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Top 5 Cookie Forums, Discussions, and Message Boards You Must Follow in 2020

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How to Develop a Winning Digital Marketing Strategy in 4 Easy Steps

According to Smart Insights, 45 percent of companies don’t have a clearly defined digital marketing strategy; 17 percent of companies have a digital marketing strategy in place, but it’s separate from their marketing plan.  This means 62 percent of companies are unprepared.  They don’t have the strategy, tactics, or tools they need to market their …

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Ecommerce Consulting

In 2019, ecommerce sales were $3.53 trillion worldwide. 

According to Statista, that number is projected to grow to $6.54 trillion by 2023. Online shopping was a popular past time before the pandemic, but ecommerce has grown by 20 percent in 2020 alone. 

Are you ready? 

With the right preparation, ecommerce retailers can achieve double-digit conversion rates and consistent, year-over-year growth. Not sure how to achieve these results on your own? An ecommerce consultant can provide you with the step-by-step support you need to achieve these amazing results. 

3 Ways an Ecommerce Consultant Can Help Grow Your Business

The pandemic hasn’t been good for everyone. 

CB Insights found that the retail apocalypse that started in 2015 actually accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic. Small, local businesses that neglected ecommerce suffered the most. Large companies with well-known ecommerce stores filed for bankruptcy in 2020. 

These are brands you’d probably recognize. 

Brooks Brothers, GNC, Neiman Marcus, Hertz, J. Crew — these companies were all leaders in their market at one point or another. But now, 30+ of these companies are on life support. 

Online customers are pessimistic and highly skeptical. They’re choosing to work with established companies like Amazon who are willing to offer free two-day shipping. 

How’s a consultant supposed to help you survive that? 

Here are three ways ecommerce consultants can help retailers address the problems they’re facing. 

1. Precise customer targeting

In many cases, 80 to 90 percent of your marketing work is done here. This is also the most difficult part to sell to you, the client. The response is typically along the lines of: “Oh, we know that already.” A good ecommerce client knows how to test that claim. 

They do it by asking questions.

Who’s your customer; how familiar are you with their desires, goals, fears, frustrations, and problems? What are their demographics and psychographics? Do you have the answer initially, as most sellers do, or consistently?

Customers change. 

What’s okay today won’t be tomorrow. 

Here’s why that’s important. Everything your ecommerce consultant does, the effort they invest to help your business grow, it all depends on this step. You can’t create a persuasive product offer or shopper incentive if you don’t know your customers as well as you think you do. 

Your ecommerce consultant will refine your audience. 

They’ll help you find the people who are willing to spend more money with your business over time. 

2. Creating profitable offers with features and benefits

CBInsights shared a list of the most common reasons for startup failure. They listed more than a dozen categories, but most of them weren’t all that important. Don’t get me wrong; they were important, just not the most important. Here’s what was the most important thing. 

No market need. 

Forty-two percent of startups failed because they created a product with features and benefits no one wanted. Those are startups, though; things are different with ecommerce stores. 

Only they’re not. 

Research shows 90 percent of ecommerce startups fail in the first 120 days; of the remaining businesses:

  • 36 percent fail in year two
  • 44 percent fail in year three
  • 50 percent fail in year four

The biggest reason? 

Ecommerce stores focus their attention on the wrong product. Customers refuse to buy those products, so eventually, the business fails. An ecommerce consultant helps you create the right product. If they’ve enabled you to do the upfront work needed to target your customers, you should have a pretty good idea of the products customers actually want. 

3. Use Customer Pessimism to Increase Sales and Average Order Values

You’re going to have two types of customers. Optimists and pessimists. Optimists are easy to sell to but harder to keep. Pessimists, on the other hand, are harder to sell to but easier to hold.  

A meta-analysis by Bart S. Vanneste shows how this works. 

  1. Trustors (your customers) start a relationship with trustees (you). 
  2. Trustors use what scientists call “perceived trustworthiness.” That’s the fuel or spark you need to take a risk. 
  3. Afterward, trustors change their impression of you to match reality.

