride-sharing services.

2. Distributed energy grids

AI is useful in many scenarios such as predicting the demand and supply for renewable across the distributed grid, increase energy shortage, load management, integration, and reliability of the renewable and enables dynamic pricing and trading, or creating the market incentive.

3. Smart agriculture and food system

AI-augmented agriculture includes various functions such as decision-making, automated data collection, perform collective measures through robots to provide early detection of the crop diseases and the problems, and optimized the agricultural inputs and achieve the output based on the supply and demand. This assures that there will be a rise in the efficiency of the agricultural industries by lowering the water usage, fertilizers, and pesticides which may cause damage to the crucial ecosystem.

4. Weather and Climate prediction

A very new term titled “Climate Informatics” is currently using AI to transform the weather forecast and deeply understand the effect of climate change. This requires a high-level computing system with a deep-learning network that can allow all the computers to execute the process faster and perform the complexity of the real-world system into the calculations.

5. Smart disaster response

AI analyses the data and simulation of various weather events and disasters in a regional place to see the vulnerabilities and assure the disaster preparations and allow them to send the precautionary warning and prioritize it.

In what way can AI save biodiversity?

As it is proved that Artificial Intelligence single-handed cannot save biodiversity but it can surely be of help. For instance, if a group of poachers is heading faster, the PAWS (Protection Assistant for Wildlife Security) enables the computer system and predicts where the poachers will go so the gamekeepers can stop them accordingly.
However, AI can supervise the changes occurring in the development of species diversity. This is the goal of the AMMOD (Automated Multisensory station for Monitoring of species Diversity) project. It merges the data automatically taken from the DNA samples, AI image recognition, AI Bioacoustics, and automated scent analysis. Here AI image recognition is widely used for checking the population of the wildlife.

Conclusion

With the advancement in the technologies and growth in Artificial intelligence, we would find better ways to protect our environment and motherland. It would be helpful to discover climate changes, food, and water safety, encouraging human well-being, etc. In a nutshell, to cope with the potential challenges of the environment, these emerging trends would play a big role.

About the author

Kapil Panchal – Digital Marketing Manager works as a Digital Marketing Manager in a reputed Environment Software Development Company. Being a technical writing enthusiast and a goal-oriented individual with honed communication skills, have served in the Information technology, Services, and Product industry. Having a high-energy level, he absolutely loves what he does and he is passionate about being better every day.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kapil-panchal-99122816a/

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Signal Conditioning: How Does it Improve Health and Safety?

Miley on October 15, 2020

To get an analog signal into a computer system, we need to send it through an analogue-to-digital converter. This device will turn it into a stream of digital pulses that our computers can understand. But before this can happen, an intermediary stage of processing must be taken place. Small-voltage signals must be amplified to the appropriate level. Interference must be removed, and faulty circuits must be grounded to protect the rest of the system.

This intermediary stage is called signal conditioning. Incoming signals are processed so that they can be put to better use by the stages that follow. Thus, signal conditioners are crucial pieces of hardware, and for good reason ever-present in the industrial controls sold by Allied Electronics. But they’re also used on a smaller scale in smaller devices.

How Does Signal Conditioning Work?

Signal conditioners come in a range of different types. Let’s take a look at a few of them.

Filtering

Getting rid of unwanted AC frequencies is essential in many applications. You might have heard the hum that comes when a 50Hz power line is inadequately filtered and put through an audio system. In other cases, a signal might need to be ‘cleaned up’ by removing high-frequency noise.

Level Control

Getting the voltage to a level appropriate to the ADC is critical. Signals can be either amplified (that is, turned up) or attenuated (turned down). In the former case, this is done to decrease the amount of noise that might creep in between the signal conditioner and the ADC and to ensure the maximum possible resolution on the signal being sampled. Attenuation ensures that the voltage does not go beyond the maximum on the ADC, which would result in clipping.

Linearisation

In some cases, the signal coming in might be nonlinear. In an exponential signal, massive change might occur in just a few digital ticks. Converting it into a linear signal allows the ADC to record smoother and more useful data.

Electrical Isolation

In some cases, it might be necessary to protect potentially sensitive equipment by isolating one part of the circuit from another. Magnetic couplers work by turning an incoming voltage into a magnetic field and back again, optical couplers do this turning the signal into a beam of light. This process ensures that any problem in one part of the system won’t cause damage to the rest of it. This doesn’t just protect equipment, but the people using it, too.

