The 5 Best Email Marketing Companies of 2020

Almost everyone uses email.

But here’s the sweet part.

The people you’re trying to reach or retain already have active email addresses. Heck, most of them used or would use one to sign-up for your service or product.

If you can get into (and stay) in people’s inbox, you can make a ton of money. Data shows companies can generate $38 for every $1 email investment.

Unfortunately, getting into an inbox is not a stroll in the park.

Now that’s where the best email marketing companies come in.

These companies will help you to strategize, collect relevant email addresses, create, and manage email marketing campaigns that drive business growth.

How do I know this?

Our team at Neil Patel Digital vetted hundreds of email marketing companies based on their brand reputation, client portfolio, ratings, and their areas of expertise.

The result?

The very top email agencies you can trust. Not only would they get you into the inbox of your ideal customers, but these companies can keep you in there till you turn prospects into brand advocates.

The 5 Top Email Marketing Companies in The World

Neil Patel Digital – Best for email content
Inbox Army – Best for full-service email management
Fix My Churn – Best for SaaS onboarding email and churn
Action Rocket – Best for custom HTML & CSS enterprise email
SmartMail – Best for ecommerce email marketing

I’m confident the best email marketing companies listed above and reviewed below are reliable because of their proven track records.

Hire any of them, according to your needs, and they’ll help you to turn email marketing into a growth channel for your business.

Without further ado, let’s explore each of these companies and see for yourself why we consider them the very best.

#1 Neil Patel Digital – Best For Email Content

Email marketing is effective, no doubt. But it has its downside too.

According to two different studies, between 0.19% and 0.52% of your email subscribers would unsubscribe per email you send.

Now, guess what was one of the top three reasons found Jilt, an email marketing software, responsible for why people unsubscribe from emails?

Bad content!

In other words, irrespective of how excellent your email marketing strategy is, writing killer emails that resonate with your prospects and keeps you in their inbox requires excellent content.

And that’s where we, Neil Patel Digital, come in. It is also why clients, from startups to enterprise brands, love working with us.

Email is also an excellent channel for content distribution.

However, he quality of content has to be amazing. If not, your unsubscribes will tank the ROI of your email campaigns.

Again, this is one area we stand out from the crowd.

At Neil Patel Digital, our email content service starts by producing engaging content your customers and prospects will love.

Then, we use email marketing as one of the channels to promote it:

You can check out Neil Patel Digital’s content services here.

#2 InboxArmy – best for full-service email management

For in-house teams looking for rapid email marketing turn around, InboxArmy comes highly recommended.

As a full-service email management company, InboxArmy offers a spectrum of services, including email templates’ design, custom coding, and 360-degree email marketing management:

This agency offers volume-based pricing for companies and white label services for fellow digital marketing agencies, which goes to prove their experience.

And they serve clients from government agencies like Texas Health Resources, to companies such as LandCentral, Airbnb, Jockey, and several others.

#3 Fix My Churn – best for SaaS onboarding email and churn

When it comes to email marketing, Software as a Service (SaaS) brands have special needs.

First, when new trial users sign-up, they need excellent email onboarding sequences to convert them into happy, paying customers.

And if an existing customer stops using your product or wants to churn, you can retain them with relevant churn email.

Fix My Churn specializes in these two areas:

Fix My Churn collaborates with tech companies with a monthly subscription business model.

The company applies top-notch SaaS copywriting skills to craft relationship-based email sequences to keep customers happy.

#4 Action Rocket – best for custom HTML & CSS enterprise email

Action Rocket needs no introduction in the enterprise email marketing sector.

This company even partners with the top email marketing software brands like MailChimp, Litmus, and Campaign Monitor to drive innovation in the email space.

Action Rocket has years of experience strategizing and executing custom HTML and CSS email and CRM development programs for enterprise companies:

Founded in 2011, the company works with a knit-team of experienced developers who are excellent at strategy, design, and coding of complex and customized email programs.

And their clientele speaks for themselves, including the BBC, Marks & Spencer, Global Radio, and many others.

#5 SmartMail – Best for eCommerce email marketing

SmartMail is the Done For You (DFY) email marketing company that comes highly recommended by ecommerce businesses.

This company handles everything ecommerce email marketing for online stores. And excel most at launching campaigns based on automated triggers.

Across the customer lifetime cycle, SmartMail is exceptional at strategizing and executing optimized email marketing campaigns for ecommerce businesses.

And they have a track record and excellent results to show.

SmartMail has generated over $187 million in revenues for ecommerce brands via email, sent billions of emails, and serve over 87 businesses, including Skechers, French Connection, Cotton:On, and others.

5 Characteristics That Make a Great Email Marketing Company

What characteristics make an email marketing company great?

They are as follows.

1. Well-versed in content creation

Most companies get buried in strategizing and outlining plans for email marketing.

What they wrongly relegate to the backseat?

Content creation!

The quality of your email’s content goes a long way in determining how effective your email marketing campaigns would be.

A fundamental characteristic of the top email marketing company is to focus on creating engaging content to power your email campaigns.

And a world-class email company will help you blent top-tier content with amazing promotions to also get the conversions that you need. Great companies blend the two seamlessly.

2. An Impressive Portfolio

An email marketing company that claims to be among the best must have something to back that claim up.

One of such things is their client portfolio.

Who have they implemented a series of email marketing campaigns for? Were those campaigns successful?

Anyway, you don’t even need to ask a top email marketing company those questions, as you’ll find the answers in their clients’ portfolio.

And looking out for this portfolio-displaying characteristic in top email marketing also does you good.

It helps you to see who they have helped and to decide if they’ll be a good fit for your company.

At Neil Patel Digital, we have a clients you may recognize.

3. Thought Leadership

In its 40 years of existence, email marketing has evolved tremendously.

What worked yesterday may not work today. And even if it does work, it may require a different approach.

Due to the always-evolving nature of trends and modern strategies applicable to email marketing, top companies must keep pace with these changes to deliver the best work.

Thought-leadership is how the top email marketing brands keep such needed pace with the industry.

And they do this by sharing new learnings, experiments, emerging strategies, and tactics publicly to retain brand reputation among other professionals.

So, you should do some research and look out for this characteristic, as it is an excellent way to spot a top email marketing company.

4. Real Life Testimonials

Anyone can claim to be the best, but it is what others say about them shows their competence most.

In the business setting, you’ll find how past and existing clients feel and say of a company’s work in the testimonials they leave behind.

The truth is executing a successful email campaign that drives growth for a company is hard.

A notable characteristic of the top email marketing company is the real-life testimonials they receive from clients for their work publicly.

5. A Diversified Team of Experts

A lot of thought goes into a successful email marketing campaign.

From strategy to the acquisition of email addresses, selection of email marketing software, email copywriting, and campaign management, they all require some different kind of expertise.

Established email marketing brands are never a one-person show. It is usually a team of experts, collaborating to drive results.