Here’s where it gets tricky. 

  • Optimist trustors overestimate trustworthiness. At first, they give you more than you deserve. As they’re disappointed, their trust in you decreases over time. If they’re not happy with the results, their trust continues to fall. 
  • Optimist trustors overestimate trustworthiness. At first, they give you more than you deserve. As they’re disappointed, their trust in you decreases over time. If they’re not happy with the results, their trust continues to fall. 

A great ecommerce consultant knows how to build trust with skeptical or pessimistic customers. They’re able to use your customer’s natural distrust to increase sales and revenue using helpful tactics like warranties, return policies, guarantees, and promises. 

They’ll show you how to convert this trust to revenue, increasing your sales, upsells, and average order values. 

How to Get Started With an Ecommerce Consultant

Your ecommerce consultant should be a specialist with deep expertise in retail or ecommerce. Think about your needs and the specialty and experience of the consultant. Will you be working with an individual or a team? You are looking for proven knowledge and expertise that has produced successful outcomes for other clients. You want your consulting team to be able to generate the same results for you.

They should also have experience across a broad range of marketing disciplines and channels, including:

  • Analytics
  • Email marketing
  • CRM
  • Content
  • Branding
  • Direct Response
  • Email
  • Marketing automation
  • Market research
  • Mobile
  • Sales
  • SEO
  • PPC
  • Website

Once you’ve decided on the consultant you’d like to work with, ask them to answer these questions:

  • What do you need from me?
  • When do you need it?
  • What’s your role, and what’s my role?
  • Will I have a dedicated rep to contact?
  • What’s your process for communication?
  • How can we ensure a smooth experience?

You’ll want to see that your consultant follows a process. They should provide you with clear answers to each of these questions.

Measuring the ROI of Ecommerce Consulting Services

Measuring the ROI of ecommerce consulting is pretty easy. 

If you’re tracking the right metrics, you’ll be able to measure your ROI. While there are hundreds of metrics you can track, only a few of these metrics are essential. Ask your consultant to start with the essentials, then build from there. 

Here’s a shortlist you can use. 

  • Traffic (unique visitors): The number of qualified prospects who visit your site. If you’re using a tool like Google Analytics, you’ll want to make sure you’re filtering out traffic from bots or spam. Your visits should be focused on generating traffic from qualified traffic sources.
  • Conversion rate: It’s the number of conversions divided by the number of users. You can have several different conversion goals (e.g., leads, ecommerce, likes, etc.).
  • Revenue by traffic source: This shows you which traffic source is most profitable and clarifies where you should spend your marketing and advertising dollars. 
  • Cost per action: This tells you how much it costs to generate a lead, make a sale, or upsell a particular customer. It’s an important part of your breakeven calculation used to determine whether you’re profitable (or not).
  • Ecommerce churn rate: Churn measures the number of customers leaving your business in a particular period. It’s typically a SaaS metric, but it’s now commonly used as a metric for ecommerce. If your churn is going up (i.e., customers are leaving), your revenue is declining.
  • The number of returning customers: The formula is returning customers / by total customers * 100. Returning customers have a conversion rate of 60 to 70 percent. The more repeat customers you have, the greater your revenue. 
  • Average order values: This is a formula, it’s your total revenue divided by the number of orders taken. You can increase average order values using upsells, downsells, and cross-sells. 

Your ecommerce consultant should be able to help you track these metrics. If you’re just starting out, you’ll want to focus your attention on these seven essential metrics. 

7 Point Checklist For Finding the Right Ecommerce Consultant

What should you look for in a consultant? 

If you’re looking for high-quality consultants, what sort of questions should you be asking? Are there specific details you’ll need to focus on to make sure your store attracts the right people? 

Here’s a list of the qualities and characteristics you need to find the right consultant for your business. 