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Best Practices in Performance Development Planning and Training

Miley on October 9, 2020

The advent of the Covid-era has led to a significant change in emphasis from in-person training to internet-based online training. However, managers need to be cognizant of the fact that not everyone is suited to purely online methodologies for training. Individuals have a preferred learning style and online classrooms are not everyone’s favorite approach.

At the same time, employees have to accept the reality of the current circumstances and many will simply have to adapt accordingly. Performance development is a critical aspect of an employee’s progress within the organization and it cannot be put on hold beyond the medium term.

In the past employers have usually tried to identify an individual’s preferred learning style and adapt their training accordingly to achieve the best results. Classroom-style in person courses were available for those that preferred this approach while online learning was often a second choice. Many organizations also included other training methodologies such as individuals in specific impact projects so that they could learn “on the job” and build their skills accordingly. Coaching and mentoring were similar approaches that delivered new skills outside of a classroom-type environment.

These latter two approaches to performance development training are still viable under the new social distancing environment produced by Covid. Employees can still be engaged in unique high impact projects, albeit remotely. Although the remote aspect may reduce the overall learning from working on the project it should still expose the employee to the key learnings that they need to understand the particular topic from the project.

Similarly, although it is certainly more difficult to provide coaching and mentoring under social distancing conditions, it is certainly not impossible and these approaches will still deliver value. The traditional approach to coaching and mentoring may need to be adapted, but the general concept remains valid.

Using an employee performance evaluation software can be extremely helpful for performance development planning, as it can give mentors a clear picture of the strengths and weak spots of every employee.

Performance development planning is particularly important for the most ambitious employees in an organization, and these employees are also likely to be some of the most valuable. Therefore it is important that their development and training is not forgotten in the Covid crisis. These employees need to clearly understand what new skills and competencies they must develop in order to advance within the organization if they are to stay motivated and continue to contribute to the overall high performance of the organization.

Clear performance development planning helps employees to understand their overall place in the company and also increases their loyalty and motivation. It draws a connecting line between their personal goals and the overall goals of the company, which makes it a key element of personal motivation. By providing this context for their work, an organization provides more meaning for the employees in their daily jobs.

One final point: performance development plans need to be individualized for every employee. Managers need to have undergone formal performance management training that enables them to discover the most important aspects of personalization for a performance development plan. For example, managers need to understand the personal goals of the employees that they manage and need to help them to develop performance management plans that align the individual’s personal goals with those of the organization.

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How Small Businesses Use Mobile Apps

Miley on September 30, 2020

Mobile phones are everywhere, which has made staying in touch easier and has simplified many daily tasks. As technology grows, our lives become richer. Through filters, we are better photographers (and models). With voice assistants, we all have our very own robot secretary. Just about any fact-related argument can be settled anywhere by opening the encyclopedia, we carry around in our pockets. We don’t need a notepad and pen as long as we have our phone. For modest monthly fees, we can access vast libraries of music, movies, and television shows.

Mobile technology is great for our personal lives, but it’s great for our business lives, too, as you’ll see below.

Time Saving Apps

One of the greatest conveniences of mobile app technology is saving time. To see what we mean, just look at how apps have changed something as ubiquitous as banking. Whereas a business owner (or manager) once had to drive to the bank with an uncomfortably large amount of cash and wait in line for the business teller, the majority of payments are now handled electronically. Checks can be deposited by snapping a photo. Mobile banking apps can save bundles of time.

It doesn’t stop with banking. If you travel for business, there are apps to help you manage business flights, hotel reservations, car rentals, taxis, rideshare services, and dinner reservations. Business travel, like personal travel, is made easier through review apps like Tripadvisor.

Metrics-at-a-Glance Apps

Whether you’re in the back of rideshare, flying in a plane, or waking up in the morning, you can now pull up a snapshot view of a variety of business metrics thanks to mobile app technology. You can most likely monitor your website analytics software, access your CRM, and whip up sales reports with a mobile app. NachoNacho provides a list of CRM tools at a reduced cost.

Physical Plant Management Apps

Many security alarm companies now offer mobile apps so that you can wait until you’re out of the building to set the alarm. If you have security cameras, chances are you can access live (and stored) footage from an app. There are apps to manage smart thermostats and apps to turn the lights on and off.

Office Equipment Apps

Modern office equipment, such as printers and copiers, often comes with a bundled app. For example, Xerox commercial printers can be managed with the Mobile Link app. You can use your phone’s built-in camera to scan documents, manipulate PDFS, and send just about anything you want to the printer.