And that’s one characteristic of top email marketing companies: Displaying the entire team that works to plan, execute, manage, and optimize email campaigns:

What to Expect from a Great Email Marketing Company

Ultimately, an exceptional email marketing company to help you turn email into a real business growth channel that:

Nurture prospects into customers
Facilitates customer relationship management
Turns email marketing into a reliable content medium.

But to get to these benefits, there are steps to expect before you start working with one. Some of the most notable ones are what follows.

1. A discovery session

As you saw in the review and categorization of the best email marketing companies based on their areas of expertise above, not all can serve all clients across all industries.

To determine if they can solve your specific problems, excellent email marketing companies start by getting to fill an inquiry form.

Filling this inquiry form allows you to share your challenges and business goals related to email marketing.

After filling this form, expect a discovery session where an expert would talk one-on-one with you to understand your needs better.

2. Research & strategy recommendations

A discovery call allows the company to gain more clarity and context about your business needs relevant to email. But, don’t expect them to propose a solution right off the bat.

Top email marketing brands would typically use what you shared with them to delve into research.

From there, they can make sense of how to tackle your challenges and identify the best possible strategies they can deploy to work with you.

Expect to receive a summary of their research and recommendations via email or another call, which usually ends with deciding if you’re fit to work together.

3. A contract with project deliverables

If everything goes well up to this point, and you like their recommendations, expect a contract that outlines what a top email marketing company would do, and what it’ll cost to work with you.

This contract also outlines project timelines and deliverables, legal requirements to work together, and your expected investment.

4. Client onboarding

If the contract, project scope, deliverables, pricing, and others look good, exceptional email marketing companies would have a custom onboarding process to initiate the process of working with your company.

This onboarding process will help you and the company to establish an understanding of how to manage your product, and any other thing necessary for a smooth working relationship.

Start Email Marketing from Day One

Don’t make the mistake of starting email marketing later on.

Most businesses recognize the need for social media, SEO, content marketing, and others early on, but they leave emails to the backseat because it is not trending.

Well, you shouldn’t.

A few reasons to take start email marketing from day one are:

Marketers who used email marketing to segment their audience said they saw a 760% increase in revenue.

That’s unreal.

Whether you do email yourself and get help from one of the top email companies, get started today.

The post The 5 Best Email Marketing Companies of 2020 appeared first on Neil Patel.

The 5 Best Link Building Companies of 2020

What are backlinks to search engine optimization? Short version: They’re signals Google uses to determine if your website is a reputable resource worthy of citation. The long and sweet version? The more quality backlinks pointing to your website, the higher your chances of ranking for profitable keywords and competitive search queries that drive sales. You’ll …

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Get a Recession Business Credit Line – Here’s How

It’s Probably True: You Need a Recession Business Credit Line

As a small business owner, you probably can’t put your hand on enough capital, at least not immediately. And if you are new, then it’s even harder. There will always be more ramp up costs than you think. So if you have ever wondered where to establish business credit, and how to actually get a credit line, it comes from really two areas. Those are business credit cards and loans. Your business needs a recession business credit line: here is how to get one (or more!)

For both types of credit line, it helps to have good business credit. And if you do not have what is considered a good business credit score, or if your company is new and has not yet established its own credit, then creditors will look at your personal credit score.

You want them looking at your business credit score.

But let’s start with recession-era funding.

Recession Period Financing

The number of US financial institutions as well as thrifts has been decreasing slowly for 25 years. This is coming from consolidation in the market in addition to deregulation in the 1990s, reducing barriers to interstate banking. See: https://www.fundera.com/blog/happened-americas-small-businesses-financial-crisis-six-years-start-crisis-look-back-10-charts

Assets concentrated in ever‐larger banks is problematic for local business owners. Big financial institutions are much less likely to make small loans. Economic downturns imply financial institutions end up being a lot more careful with lending. Luckily, business credit does not rely on financial institutions.

Let’s go over credit lines.

Your Business Needs a Recession Business Credit Line – But What Are Credit Lines?

A credit line, or line of credit (LOC), is an agreement between a borrower and a bank or private investor that establishes a maximum loan balance which a borrower can access.

A borrower can access funds from their line of credit anytime, so long as they don’t go over the maximum set in the arrangement, and as long as they meet any other conditions of the financial institution or investor like making prompt payments.

Advantages

Your business needs a credit line because credit lines deliver many distinct advantages to borrowers including versatility. Borrowers can apply their line of credit and only pay interest on what they use, in contrast to loans where they pay interest on the sum total borrowed. Credit lines can be reused, so as you acquire a balance and pay that balance off, you can use that accessible credit again, and again.

Details

Credit lines are revolving accounts similar to credit cards, and contrast other forms of funding like installment loans. In many cases, lines of credit are unsecured, much the same as credit cards are. There are some credit lines which are secured, and thus easier to get approval for

Credit lines are the most frequently sought after loan type in the business world even though they are popular, true credit lines are unusual, and hard to find. Many are also very difficult to qualify for requiring good credit, good time in business, and good financials. But there are various other credit cards and lines which few know about that are attainable for startup companies, poor credit, or even if you have absolutely no financials.

Your Business Needs a Recession Business Credit Line from The SBA

The majority of credit line varieties that most entrepreneurs imagine come from standard banks and conventional banks use SBA loans as their principal loan product for small business owners. This is because SBA guarantees as much as 90% of the loan in the event of a default. These credit lines are the hardest to get approval for because you must qualify with SBA and the bank.

SBA Loans

There are two fundamental sorts of SBA loans you can normally obtain. One type is CAPLines. There are in fact 4 types of CAPLines that can work for your small business.

You can also get a smaller loan amount more quickly using the SBA Express program. The majority of these programs offer BOTH loans and revolving lines of credit.

From the SBA … “CAPLines is the umbrella program under which SBA helps business owners meet short-term and cyclical working capital needs”. Loan amounts are offered up to $5 million. Loan qualification criteria are the same as with other SBA programs.

Seasonal Line

This one advances against foreseen inventory and accounts receivables. It was designed to assist seasonal businesses. Loan or revolving are on offer.

Contract Line

This one finances the direct labor and material costs of performing assignable contracts. Loan or revolving types are available.

Builders Line

This one was made for general contractors or builders constructing or renovating industrial or residential buildings. This line is for fund direct labor-and material costs, where the building project functions as the collateral. Loan or revolving types are on offer.

Working Capital

Borrowers must use the loan proceeds for short term working capital/operating needs. If the proceeds are used to acquire fixed assets, lender must refinance the portion of the line used to acquire the fixed asset into an appropriate term facility no later than 90 days after lender discovers the line was used to finance a fixed asset.

Your Business Needs a Recession Business Credit Line from SBA Express

You can get approval for as much as $350,000. Interest rates vary, with SBA allowing banks to charge as much as 6.5% over their base rate. Loans in excess of $25,000 will need collateral.