  1. A good reputation: You’ll want to look for reviews, references, and testimonials. You’ll want to find a consultant with positive reviews from the majority of their clients. If your consultant doesn’t have an established reputation, you’ll want to look for content that establishes credibility and authority. 
  2. No ethical grey areas: Your consultant shouldn’t have any issues with black hat SEO or questionable tactics. There shouldn’t be a history of unethical behavior, cheating, or suspicious behavior. 
  3. Clear goal setting: Your consultant should be comfortable working with your goals and objectives. They should understand your business well enough to be able to track and manage the key metrics and KPIs you need to grow. The right consultant should be able to help you set goals, objectives, and KPIs. They should be able to help you develop your goals and objectives.
  4. Consistent ROI: Your ecommerce consultant should be able to show you that they achieved consistent results over a three to five year period. Asking for case studies and the references that go along with them is a good start. But you’ll want them to provide you with detailed figures or evidence showing that they’ve either been able to do this for themselves or other clients just like you. 
  5. Experienced ecommerce sellers: You’ll want to focus your attention on consultants who have owned, managed, or grown an ecommerce store successfully. They need to have familiarity or experience with ecommerce. They should be able to show you the store, provide you with case studies, or outline the work they did for the ecommerce brand. 
  6. Focus on customers’ first, search engines second: Consultants should create high-quality content for customers first, search engines second. The emphasis should be on attracting the right customer at the right time, for the right price, whether you’re speaking to a cold audience, subscribers, customers, followers, fans, or a combination. 
  7. Deep ecommerce expertise: Your consultant should have experience in the same industry or space. Look for in-depth knowledge and expertise with your industry, business, product, or service. If they don’t have the expertise you need, they should be able to demonstrate that they have experience with a similar ecommerce topic or niche.

These are details that high-caliber consultants, including agencies like NP Digital, provide. If you’d like your company to grow, choose consultants who meet these criteria. 

Conclusion

Ecommerce sales continue to grow rapidly. 

You can achieve double-digit conversion rates and consistent, year-over-year growth. An ecommerce consultant can provide you with the step-by-step support you need to achieve these results.  

With precise customer targeting, good products, profitable features and benefits, and some customer pessimism, your ecommerce consultant can help you achieve double-digit conversion rates and consistent, year-over-year growth.

The post Ecommerce Consulting appeared first on Neil Patel.

How to Choose The Right Digital Strategy Agency

According to a recent survey from the DMEXCO, 70 percent of executives worldwide expect the pandemic to accelerate the pace of digital strategy.  In the past, businesses had more time to plan and prepare. 

That’s no longer the case. 

Today, businesses are expected to outline, plan, implement the digital strategy in a matter of days or weeks. The market is moving at an accelerated pace; many businesses find they’re unable to keep up. If you can’t keep up, does that mean you’ll be left behind?

Not if you have the right digital strategy agency.

With the right agency, you’ll be able to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances and events. Here are some steps you can take to find and vet the right agency. 

Know your goals and desired outcomes

Identifying your digital strategy is the key to long-term growth. 

Your digital strategy is about setting goals and objectives. It’s a high-level overview that defines where you are now, outlines where you’d like to go (as an organization), and how you’ll get there. It’s a long(er) term plan that sets a course or destination for you to follow before starting your journey.

You’re going to need a list of: 

  • Goals, KPIs, and objectives: For example, you could focus your attention on generating a specific number of leads, customers, or revenue. You’re running a SaaS business, focus your attention on reducing churn and increasing MRR. 
  • Target audience members: It would be best if you had a clear idea of the specific customer segments you’re looking to target. Your agency should help you with the demographics, psychographics, and ethnographics if you need help clarifying your audience. 
  • Customer hangouts: You’ll want to identify your customer hangouts and the places online where your customers spend their time. This will help you identify potential partners, advertising opportunities, and strategic alliances you can use to grow. 
  • Obstacles and challenges: You’ll want to outline the list of barriers and challenges that may prevent you from achieving the goals and objectives you’ve listed above. 
  • Competitors and key players: You’ll want to identify your competitors and their strengths and weaknesses. This reduces direct competition, making it easier for you to attract customers based on your strengths and the areas you perform best. 
  • Strengths and weaknesses: Point out the areas where you have an advantage in your market or where you’re most vulnerable. Your agency should be able to provide you with options to address each of these, so you’re able to outperform your competitors. 