Cloud Storage Apps

If you use Dropbox, Google Drive, or another cloud storage platform to access electronic apps, you can download a mobile app to help you access and manage those files. This is especially convenient when you want to send a file with your mobile email app.

Social Media Apps

We typically think of social media apps as something for personal use, but you can just as easily manage your business accounts with a mobile device. It’s a good idea to always double-check which account you’re posting to; it can be amusing to accidentally post something for work to your personal account, but the reverse can be damaging. Facebook offers a separate app to manage business pages, but with Instagram, you simply switch between accounts in the same app.

Communication Apps

Typically we think of office communication platforms like phone, fax, and email. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, however, many business owners have discovered other useful technologies. Teams can–and do–hold video chat meetings with Zoom, Skype, and Google Hangouts, helping to eliminate the need for physical contact. Many office suites provide real-time collaboration features, improving productivity, and further eliminating the need for a physical office.

Asset Tracking Apps

No matter what industry you are working in, a significant amount of work is now done off-premise by employees working remotely, in the field, or simply in a different location. An asset tracking mobile app enables teams who are handling company equipment in the field to easily update information through their smartphones or tablets. They can scan equipment labels to quickly check items in and out, make maintenance requests, reserve equipment, and much more for simplified off-premise operations. Meanwhile, all this activity gets logged into the central system so the organization has visibility into the field operations.

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6 Mobile Shipping Apps for Small Businesses

Miley on September 30, 2020

For small businesses, keeping track of your packages can be daunting and time-consuming. Choosing the right labels and shipping companies can ease your worries so that you can focus on your clients’ needs. Luckily, there are mobile apps that can reduce the shipping process for small businesses, as outlined below.

Package Tracker Pro

Package Tracker is a mobile app that lists shipping companies, including DHL and FedEx. The mobile application is available on Google Play Store with a small installation size at $1.99. Package Tracker is available for Android users in an all in one package that lets you track deliveries, keeps you informed, and allows you to customize your packages to suit your needs.

Package Tracker Pro has been in the market for a while and has a robust support system for the users. Some of the features that the app offers include:

Push notification to keep you informed about your packages in the form of ringtones or vibrations.
It allows you to add new options to your carrier list.
The app can show tracking routes on your screen if obtainable.
You can sync your tracking information from your PC to your mobile phone without retyping, which helps save you time.
You can archive tracking numbers to the sync site.
Generous support from the developers who are available to answer any questions you may have.

Package Buddy

Package Buddy is a free Android mobile app for shipment tracking purposes. The app that is downloadable from Google Play Store has an allowance of over 100 courier services. The free version is excellent for personal or domestic use to manage small packages. For small businesses, the pro version is available for $2, and you can integrate it with other android devices for your commercial requirements.

This app’s features include a barcode scanner that enables you to add a package to your tracking list and the capacity to share shipping data with others easily. It also consists of a filter function that allows you to sort your information by the status of whether you are sending or receiving parcels.

17TRACK

17TRACK is a mobile app compatible with both android and iOS users supporting famous couriers such as DHL and UPS. The app is great for businesses that order from China or have issues shipping to North America. 17TRACK is free with in-app purchases if you want to upgrade.

Features of this shipping app include push notifications to keep you updated on package status changes. It also comes with automatic syncing across your compatible devices and allows you to track multiple numbers simultaneously. The app can automatically detect your packages and which shipping companies they are on by entering a few digits of your tracking codes.

You can only track about 40 packages with the free version at a time. You can upgrade to a limit of 100 or 200 at a monthly charge of $2.99 or $4.99 consecutively.

Delivery Status Touch

This app is made for iOS devices and is available for download in AppStore for $4.99. Delivery Status Touch covers a wide range of shipping companies, both local and international, like Japan Post.

The features of this app include readable maps that tell you exactly where your package is. The app enables you to see the current transit packages and their delivery dates when you open it.

Delivery Status Touch allows you to sync your delivery dates to your calendar. You can also install it on your desktop and easily switch from the mobile device, depending on where you are.

FedEx Mobile App

FedEx is a development one of the biggest shipping companies which enable users to track packages and create shipping labels from wherever they are. FedEx app allows businesses to track all packages they send and receive. It also has a barcode scanner to add your boxes in the shipment list and enable you to sort it through using your tracking codes and references.