Approval Details

To get approval you’ll need great personal and company credit. Plus the SBA says you should not have any blemishes on your report. An acceptable bank score demands you have at least $10,000 in your account over the most recent 90 days.

You’ll also need a resume showing you have business sector experience and a well put together business plan. You will need three years of company and personal tax returns, and your business returns should show a profit. And, you’ll need a recent balance sheet and income statement, thereby showing you have the cash to pay back the loan.

Collateral

To get approval you’ll need account receivables, but just if you have them. As for the collateral to offset the risk, often all company assets will function as collateral, and some personal assets which also include your home. It’s not unheard of to need collateral equivalent to 50% or more of the loan amount. You also need articles of incorporation, business licenses, and contracts with all third parties, and your lease.

Your Business Needs a Recession Business Credit Line from Private Investors and Alternative Lenders

Private investors and alternative lenders also offer credit lines. These are easier to qualify for than conventional SBA loans. They also necessitate much less documentation for approval. These alternative SBA credit lines ordinarily require good personal credit for approval.

Unlike with SBA, many of them don’t require good bank or business credit approval. Most of these sorts of programs call for two years’ of tax returns. Tax returns have to show a profit. Rates can vary from 7% or greater and loan amounts range from $25,000 into the millions.

Loan amounts are normally based on the revenues and/or profits on tax returns. In some cases lenders may ask for other financials such as a profit and loss statement, balance sheets, and income statements.

Your Business Needs a Recession Business Credit Line from Merchant Cash Advances

Merchant cash advances have rapidly become the most popular way to get financing, in large part because of the simple qualification process. Businesses with $10,000 in revenue can get approval, with the business owner having scores as low as 500.

Some sources have now even begun to offer credit lines that accompany their loans. You must have at least $10,000 in revenue for approval. You should be in business for at least one year, however three years is better. Lenders usually want to see a credit score of 650 or better for approval.

Details

Loan amounts are usually about $20,000. Lenders routinely do pull your business credit, so you ought to have some credit already and sometimes lenders will want to see tax returns.

Rates differ, due to the risk for this program, and there aren’t a lot of funding sources who offer it.

Your Business Needs a Recession Business Credit Line from Securities as Collateral for Financing

You can get financing despite personal credit if you have some form of stocks or bonds. You can also get approval if you have somebody intending to use their stocks or bonds as collateral for financing.

Personal credit quality doesn’t matter as there are no consumer credit criteria for approval. You can get approval for as much as 90% of the value of your stocks or bonds. Rates are commonly lower than 2%, making this one of the lowest rate credit lines you’ll ever see. You can still earn interest as you typically do on your stocks and bonds.

Demolish your funding problems with our rock-solid guide about 27 killer ways to get cash for your business. Get money even during the worst of a recession.

Credit Cards and Lines are Very Similar

Credit cards typically offer 0% intro rates for up to two years. This is also very useful for startups especially. And credit lines let you take out more cash at a more affordable rate than do cards. These are the main two differences that will have an effect on you between credit cards and credit line.

Investopedia even says that “lines of credit are potentially useful hybrids of credit cards.”

Both cards and lines are revolving credit. Credit lines are more difficult to qualify for as card approvals are typically very fast, many times automated, while at the same time line require an in-depth underwriting review. Lines usually offer lower rates, according to Bankrate card rates average 13% while lines average 4%.

Your Business Needs a Recession Business Credit Line from Unsecured Business Credit Cards

The majority of these cards report to the consumer credit reporting agencies. They all demand a personal guarantee from you. You can get approval typically for one card max as they stop approving you when you have two or more inquiries on your report.

Most credit card providers furnish business credit cards including Capital One, Chase, and American Express. These have rates similar to consumer rates and limits are also similar.

Some of them report to the consumer reporting agencies, some report to the business bureaus. Approval requirements resemble consumer credit card accounts.

Inquiries

Often, when you apply for a credit card you put an inquiry on your consumer report. When other lenders see these, they will not approve you for more credit since they have no idea how much other new credit you have lately obtained.

So they’ll only approve you if you have no more than two inquiries on your report within the most recent six months. Any more will get you refused.

Your Business Needs a Recession Business Credit Line from Our Credit Line Hybrid

With this form of business financing, you work with a lender who concentrates on securing business credit cards. This is a very unusual, very little know of program that few lending sources offer. They can usually get you three to five times the approvals that you can get on your own.

This is because they are familiar with the sources to apply for, the order to apply, and can time their applications so the card issuers won’t reject you for the other card inquiries. Individual approvals oftentimes range from $2,000 – 50,000.

The end result of their services is that you oftentimes get up to five cards that mimic the credit limits of your highest limit accounts now. Multiple cards create competition, and this means they will raise your limits, frequently within 6 months or fewer of first approval.

Approvals

Approvals can go up to $150,000 per entity like a corporation. With a hybrid credit line they actually get you three to five business credit cards which report just to the business credit reporting agencies. This is significant, something most lenders don’t offer or advertise. Not only will you get funds, but you build your business credit as well so in three to four months, you can then use your new corporate credit to get even more money.

Rates

The lender can also get you low introductory rates, often 0% for 6-18 months. You’ll then pay normal rates after that, typically 5-21% APR with 20-25% APR for cash advances. And they’ll also get you the very best cards for points. So this means you get the very best rewards.

Just like with just about anything, there are HUGE benefits in dealing with a source who specializes in this area. The results will be much better than if you try to go at it alone.

Demolish your funding problems with our rock-solid guide about 27 killer ways to get cash for your business. Get money even during the worst of a recession.

Qualifications

You must have excellent personal credit right now, preferably 685 or better scores, the same as with all business credit cards. You shouldn’t have any negative credit on your report to get approval. And you must also have open revolving credit on your consumer reports now and you’ll need to have five inquiries or fewer in the most recent six months reported.

Fees

All lenders within this space charge a 9-15% success based fee and you only pay the cost off of what you secure. Bear in mind, you get a ton of extra advantages and about three to five times more cash in this program than you could get on your own, which is why there’s a fee, the same as all other lending programs.

You can get approval making use of a guarantor and you can even use a number of guarantors to get even more money. There are likewise other cards you can get utilizing this very same program but these cards only report to the consumer reporting agencies, not the business reporting agencies. They are consumer credit cards versus business credit cards.

Benefits

They furnish similar benefits which include 0% intro annual percentage rates and five times the amount of approval of a single card but they’re a lot easier to get approval for.

You can get approval with a 650 score and seven inquiries (or fewer) in the most recent six months and you can have a bankruptcy on your credit and other negative items. These are a lot easier to get approval for than unsecured corporate credit cards.

With all previous cards above, you have to have good consumer credit to get approval but what happens if your personal credit is not good, and you do not have a guarantor?