An upgrade to FedEx app that is available in some regions is the FedEx delivery Manager. With this addition, you can leave instructions for the courier services on when and where you want your packages to be delivered, sign digitally, and even send the package to FedEx location to pick later.

While this app is great, if your business heavily depends on shipping companies, you might consider enlisting the aid of a company like Shipware to conduct a FedEx audit. Due to a service and billing errors, you may be eligible for a high number of small refunds from FedEx on an ongoing basis. Shipware doesn’t have an app yet, but they have a history of helping small businesses who use FedEx and other shipping companies, so we thought we’d mention them here.

JumpTrack

JumpTrack is another Android and iOS compatible app that allows users to store proof-of-delivery like photos and signatures. The app will enable you to track shipment status and even trucks that carry the packages with GPS. You can also share the tracking information via email to your customers. This app is excellent for companies with complex supply chains that want to oversee their shipping.

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Mobile Apps for Families

Miley on September 29, 2020

What are some of the top mobile apps for families? We polled our editors, and here’s what we came up with.

When Tracker Apps Aren’t Creepy

Tracker apps are best used by parents to know the whereabouts of children and other family members. A family tracker app will help parents track where the kids are at any time of the day, either school or playing. All you need is your child’s smartphone; download the app and activate it to be functional. There are lots of apps in the market you can choose from, starting with basic ones and also the advanced apps that require subscriptions. Some of the best tracker apps you can find in the market include Find My Kids, Life360 Family Connector, Glympse, Sygic Family Connector, Foursquare Swarm, FamiGuard, and Safe 365.

Exercise Apps Are Fun for the Whole Family

Every family needs to stay fit and healthy. Everybody with a smartphone in the family can download an exercising app to help them stay fit. Some of these apps are free, while others cost a subscription fee. Some of the best exercising apps include Nike Training Club, Daily Workouts Fitness Trainer, Aaptiv, Zombies Run, 7-Minute Workout, Sworklt, and Daily Yoga.

Apps to Help the Whole Family Learn Stuff

If you’re planning a trip to Spain next year and you want the whole family to learn as much Spanish as possible before the trip, there’s an app for that. Want to make your brain work better? There’s an app for that, too! Want to learn to read the stars in the night sky? You guessed it; you’re going to find something in your app store. Some of the best skills improvement apps include Duolingo, Lumosity, Sky Guide, and Pocket. They can bring the family together as they present learning in a fun, reward-oriented environment. And the learning doesn’t have to stop there. Try The Human Body to teach science, Hopscotch to teach technology, Minecraft to teacheEngineering, and Mathmateer to teach your kids mathematics.

These Aren’t Necessarily for the Kids, But…

Some of the most popular mobile apps for families have practical, everyday, boring uses, like banking and insurance apps. You can find these apps on Google play store or App Store for android users and iPhone users, respectively. Some of the most popular insurance apps include Allstate Mobile, Esurance Mobile, Geico Mobile, Progressive, and State Farm. Unfortunately, not all insurance providers have a mobile app, and no insurance app will answer all of your questions, such as: Can I buy life insurance without a health exam? Is life insurance taxable? Can I even afford term life insurance? To answer those questions, you’ll want to step back into the analog world and talk to an agent via email, chat, phone, or in person.

Just for Kids Apps

While your kids might fall asleep trying to make sense of an insurance app, you might have a hard time entertaining yourself with these apps. One of the top-rated apps for children is called ABC Mouse; it is geared towards toddlers, and it teaches shapes, colors, numbers, and letters. Epic! is an e-book library for children ages 2-12; with over 35,000 children’s books, it’s a great alternative to letting your kids watch TV on their device. There are apps for children that teach the ABCs, math, geography, creativity, science, and even coding.
But the “just for kids” genre doesn’t stop there. YouTube Kids screens videos for age-appropriate content for children up to 12 years old. And there are games galore, many with educational bents. Swift Playgrounds, for example, uses puzzles and other techniques to teach children a coding language. PBS Kids Games uses entertainment to teach reading and math. Just make sure you don’t send your little ones unescorted into their device’s app store. As we have reported, children’s safety can be a concern.

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6 Ways to Convert Customers on Social Media Apps

Miley on September 29, 2020

In the old days, marketing for a small business was a relatively straightforward affair. You could choose between limited options in print, radio, and television advertising. Maybe you could also consider a billboard or banner somewhere out in the community. These strategies had existed for decades, so they felt familiar and easy.

Then the internet came along and changed everything. Suddenly, the world of advertising became incredibly complex. Now there are so many options available that it’s hard to know where to begin.

To avoid becoming overwhelmed, think of internet advertising as an opportunity rather than a burden. With social media apps, you have the ability to reach out to customers like never before. This is especially true if you utilize these platforms correctly. Take these tips into account as you exploit the wonderful opportunities out there to build your customer base.

Download the Apps and Use Them

Your social media marketing should be coherent and sustained. If all you do is throw a hodgepodge of information at potential customers, it’s unlikely that any of it will stick. Think long and hard about a marketing strategy that you can employ for months. Choose a goal and then develop a line of consistent messaging to support your objectives. This way, consumers will come to recognize your brand through the messaging they regularly encounter.

One of the best pieces of advice for any social media account manager is to download the apps, create personal accounts, follow people (and brands) who interest you, and get into the habit of spending some time on the app every day. You’ll learn a ton just by observing what other people are doing, and by having the apps on your smartphone, you’ll be more likely to use them frequently enough to learn something.

Use Hashtags to Your Advantage

Most social media platforms–whether you use the mobile app or web version–allow you to use hashtags to direct content. This is a free and easy way to reach out to certain groups of people. For example, if you’re hoping to target soccer fans during the big game, ending a tweet with “#WorldCupFinal” is a great way to target a specific audience. Mastering the hashtag game will make you a more skilled digital marketer.

Build Followers with Ad Campaigns

If you market on social media apps without choosing a specific target audience, you’re doing nothing more than blowing trumpets into the void. One of the principal benefits of social media is that it allows businesses to target the people who are most likely to be interested in their products. Instagram shows ads to people based on the types of accounts and hashtags they follow. Since Facebook users provide a lot more personal information, you can narrow down ads on that platform with incredible precision. Either way, running ads is a great way to get more followers.

Monitor the Performance of Your Ads

Social media companies allow you to track the performance of your ads. Take advantage of this service regularly. When you see that your ads are producing engagement, you’ll know that your marketing strategy is working. If your ads aren’t getting clicks for weeks on end, you’ll learn that it’s time to switch tactics. And this is a topic for a whole new article, but there are even apps to help you manage your social media ad campaigns.

Use a Chatbot on the Facebook Messenger App

The gold standard for any marketing campaign is a personal interaction with potential clients. In a perfect world, we’d all have plenty of time to chat with individuals in public parks and message people on social media. Unfortunately, this is not logistically possible. With a Facebook Messenger bot, however, you can replicate the feel of a personal conversation without actually having to be present yourself. Your bot can instantly answer questions when people contact you using Facebook’s Messenger app.

Be Persistent

Marketing on social media apps is never a “one and done” sort of game. Hardly anybody will engage with your ad the very first time they see it. It takes patience and repetition to break into the consciousness of your potential customer base. Don’t give up when social media ad campaigns fail to bring immediate results. It’s with continual campaigns and slight changes in tactics that you’ll eventually find a strategy that works.
Finally, remember that Facebook and Instagram aren’t the only social media apps out there. The marketing landscape is more diverse than ever, providing the types of opportunities advertisers used to dream of. Use the tips above to perfect your marketing on social media apps. The results will prove how successful these strategies are.

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5 Apps to Help You Make Money

Miley on September 29, 2020

There are apps for entertaining you and apps to help you be more productive. Certainly, there must be mobile apps for helping you make money… right? We decided to look, and here’s what we found:

Money App

Yes, that’s what it’s called: “Money App.” This is an Android and iOS market research app which rewards its users for completing tasks such as playing games, offering opinions, testing services, mystery shopping, using free trials, and checking store displays. Using your PayPal account, you can redeem your money after completing tasks. This app is convenient as the user can redeem their rewards and get paid within two or three working days, which is rare in market research apps that tend to pay monthly and sometimes never even pay at all. On both iTunes and Google Play, the app scores 4.8 out of 5. Quite decent for being a couch potato.

iPoll

Like Money App, iPoll is another task-based app to help you make money while you’re waiting on the bus. It’s an Android and iOS market research app that rewards its users through completing retail missions, writing down diaries (for example, your meat consumption over a week), and taking market surveys.