This is the time when building corporate credit makes a great deal of sense even when you have good personal credit, setting up your company credit helps you get even more money, and without having a personal guarantee.

Demolish your funding problems with our rock-solid guide about 27 killer ways to get cash for your business. Get money even during the worst of a recession.

Your Business Needs a Recession Business Credit Line But You Can’t Get One? Then Start Building Better Business Credit

As with personal credit, it seems as if the companies which don’t need credit are the ones which are more likely to get it. But that is banks and creditors doing better and more responsible business for themselves – if your company is at risk of defaulting, they either want to give you more expensive terms, or not extend any credit at all.

Here are a few tips on building and improving better business credit.

Separate Your Company Credit From Your Personal Credit

One way is to change your business entity. That is, to either incorporate or become a limited liability company (LLC). Get a separate identification number from the IRS, too, in order to really demonstrate there is a difference.

Get a D-U-N-S Number from Dun & Bradstreet

A D-U-N-S number is necessary in order for D&B to start tracking your business’s credit. Dun & Bradstreet requires that you register on their site before they will give you a D-U-N-S number. Registration is simple and, once you have said yes to the Terms and Conditions, then the next screen is a dashboard. This is where you either ask for a D-U-N-S number or you can look up to see if your business is already in the listings. If your company is already in the listings, then click on your business name to make any needed changes.

Business Credit with a Personal Guarantee

Another means of establishing business credit is by going to your bank and establishing business credit lines or cards with personal guarantees. This means you are personally responsible in case the business defaults or any loans or bills go into collections. Hence if your company is in a high risk business or a seasonal one, you might find your car on the line.

Make sure when you get these kinds of business credit cards, they have the personal guarantee removal feature built right in. Keep your credit utilization at one third of your credit ceiling or less (that is, don’t use more than about one third of your total available credit). Make certain to pay on time every time.

Apply for Third Party Guaranteed Lending

You can use an SBA loan for funding. Repaying this kind of a loan will help you build your business credit score. Or you can apply for a business credit card from a specific store. Often, these store credit cards do not need a personal guarantee. Make sure to choose a store where your business makes a lot of purchases. And don’t forget about those timely payments!

Business Credit Cards and Loans

If your business credit score is good (or if it has improved), then go to your local bank and ask for a credit line. And if you use a particular bank for payroll, you can try that one. If not (or maybe you’re a one-person shop and you don’t really have payroll at all), then you can also take your request to the bank where you do all your personal banking.

Because they already know you, and if they have seen you pay your credit cards on time and keep a good balance in your accounts, they may be more interested in giving your small business a line of credit even without guarantees or a serious credit check. No matter which kind of lending institution you try, go in with good credit as that will make your terms more favorable and it can generally mean the difference between any credit line and none.

Your Business Needs a Recession Business Credit Line – Takeaways

Your business can get credit cards and financing, if you know where to look. Learn more here and get started toward establishing business credit. Keep your small business afloat with a credit line.

The post Get a Recession Business Credit Line – Here’s How appeared first on Credit Suite.

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YC Gaming Startups Are Hiring (Job Expo with Emmett Shear, CEO of Twitch)

event link: https://www.workatastartup.com/events/gaming-tech-talks-2020

YC’s Work at a Startup and founders and teams of 8 YC gaming startups are coming together to host a first ever job expo focused on gaming this November. Emmett Shear, CEO of Twitch will be joining us to share his insights on how the business and technology of gaming is rapidly changing.

Aside from Emmett (if you haven’t seen it, check out his excellent TED Talk on what streaming means for the future of entertainment: https://www.ted.com/talks/emmett_shear_what_streaming_means_…), we’ve got four pretty cool 10-minute lightning talks lined up:

– Designing from Day One: Artists as Founders, Sara Alfageeh and Thariq Shihipar, Founders at Multiverse (S20)

– Designing Characters with Deep Learning, Cory Li, Founder at Spellbrush (W18)

– Synthetic Media: Virtual Influencers and Live Animation, Jay Rosenkrantz, Founder at Figments (S19)

– MMOs in the Instagram Era, Jimmy Xu, Founder at Highrise (S18)

After the talks, we’ll open up a virtual expo hall to meet with the founders and teams.

Many of the gaming startups fly under the radar at YC, but in my (biased!) opinion, if you love games they’re some of the most exciting. And the gaming industry often tackles some of the most exciting and challenging frontier technology problems before anyone else.

Working at a startup is not for everyone – and gaming startups are some of the craziest for sure. But if you’re in a position to go for it, based on my experiences I can say there might be no greater adventure. So if this piques your interest, check out the event link and apply to attend/come learn about open roles in engineering, game design, art, marketing/media and more.

Hope to see you there!

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25014592

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New comment by jozem in "Ask HN: Freelancer? Seeking freelancer? (November 2020)"

SEEKING WORK | EU/AU/US | Remote

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Website: https://zemberi.com

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New comment by flamboyant_ride in "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (November 2020)"

Location: India Remote: Yes(Only) Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Java, Spring, Go, C#, Docker, Kubernetes, General relational DBs, Allegrograph(graph DB using SPARQL) Résumé/CV: Available on request Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajayvigneshk/ Email: ajayvignesh [dot] k [at] gmail.com (no spaces anywhere) I’m a senior backend developer with 8 years of experience. I pragmatically follow clean code(SOLID) principles, TDD and …

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New comment by mattnedrich in "Ask HN: Who is hiring? (November 2020)"

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The 5 Best Link Building Companies of 2020

What are backlinks to search engine optimization?

Short version: They’re signals Google uses to determine if your website is a reputable resource worthy of citation.

The long and sweet version?

The more quality backlinks pointing to your website, the higher your chances of ranking for profitable keywords and competitive search queries that drive sales.

You’ll generate more targeted traffic, leads, and customers.

TThe SEO research tool, SEMrush, revealed backlinks account for as much as five SEO top 10 ranking factors:

Due to how essential links are to rankings and traffic, you’ll find a host of companies promising to help you generate backlinks at the click of a button.

If only it were that easy!

Acquiring top-quality backlinks isn’t a stroll in the park.

Our team at Neil Patel Digital reviewed and listed the top companies for building links.

The 5 Top Link-Building Companies in the World

Neil Patel Digital – Best for Linkable Content Marketing
FATJOE – Best for Blogger Outreach
Page One Power – Best for Strategic Links
The HOTH – Best for Guest Posting
RhinoRank – Best for Curated Link Building

1. Neil Patel Digital – Best For Linkable Content Marketing

The creation and distribution of linkable assets is the most reliable way to get people linking back to your website.

Called editorial links, Google and other search engines prioritize such links.

The reason for this?

They’re natural, and indeed a vote of confidence other sites show for the content resources on your own website.

Another name for this type of link-building strategy is linkable content marketing.

And Neil Patel Digital excels at this.

I’ve amassed millions of backlinks to this blog:

That’s over 3 million backlinks.