Once registered, you are required to input basic information like your consumer habits and preferences, to determine your availability for tasks. You are then alerted when there are new available missions based on location and preferences. This market research app is unique in the sense that it is customized so that missions and tasks given to you are suited to you and could, at times, be enjoyable. On Google Play, it is rated 3.1, and on iTunes, it is rated 4 out of 5. Users enjoy the lack of glitches selection of topics. Rewards can be redeemed as gift cards or cash, which can be acquired through PayPal.

Foap

But what if you don’t want to take surveys for pennies? Foap is an Android and iOS money-making app that allows photographers to make extra money by selling smartphone-taken photos. It is a platform for marketing and advertising agencies and brands to search and buy images from Foap’s registry.

After registering for your account, you can upload your tagged photos (high-quality). The photos’ visibility will be higher if the rating is high. The registered community is responsible for rating photos. Each image earns you $5, but a photo can get as much as $100. Some agencies and brands sometimes hand out “missions” where they require specific images or, in recent times, even videos. The app is highly rated on both Google Play, where it is rated 3.8 out of 5, and iTunes, where it is rated 4.3 out of 5.

Helium 10

But what if you already have a way to make money online? If you’re an Amazon seller, the Helium 10 Chrome extension gives you an advantage over your competitors. This powerful extension includes a profitability calculator, an ASIN grabber, a review insights tool, quick-views of inventory levels, and more. We mention it in this list because there is a streamlined mobile app version for Helium 10 subscribers. The app version provides you with charts and sales trends at a glance, deep-dive product research tools, order monitoring, and suspicious activity alerts. You can get a great understanding of what is going on with your Amazon selling business just by looking at your phone. The Helium 10 mobile app is available on both Android and iOS.

Fluid Market

Our last choice for a mobile app that helps you make money is called Fluid Market. Many people have cars that they do not use often, and other people do not have cars at all. Fluid taps into this business opportunity by allowing someone to rent out their SUV, car, pickup truck, box truck, or cargo van by the week, day, or hour. The folks at Fluid claim that renting out your truck could make you up to $24,000. Tools such as hedge hammers, saws, and drills can also be rented. It is convenient for both parties in the car rental system. Users enjoy using the app. On iTunes, it is rated 4.5 out of 5, and on Android, it is rated 3.5 out of 5.

Insights

How to optimize your sales process for more leads

Miley on September 28, 2020

Lead generation has always been a challenging task because of its complexity.

Having in mind that businesses don’t exist without their customers, it is not surprising that whole teams and departments work for the same goal – finding more and more qualified leads.

As you already know, the sales process involves not only the bottom of the sales funnel, but also creating products or services themselves, and even a number of steps that come before that, like creating a target audience.

It is important to optimize your sales process because you don’t want your potential buyers to lose their interest.

To prevent this, here are the most important techniques for achieving an optimized and successful sales process.

1. Identify your target audience

The importance of choosing the right target group is huge. Your target audience will actually influence everything else you do.

When you really know who you are addressing, you get a very good start for everything else you intend to do.

Even if you have already started with other steps such as product presentation, selection of sales channels, and so on, and you have not defined the target group clearly enough, go back to it and afterwards change everything else accordingly.

This is the initial and key step in creating an optimized sales process.

In order to make it easier to form a target group, imagine an ideal buyer persona – a representative of your customers.

Make a set of questions and start researching. Based on that, you will create your perfect customer and you will know who you are addressing and trying to convert.

In order to achieve that, the best way is to use the chatbots, integrated with a well-designed knowledge base software. Intelligent chatbots can identify patterns and respond appropriately, meanwhile collecting valuable information about your potential customers.

After determining the gender, age, location, and other basic characteristics, move on to more complex questions such as what interests your ideal customer, how he spends his free time, what he spends the most money on, and similar.

Keep in mind that you can have two types of customers:

Primary target audience
Secondary target audience

Let’s explain that using an example so that it doesn’t confuse you.

For example, let’s say you sell women’s jewellery.

The primary target group would certainly consist of women, aged, for example, 20-50 years, of average or higher purchasing power.

The secondary target group would consist of males who want to surprise their better halves with a gift for a birthday, anniversary, or similar.

Therefore, you will also create duplicate content to address both target groups, and the content you create will depend on who you are addressing at the time.

Everything you learn about the ideal customer will help you find out exactly how to address your target audience and it will also help you create quality content.

2. Distribute quality content

Your content is a crucial part of the sales process. It presents the product or service you want to sell.

To retain the attention of potential customers, your content must meet at least one of the following purposes:

To educate
To entertain
To inform
To solve a problem

Ideally, quality content combines two, or even all of these categories.

Content that intrigues and affects the interest spheres of a certain target group is also the one that retains your leads and guides them further through the sales funnel.

To interest and retain people, try to combine multiple types of content including textual content, visuals, videos, infographics, tables, and similar.

Of course, everything you create should be in line with your product or service.

Sometimes the content alone will not be enough to encourage the purchase, but there is a solution for that as well.

3. Implement adequate pop-ups

Pop-ups are a great solution to optimize your sales process and increase conversions.

Engaging pop-ups need to have:

Visually appealing design
Catchy copy
Right context
Irresistible offer
CTA

It may seem like they can require a lot of time, but today you can use tools that can help you to create this kind of window in just a couple of minutes.

These five basic elements are crucial for an effective pop-up window.

Source: Convince&convert

In the example above, we can see how these elements’ full potential was actually used.

The design is simple, but effective and tailored to the target group’s needs. There is not a lot of persuasion or excessive effects here, because the people who came to the website already know what to expect, and the offer itself is just a continuation of the content presented on the website.

Although the goal here is not direct sales, the email popup campaign is an extremely important part of nurturing leads, which will be discussed more in a minute.

You need to create a certain pop-up depending on what you offer and what goal you want to achieve.

Still, if you want to encourage your leads to purchase immediately, you can offer some benefit that will encourage them to make a purchase as quickly as possible.

Free shipping, discounts, or flash sales are all old but still really good practices.

Perhaps one of the most important advantages of pop-ups is the possibility of using exit-intent technology.

As its name says, exit-intent pop-ups are windows that appear when a visitor tries to exit your website.

At the same time as this intent appears, it triggers a window that presents your best offer and keeps potential customers on your website page.

Source: QuickSprout

With a simple but powerful word ‘WAIT!’, QuickSprout pop-up grabs the attention of a visitor and creates a surprise effect.

This example also includes a human element which increases the possibility of the brand gaining the target audience’s trust.

It is important to make as many interesting offers as possible because it is your last chance to keep your leads and convert them into customers.

4. Create an e-mail campaign

E-mail campaigns are a perfect way to nurture your leads.

“ By having your customers’ contacts, you are able to spread awareness about your brand and maintain communication with your leads. “— says Dhaval Sarvaiya, co-founder at Intelivita.

Even those leads that are cold may become interested in your business more and more if you share valuable content with them through e-mails.

Not just that you can share valuable information and announcements, but you can also offer discounts and special offers with personalized messages.

A personal touch can have a great impact on your potential customers and show them that you really care about them.

But how can you invite people to become your newsletter subscribers?

Besides the regular contact form that is part of your website, you can implement pop-ups with a short form that will include a field for an e-mail address and a CTA button.

Source: Contently

This example shows how to use a pop-up for newsletter campaigns in your advance.

An interesting design catches attention and effective copy intrigues the target group and makes them want to leave their addresses and find out what Contently can offer them.

5. Measure and analyze results

If you don’t track and measure your results, you will not have the right insights on how your business is progressing.

Track your conversion rates, ROI, number of e-mail subscribers and sales, and find out if you are on the right path or is it time to change something.

Based on your business, determine your most important and less important KPIs.

Compare your results on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis.

It is a good practice to monitor the tactics of your competitors, too.

By analyzing their strategies, you can get some new and fresh ideas and implement them later on into your business strategy.

You can use basic tools such as an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of your important KPIs. Use a simple excel test to assess the skills of your marketing team, to address the skill-gap.

6. Identify sales funnel leaks

Since the sales funnel is made up of different stages of the sales process, leads will leak through different stages of the sales funnel.

It is inevitable that a number of people who have entered the sales funnel will, in the same way, come out of it.

Take, for example, an advertising campaign on Facebook.

Your ad will reach a certain number of people, but a slightly smaller number of people will click on the link too, visit your page, website, and similar.

From this second group, a certain percentage of people will buy your product or service.

Not all leads will buy what you offer, at least not right away, but it is up to you to increase that number as much as possible and achieve the highest possible conversion rates.

By tracking the results of the campaign, you will notice if there is a major leak from the sales funnel.

If that’s the case, it’s time to revise the entire campaign you created.

The reasons why a small number of people reach the bottom of the funnel, in this case the purchase, can be different.

Just some of them are:

Too wide or too narrow target group
Low-quality visuals
Confusing copy
Broken links
Unmatched ability of ads and offers

As we have already said, you must always keep in mind the ideal customer and create everything in accordance with his expectations and needs.