And they came from organic keywords (over 1.7 million), generating more than 3.4 million monthly organic traffic in the process.

The Neil Patel Digital experience spans over five decades to help you get similar results.

And we leveraged this experience and vast expertise to develop a holistic, battle-tested content marketing program that helps our customers generate high-quality backlinks.

It starts with auditing, optimizing, and creating new, high-quality content people would love to link to.

Then, promotion, so even influencers can find and reference them.

This proven program powers us to create and distribute content marketing assets that get high-quality backlinks, higher rankings, and qualified traffic.

In short, this is why our customers, from startup to grow-stage and enterprise companies, love working with Neil Patel Digital.

2. FATJOE – Best for Blogger Outreach

You may have linkable content resources on your site. What if other websites or bloggers don’t know those assets exist? No one would link to them, right?

Yup, that’s a problem.

To make people, especially bloggers, aware of your content, you need what SEOs call blogger outreach.

And this is what FATJOE excels at doing. They’re a reliable blogger outreach service even other agencies rely on for generating backlinks:

The experienced SEO expert, Joe Taylor, founded FATJOE. And they’ve been in business since 2012, helping over 5,000 clients worldwide get backlink placements via blogger outreach.

About 97% of those 5k plus customers rate FATJOE a 4.5/5.

However, FATJOE is best for acquiring links from websites with domain authority between DA10 and DA50. And prices per link placement range from $45 to $465.

3. Page One Power – Best for Strategic Links

Getting backlinks from higher domain websites (DA60+) needs a combination of linkable assets, outreach, and high-level strategy.

Page One Power, although more expensive and not a productized service like FATJOE, excels at this.

Yearly, this company is behind the acquisition of more than 15,000 strategic backlinks on average to its clients from higher domain websites.

And Page One Power achieves this, leveraging its 10 years of experience and 982 active partners:

If you have the budget that starts at $550 per link, with more for a monthly retainer, you should turn to Page One Power for their consistent, strategic link-building expertise.

And can you make this turn, knowing other businesses, such as QuickBooks, Healthline, BOTTSTICH, and several others, trust Page One Power’s strategic link acquisition services, too.

4. The HOTH – Best for Guest Posting

What if you’ve done everything possible, yet people still won’t link to your site?

The HOTH, a company successful for its guest posting services, can help, and they come highly recommended:

The HOTH’s guest post, backlinking service covers everything from manual outreach, securing guest post slots, and creating the guest content piece with links to your site.

Their industry experience and expertise have seen them work with or get mentioned on reputable websites such as Forbes, Inc. 5000 fastest-growing companies, Salesforce’s Dreamforce, and others.

The HOTH is a productized link-building service like FATJOE, allows you to purchase guest posts and backlinks with a few clicks.

With this company, you can get backlinks from websites with domain authority ranging from DA10-DA50. And prices are between $100-$500, depending on the quality of website you want links from.

5. RhinoRank – Best for Curated Link-building

Sometimes, other websites already have published content pieces with info relevant to assets on your own site.

In such a case, reach out to the webmasters of those sites and ask for a link, otherwise called curated link-building.

Based on our review, RhinoRank is the go-to company for this type of link acquisition tactic. They do all the hard labor, reaching out to several webmasters to secure backlinks for its clients in existing content on those webmasters’ domains:

Not only will RhinoRank reach out to webmasters, they’ll take it a step further by ensuring those links are weaved naturally with the right anchor text.

RhinoRank serves over 200 companies and SEO agencies globally.

The price of each curated link generated for customers by RhinoRank starts from $35.

5 Characteristics that Make a Great Link-Building Company

For each link-building strategy and company recommended above, you’ll find hundreds, if not thousands, of others promising the same things.

So, what characteristics make a great link-building company if you wanted to find an ideal company to work with and do your own due diligence?

Let’s look at the most significant ones.

1. A Holistic SEO Implementation Process that Includes Link-Building

Link-building is a crucial part of SEO, but it is not a silver bullet. On its own, it won’t drive traffic and help you generate leads.

You can amass links, but if the search engines don’t trust those links or the content being linked to, those efforts amount to nothing.

Thus, an essential characteristic of great link-building companies is to have a holistic SEO program with all the bolts and nuts, including content creation, promotion, and link acquisition.

2. An Impressive Client Portfolio

An excellent way to judge the processes and expertise of a company is via its client portfolio.

Thus, as other companies with hands-on experience would do, the top link-building companies have the characteristic of displaying their ability to generate backlinks by showing off a portfolio of clients they’ve helped to get backlinks.

3. Thought leadership

The best link-building companies aren’t just great at acquiring backlinks.

They also have the characteristic of sharing all their learnings on their way to helping themselves and other companies generate high-quality backlinks.

You want a team that knows the best strategies and tactics that work today.

For example, if you Google “link-building Neil Patel,” you’ll find my in-depth guides.

4. Real Life Testimonials

A good criterion for determining if a link-building company is among the very best is to look at their customer testimonials.

Thus, a characteristic you’ll find with the top link-building companies in the world are real-life testimonials, highlighting what customers say about working with them.

5. A Diversified Team

One person can write a guest post and send you a few links. But you’ll need a diversified team of experts to execute more strategic and extensive link-building campaigns.

As we’ve shown you, the best link-building companies excel at planning and executing these bigger, more effective link acquisition strategies.

And to do that, they usually work with a team of diversified experts, which you can look up to as one of their characteristics:

What to Expect from a Great Link-Building Company

If you take on the services of a link-building company, you judge them by their ability to get you links. It’s that simple.

However, there’s a wide gap between contacting a company and getting those juicy links.

So, what should you expect if you decide to work with any of the link-building companies reviewed above?

1. A discovery session

Your business needs are different from those of others, and so would your link-building needs. Thus, the link acquisition strategies that worked for one site won’t work for yours automatically.

The best link-building companies have experience generating links for different organizations. Thus, they don’t jump straight into sending you proposals.

Instead, they start the process of helping to customize a strategy for your business by allowing you to share your exact business needs over a discovery session.

2. Research & strategic recommendations

Once you’ve booked and discussed your business needs with a link-building company, the best ones take what you tell them and leverage their experience to conduct in-depth research.

After this research, you should receive a host of strategic link-building recommendations most suited to your business. Most companies would share this with you via email or over another discovery call.

3. A contract with project deliverables

Once everyone decides that the project is a good fit, it’s time to get a contract in place.

Deliverables, deadlines, resources required, and budget should all clearly be outlined in detail.

4. Client onboarding

The next thing to expect from a top link-building is an onboarding process. It sets the stage for working with you to achieve your link acquisition and related business goals.

Depending on your work scope, you’ll need to bring on your in-house staff and share your website, blog, analytics, etc. with the company.

This onboarding process also establishes an understanding of how the company would manage your project.

Link-Building Isn’t a One-Time Activity

Unfortunately, link building isn’t a one-off project. I wish it was.

But links decay, pages decay, and Google’s always looking for freshness.

You’ll need ongoing links to keep your site at the top of the rankings.

This is the main reason why companies try to get help. It’s exhausting trying to do it yourself all the time.

However you decide to do it, treat link-building as an ongoing, long-term activity that’s a core part of your SEO strategy.

Doing this is how you’ll get maximum results.

The post The 5 Best Link Building Companies of 2020 appeared first on Neil Patel.

How to Choose The Right Amazon Marketing Agency

Choosing the right Amazon marketing agency can be the difference between becoming a thriving seller on Amazon or one that flops.

Do you know why I say so?

A pool of more than 2.5 million sellers fights for the attention of Amazon’s customers. Out of this, only 10% generate annual sales of more than $100,000.

Only a few sellers make a great income on the platform.

Are you a seller struggling to attract buyers on Amazon? Would you like to increase your store’s reach and drive more revenues?

By partnering with a top Amazon marketing agency, you can improve the visibility of your store, reach more buyers, and drive sales.

Below, you’ll find my recommended steps on how to choose a top Amazon marketing company to grow your store business on the platform.

Know Your Goals and Desired Outcomes

A marketing agency won’t re-invent your store on Amazon.

They’ll work with you to achieve your goals and realize your business outcomes.

If you, the store owner, fail to define what those goals and outcomes are, how can a marketing agency perform magic and turn you into an overnight success on Amazon?

It doesn’t work that way.

To help you get started, let’s explore some scenarios when you should hire an Amazon marketing agency.

Example #1: Rank your products higher in Amazon search

I’ve already mentioned that Amazon has over 2.5 million sellers.

But that’s nothing close to the number of products vying for your potential customers attention and credit cards on the e-commerce site.

According to Retail Touchpoints, more than 353 million different products for sale on Amazon.

With so many stores and products, your store basically doesn’t exist unless it ranks well in Amazon’s search.

Let’s assume you sell belly button rings and someone goes on Amazon to search for it:

This search term alone produced over 96 different products on Amazon’s first search results page that included about 12 stores.

What if your store isn’t one of them?

Your goal should be to improve Amazon SEO.

The higher your rankings, the more visibility you have with Amazon’s customers. And more visibility equals more sales.

As you see in the screenshot above, an excellent way to achieve this is to ensure your store and product descriptions are optimized with relevant keywords.

Is this why you’re looking for an Amazon marketing agency?

Then, consider one with a battle-tested SEO-driven content marketing program, as both store and product descriptions are forms of well-targeted content creation.

Example #2: Promote your Amazon products on Amazon

Let’s keep using our belly button ring example.

This time, assume you’ve optimized your store and product descriptions, adhering to all Amazon SEO requirements.

Despite this, it’s possible to still have other sellers with similar products on Amazon rank higher than you. You can expect this because Amazon has several ranking factors.

For instance, see the first product listed for the belly button ring we searched earlier:

This product was promoted to the very first position on Amazon search results page. The store spent money to get their ad to the top of the list. It’s pay to play.

That’s why it has a “Sponsored” label.

This scenario shows that you can promote your products on Amazon to reach targeted buyers based on different criteria like search terms, locations, age range, etc.

If this is your goal, the outcome would be to skip the queue and reach potential buyers on Amazon.

Amazon has an entire ad network that you can now access. Like any ad network, it requires a ton of setup and lots of ongoing attention if you want to make a decent profit.

An Amazon marketing agency is ideal for this type of work. You already have your store and products, you just want an experienced team to run your ads for you.

Will an agency add to your total costs instead of running the ads yourself? Yes. But the ads will also perform a lot better. The agency will easily pay for itself.

So if you have either of these two goals, I highly recommend working with an Amazon marketing agency.

So, what characteristics should you look out for when choosing one?

6 Characteristics That Make a Great Amazon Marketing Agency

Below are six characteristics you’ll find in exceptional Amazon marketing agencies.

1. Demonstrated knowledge of the Amazon marketplace

Marketing your store and products on Amazon has its best practices.

It also has its dos and don’ts.

To determine if an Amazon marketing agency knows and puts them into practice, check if they have practical knowledge of how the Amazon marketplace works.

Exceptional Amazon agencies share these best practices in the form of how-to guides and training resources, showing how to drive more sales on Amazon:

2. A team of experts

Marketing, on its own, won’t do all the heavy lifting required to turn your Amazon store into a thriving business.

Other essential things like proper store setup, products’ listing optimization, brand-specific creatives, PPC management, and others must go into the equation.

And you won’t achieve all that with a one-person team.

Hence, a characteristic of great Amazon marketing agencies is that they work with a diverse team of experts.

3. A process for implementing their core service

In the agency world, a battle-tested process makes all the difference. It’s the only way to deliver reliable results with new clients.

Without a solid process, working with an agency is like rolling the dice. Sometimes it works, sometimes… it doesn’t.

Successful agencies will customize processes based on your unique needs but they should have a solid core with a proven track record.

For my team at Neil Patel Digital, we’ve developed a comprehensive program to help Amazon sellers drive traffic to their stores and product pages.

4. An impressive clients’ portfolio

Before you choose an agency, it’s important to examine who they’ve worked with in the past.

You’ll find this in their clients’ portfolio.

This is also a critical characteristic to check for, as it gives you a sense of the type of companies the agency typically works with.

Great Amazon marketing agencies take it one step by having an impressive portfolio of clients.

5. Great company culture

When choosing an agency, most people omit the company culture of an agency they want to partner with.

You shouldn’t!

Working with an Amazon marketing agency is usually a long-term partnership. If your beliefs are not aligned, you face the possibility of running into problems in the future.

To avoid this, choose an agency with a great company culture with similar values as your own.

6. Customer testimonials

Before you choose an Amazon marketing agency, take a moment to look out for testimonials they’ve received from past and present clients.

This gives you an idea of what people think and feel about their services. It also helps you to see if what the agency offers is worth the fee.

How to Work With an Amazon Marketing Agency

Working with an Amazon marketing agency follows a series of steps. And you should adhere to them to ensure a smooth partnership.

For great agencies, expect go through the following steps:

1. You’ll fill an inquiry form

When you visit the agency’s website, the first step is to fill their inquiry or contact form.

There’s usually forms for basic information about your business.

It’s also the first opportunity to share what your needs are and how you want them to help you.

For any well-run agency, you should hear back from them within 24 hours. If it takes longer than that, proceed with caution.

2. Discovery session

Experienced Amazon marketing agencies will want to do a one-on-one consultation session.

You should expect this, as it gives you the opportunity to share your needs and talk directly with a marketing expert.

3. Research and strategic recommendations

No two business cases are 100% identical.

Great agencies take what you share with them from the first call and perform in depth research to come up with recommendations unique to your Amazon store.

Usually, a second call will get scheduled to go through everything.