Once you identify the problems, you will be able to prevent leaks from the sales funnel and optimize the entire sales process.

The bottom line

Although creating and optimizing the sales process may seem complicated, after you use the first piece of advice from this list – identifying the target group, it will be much easier for you to fix all the other items.

The appropriate target group is the main guideline for optimization.

The better you understand and know it, the easier it will be for you to build a powerful strategy that will lead to more sales.

Regularly analyze and update your sales process to achieve long-term goals and to keep your business growing.

Development Insights Martech Products SaaS

Top Technologies Driving Laboratory Efficiency and Accuracy Forward

Miley on September 21, 2020

For decades, clinical laboratories have played a significant role in advancing patient care within the nation’s healthcare system. Through effective testing processes, clinical laboratorians generate accurate results that support doctors and other medical experts in making appropriate diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients. As new diseases, strains, and the global spread of life-threatening illnesses increase, rapid testing and diagnosis become more apparent.

Laboratories around the world have stepped up to the challenge by adopting technologies that enable them to work more efficiently to support the growing demand for improved diagnostics and patient care. Continue reading to learn more about technological trends in clinical laboratories.

Cloud Technology

The adoption of cloud technology in clinical laboratories has worked to streamline lab processes, create controlled environments, and disseminate information in real-time. Advanced lab equipment comes with features that automatically record testing data and store it in the cloud allowing technicians, scientists, and other associated parties to access pertinent medical information quickly.

Assisting scientists and technicians in maintaining a controlled environment, the integration of cloud technology in advanced lab equipment immediately alerts teams when issues arise in the testing or experimental stages. Such alerts provide teams with the support they need to accurately monitor and adjust processes as necessary to generate accurate results.

Modern laboratories are also adopting cloud based test equipment tracking solutions to gain visibility into their disposable and non-disposable items ranging from expensive testing equipment to instruments and disposables such as laboratory reagents. This software helps ensure reliable reservations of equipment required for testing and enables timely preventive maintenance and calibrations to make sure everything is always in top-notch condition. Also, alerts can be set for important events such as expiring equipment leases or low stock levels of materials so testing cycles are not stretched out due to such shortages.

Lastly, cloud technology features allow scientists to share information in real-time with project contributors from virtually anywhere. The data can be accessed remotely, making it easier to collaborate with other employees and laboratories for improved productivity.

Improved Equipment Designs

New technologies have enabled designers to create more efficient lab equipment compact in size with advanced capabilities for more efficient lab and testing processes. Microfluidic cell sorting, for example, can be done on a compact system, performing various functions, and helps to eliminate the need for traditional flow cytometry lab setups with simple, easy to use technology. Such innovations save laboratories money, time, and space.

Automation

The use of lab equipment to automate testing and experimental processes have been an ongoing practice for most clinical labs. As technology continues to advance, current equipment designs include features and automation tools that save time and improve efficiency in laboratory processes. The use of automation in laboratories reduces the need for manual tasks previously performed by lab technicians eliminating many daunting and repetitive steps in experimental studies resulting in authentic results in record time. Scientists and technicians are now able to focus their attention on critically analyzing data.

Sustainability

As the general public becomes increasingly concerned about the environment, industries across the board have taken great strides to do their part to reduce their carbon footprint. Realizing the extensive amount of energy used to operate labs, scientists and lab workers have begun utilizing resources that support a more eco-friendly and sustainable work environment.

Many laboratories reduced their carbon footprint by improving their recycling efforts by properly and safely disposing of used supplies, equipment, and containers. Consequently, in purchasing recycled materials for experiments, testing, and lab processes, laboratories have also been able to save a significant amount of money.

A new concept, referred to as open labs have also become an increasingly popular method for laboratories looking to reduce their carbon footprint. With technological resources like compact equipment, cloud technology, and automation features, sharing space, equipment, and data amongst other labs cuts down on waste while saving money.

The investment in more efficient lab equipment has also improved sustainability within the industry. Newer models require less energy to operate without compromising the accuracy of results.
At a time when the world is in the middle of what could be the worst threat to public health in history, clinical laboratories are needed in the fight. From increased testing and rapid results to the development of vaccinations and treatment options, scientists and lab techs around the world will ultimately save humanity. As such, laboratories need to continue to adopt technology trends such as those described above to deliver the most accurate results as quickly as possible.