4. A Proposal and contract

By going through the recommendations delivered to you by an agency, you’ll gain more clarity if working with them is a good fit.

Right after this, you’ll usually receive a proposal and contract that sets the terms for working together.

5. Official client onboarding

Project management plays a very essential role when working with an Amazon marketing agency.

To ensure both parties have an understanding of who does what and when, excellent agencies would take you through an official client onboarding process.

Over this process, you’ll get to know who is your account manager (the expert overseeing your project) and get a full scope of the project, deliverables, and timelines.

How to Find The Right Amazon Marketing Agency For You

So far, I’ve walked you through the characteristics and steps to working with an Amazon marketing agency.

But one question remains, how do you find an agency that is right for you?

The first step is to always know your goals.

The next step is to choose an agency with expertise in the area you need help with.

To help you, we profiled the top Amazon marketing companies and what they excel most at.

The 5 Top Amazon Marketing Agencies

#1 Neil Patel Digital — Best for Store and Product Content Marketing

With SEO-driven content marketing, you can score higher Amazon SEO points by optimizing your store and product descriptions.

In turn, your store and products will become more discoverable with higher rankings when potential customers search on Amazon, as you saw in the example above.

It’s been ages since you could get away with one good photo and a basic product description. These days, you need a host of professional photos, videos, optimized descriptions and titles, comparison tables, FAQs, and detailed descriptions that address every objection in the market.

This is a core part of the offering at Neil Patel Digital:

Companies from across the world, from startups to enterprise brands, trust Neil Patel Digital.

#2 Thrive Agency — Best for Amazon PPC

When potential buyers research products or services on Amazon, a whopping 64% of them don’t click beyond the 1st three results.

To get your store and products in those top positions, you may need to use sponsored posts on Amazon.

Another name for this is Amazon PPC.

Thrive Agency is a company with over a decade of experience in this area:

This company has over 150 five-star reviews across Google, Facebook, and Clutch with Amazon-specific case studies.

#3 Vertical Rail — Best for Amazon Account Management

Your Amazon store account health, product deactivations, shipping performance, intellectual property violations, and several others have a direct impact on how well your marketing performs on Amazon.

Vertical Rail is the agency I recommend to ensure you’re 100% compliant on Amazon and reach your marketing goals:

This agency has great case studies on how to run your Amazon store more efficiently.

#4 Voice SEO – Best for Amazon Echo and Voice Search Optimization

In the US, more than 111 million people used a voice-assisted device. And two-thirds of consumers with voice-enabled devices said they considered using them to place orders.

This trend could be the next big marketing opportunity. And with big marketing opportunities like this, you can make a bundle if you get in early.

Voice SEO is the agency you can turn to for this:

TopSEOs, an agency ranking domain, ranked Voice SEO as its number one company for voice search optimization, and they have accreditations to demonstrate their expertise.

#5 Voy Media – Best for Amazon Social Media Marketing

Most successful Amazon sellers turn to social media to engage their target audience with the ultimate goal of driving traffic to their store and product pages.

If you want to take advantage of social media to drive sales for your Amazon store, Voy Media is great for that:

This agency combines strategy and creativity to help Amazon sellers drive sales on Amazon via various social media platforms.

Do You Really Need to Hire An Amazon Marketing Agency?

Yes, and I’ll tell you why.

To give your business a chance, standout from the crowd, and get found on Amazon when potential customers search for things you sell, you’ll need marketing.

And that’s where hiring an Amazon marketing agency comes in.

Whether you want higher rankings or want to run profitable Amazon PPC ads, get an expert that knows what they’re doing. There’s too much competition on Amazon to do it all yourself.

The post How to Choose The Right Amazon Marketing Agency appeared first on Neil Patel.

How to Get Business Loans with Bad Credit

You may think it is impossible to get business loans with bad credit. In truth, it is just impossible to do so from traditional banks without some sort of guarantee. There are other options however.

Is It Possible to Get Business Loans with Bad Credit?

For example, the government guarantees loans from traditional banks through The Small Business Administration, or SBA. This government guarantee makes it easier to get loans with lower credit scores than would normally be acceptable.

Business Loans with Bad Credit: SBA Loans

The key is, how bad is “bad” credit. Generally speaking, you can qualify for a loan most anywhere with a credit score over 730. However, your interest rates may leave a lot to be desired. If your credit score is less than that, but above 650, you may qualify for one of these SBA loans programs.

7(a) Loans

This most popular SBA loan program offers federally funded term loans up to $5 million. In addition, the funds can be used for expansion, purchasing equipment, working capital and more. Banks, credit unions, and other specialized institutions process these loans and disburse the funds. What does that mean? It means that you apply with a traditional lender, but it isn’t exactly a traditional loan.

The minimum credit score to qualify is 680. Also, there is a required down payment of at least 10% for the purchase of a business, commercial real estate, or equipment. Lastly, the minimum time in business is 2 years. In the case of startups, business experience equivalent to two years will work.

Funds are available for a wide variety of projects, from working capital to refinancing debt. You can even buy a new business or real estate.

504 Loans

These loans are available up to $5 million. You can use the funds to buy machinery, facilities, or land. Typically, these are expansion loans. They especially work well for commercial real estate purchases.

Terms for 504 Loans range from 10 to 20 years. Unfortunately, funding is slow. It can take from 30 to 90 days. They require a minimum credit score of 680, and they use the asset the loan is financing as collateral. Furthermore, there is a down payment requirement of 10%. This can increase to 15% for a new business.

Like 7 (a) loans, you must be in business for at least 2 years, or management must have equivalent experience if the business is a startup.

Microloans

Microloans go up to $50,000. They work well for starting a business, purchasing equipment, buying inventory, or as working capital. Community based non-profits administer microloan programs as intermediaries. Unlike most other SBA loans, financing comes directly from the Small Business Administration.

They can take upwards of 90 days to fund. The minimum credit score for microloans is 640, and collateral and down payment requirements vary by lender.

SBA Disaster Loans

As a general rule, disaster loans go up to $2 million. However, there are tons of changes in the program right now due to the need for COVID-19 relief. These loans are also processed directly through the SBA rather than through partner lenders. They are for small-business owners that have been affected by natural disasters, and the COVID-19 pandemic has been deemed to qualify as a natural disaster. Terms go up to 30 years. The maximum interest rate is 4%, and you can apply for disaster loans directly at SBA.gov.

The minimum credit score for these loans is 660. Additionally, collateral is necessary if the loan goes over a certain amount. That amount is usually $25,000. For a military economic injury disaster, the amount that requires collateral is $50,000. Either way, a down payment is not necessary.

SBA Express Loans

The max amount for these loans is $350,000. Terms range from 5 to 25 years. To qualify, your credit score must be above 680. Also, you must have a debt to service ratio of 1.1 or higher. If the loan is greater than $25,000, collateral may be necessary depending on the lender.

As the name suggests, you get funds from express loans much faster. In fact, the SBA takes 36 hours or less to give a decision. Not only that, but the necessary paperwork for application is less also. This makes express loans a great option for working capital, among other things, if you qualify.

SBA CAPLine

There are 4 distinct CAPLine programs that differ mostly in the expenses they can fund. Each of them carries a maximum amount of $5 million. In addition, the interest rate for each range from 7% to 10%. Like many of the others, funding can take 45 to 90 days.

The four different programs are:

Seasonal CAPLines

Contract CAPLines

Builder’s CAPLines

Working Capital CAPLines

For these, the minimum credit score to qualify is 680. However, there is no minimum time in business requirement unless you are getting a seasonal CAPLine. That one carries a one year in business requirement.

Get our business credit building checklist and build business credit the fast and easy way to beat the recession blues.

Business Loans with Bad Credit: Alternative Loans

These are loans from private lenders rather than traditional banks. Most of them operate online exclusively. We’ve listed a few for you below. Be sure to double check details like required credit score and interest rate, as these things can change without notice.

Fundbox

Fundbox is going to be one of the first lenders to pop up if you search for alternative business loans. It is a line of credit rather than a loan, but it is a great funding option because there is no minimum credit score requirement.

They offer an automated process that is super-fast. Repayments are automatic, meaning they draft them electronically, and they occur on a weekly basis. One thing to remember is that you could have a repayment as high as 5 to 7% of the amount you have drawn currently, as the repayment period is comparatively short. This means you need to be sure you have enough funds in whatever account you connect them to so that it can cover your payment each week.

Loan amounts come as low as $100 and as high as up to $100,000, but the max initial draw is $50,000. Though there is no minimum credit score requirement, they do require at least 3 months in business, $50,000 or more in annual revenue, and a business checking account with a minimum balance of $500.

BlueVine

The minimum loan amount available from BlueVine is $5,000 and the maximum is $100,000. Annual revenue must be $120,000 or more and the borrower must be in business for at least 6 months. Your personal credit score has to be 600 or above. It is important to note also, that BlueVine does not offer a line of credit in all states.

Upstart

Upstart uses a completely innovative platform for alternative loans. The company questions the ability of financial information and FICO alone to truly determine the risk of lending to a specific borrower. Instead, they choose to use a combination of artificial intelligence and machine learning to collect alternative data. They then use that data to help them make credit decisions.

Alternative data can include mobile phone bills, rent, deposits, withdrawals, and even other information less directly tied to finances. The software they use learns and improves on its own. You can use their online quote tool to play with different amounts and terms to see the various interest rate possibilities. Typically, business loans are available ranging from $1,000 to $50,000. Interest rates vary greatly, ranging from 7.5% to 35.99%. You can pay back loans over either 3-years or 5-years.

To be eligible for a loan with Upstart, you must meet the following qualifications:

Credit score of 620+
No bankruptcies or negative public records
No delinquent accounts
Meet debt to income standards (they only note they will check this ratio, not what their standards are.)
Have fewer than 6 inquiries in the past 6 months on your credit report, not including those related to student loans, vehicle loans, or mortgages

These are the requirements they list on their website. One independent review said that the requirement for the debt to income ratio is a maximum of 45%. It also says that the minimum annual income has to be at least $12,000.

Fora Financial

Fora Financial funds more than $1.3 million in working capital around the United States. There is an early repayment discount if you qualify.

This is a great option for business loans with bad credit. Why? Here is what Fora Financial says about credit score:

“At Fora Financial we do not believe that the number of your credit score defines who you are as a business owner. We look at your entire business model along with your future plans to create a financing program that will help you reach your goals.”

As you can see, there really isn’t a minimum credit score requirement.

Loan amounts range from $5,000 to $500,000. The business must be at least 6 months in operation and the monthly revenue has to be $12,000 or more. There can be no open bankruptcies.

OnDeck

Obtaining financing from OnDeck is quick and easy. First, you apply online and receive your decision once application processing is complete. If you receive approval, your loan funds will go directly to your bank account. The minimum loan amount is $5,000 and the maximum is $500,000.

They do require a personal credit score of 600 or more for at least one owner. Also, you must be in business for at least 3 years. Annual revenue must be at or exceed $100,000. In addition, there can be no bankruptcy on file in the past 2 years and no unresolved liens or judgements.

Kiva

Kiva is an online lender that is a little different. For example, the interest rate is 0%, so even though you have to pay it back it is absolutely free money. They don’t even check your credit. However, there is one catch. You have to get at least 5 family members or friends to throw some money in the pot as well. In addition, you have to pitch in a $25 loan to another business on the platform.

Accion

Accion is a microlender, a nonprofit, that offers installment loans to both startups and already existing businesses. You don’t have to already be in business, but if you are not, you must have less than $500 in past due debt. In addition, your business needs to be home or incubator based.

Loans are from 6 to 60 months and interest rates range from 7% to 34%. A personal guarantee, and sometimes specific collateral, is necessary in most circumstances.

What’s the minimum credit score? Accion says it best in their FAQ’s:

“Credit is just one of many factors that we look at when we work with business owners. If your credit isn’t well established or damaged, we can work to find strengths in your business or finances to make the loan possible. We do have firm requirements on past due debt and bankruptcies and have credit score minimums in some areas, so please check our loan requirements to see if we are a good fit for you.”

Basically, depending on your other information, Accion can be a good option for business loans with bad credit.

Get our business credit building checklist and build business credit the fast and easy way to beat the recession blues.

Build and Improve Business Credit and Forget About Business Loans with Bad Credit

Maybe one of these options will work for you. But what if you didn’t have to worry about finding business loans for bad credit? What if you could have good business credit? Guess what? You absolutely can! How? Well, first, you have to set up your business to be an entity separate from yourself. That way, when you take out debt in your business name and repay it, the accounts will report to your business credit report and not your personal credit report.

There is a lot to building fundability and business credit, but here is a starting point.

Make sure you and your business do not share contact information. Your business needs a separate phone number and address.
Get your business an EIN so you can apply for business credit without your SSN.
Incorporate your business as an LLC, S-corp, or corporation.
Make sure your business has all the licenses it needs to operate legally.
Open a separate, dedicated business bank account.

After your business is set up properly, you can work with starter vendors to build business credit. These are companies that sell things you use in the course of everyday business, like office supplies, cleaning supplies, even packaging materials. They will issue net invoices without doing a credit check, so you don’t have to have credit to get credit with them. Then, they will report your payments to the business credit reporting agencies. That gets the ball rolling.

It is Possible to Get Business Loans with Bad Credit

It is absolutely possible to get business loans with bad credit. However, once you get the funding you need, don’t stay in a bad credit hole. Get to work building a ladder to get yourself out. Get the funds you need to stay open, but at the same time, work to put yourself in a better position for the future.

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