If you have clear answers to these questions, it’s easier for your agency to supply you with the strategy you need to be effective. 

3 Characteristics That Make a Great Agency

Great agencies have a few characteristics in common. They’re able to focus their attention on the details that matter to your company and your customers. 

1. They ask probing questions

Your agency can’t create the right digital strategy for your company if they don’t have the answers they need. A great agency asks probing questions that may seem simple, dumb, or unimportant at first. You want your agency to ask these questions because these questions help them to develop an in-depth understanding of your business. 

Here are a few examples. 

  • What are your current benchmarks?
  • What are your goals and objectives for your business overall? For each segment?
  • Which KPIs or metrics are you using to measure performance? 
  • What do customers expect from your business?
  • Where do your customers spend their time online? 
  • Which marketing channels work best to attract customers?
  • What tactics should we use to achieve our goals and objectives?

Questions form the basis of your digital strategy; your digital strategy shows you where you are now, tells you where you’re going, and how to get there. Good digital marketing agencies should be asking these questions at the beginning of the engagement process. 

2. Ask your agency to give their strategy away

Your agency should be willing to share bits and pieces, showing you what a cohesive strategy could look like for you. This is important because it gives you several data points you can use to evaluate their work. This doesn’t mean that you should expect your agency to work for free; it just means they’re willing to demonstrate their skills.

Your agency can share this with you in several ways, over the phone, in your proposal or quote, or a case study. You’re looking for them to share pieces of their proposed digital strategy or examples from previous campaigns they’ve implemented for other clients.

  1. Request performance data from your agency
  2. Use performance data to evaluate their performance
  3. Pay attention to the campaign elements they prioritize consistently
  4. Look for knowledge gaps, holes in their strategy, or weak points
  5. Discuss the details you’ve noticed with them during the interview process

Another option would be to pick one part of your business (e.g., content or advertising) and ask your agency how they’d build a strategy to accommodate one specific goal (i.e., how would you increase sales for my worst performing products using content marketing?). 

3. Your agency knows how to implement 

Digital strategy is important, but it’s not as important as the ability to execute that strategy. A great strategy isn’t enough. Your agency should have the experience, skill sets, and team you need to implement your digital strategy and produce the results you need to grow. 

You’re looking for three things. 

  1. An agency that can create a comprehensive digital strategy that works with your existing marketing plan
  2. An agency that knows how to implement your digital strategy successfully
  3. A proven track record showing that they’ve achieved this for other clients in the past

Your agency should provide you all three of these, and they should be able to provide you with evidence showing that they offered other clients these as well. 

How to Work with a Digital Strategy Agency

As you’d expect with any other agency, you’ll want to see a list of samples, references, case studies, and reviews showing that they’re legitimate and competent. 

Ask your clients to provide you with a list of milestones and campaign deliverables.  You’re looking for a clear timeline that projects how long everything will take to implement, and when they anticipate, you’ll begin seeing results. Your plan should include details on: 

  • Media advertising: This includes commercials on tv or streaming services, as well as app, radio, podcasting, and sponsorship spots. This won’t be relevant for some, but it’s still something your agency should be able to support if you need it. 
  • Public relations: What will your agency do to generate press for your business? What strategies will they use to increase visibility and publicity for your business?
  • Digital marketing: This encompasses everything from local search, organic search engine optimization, content marketing, advertising, 
  • Direct response: This can include tactics like geofencing or hyperlocal print advertising; it’s a direct response option that’s designed to integrate with your overall strategy. This is especially important for local businesses that operate in a specific market. 
  • Partnerships: These partnerships can include tactics like JV partnerships, strategic alliances, or channel partnerships. These pieces are essential and should be an important part of your digital strategy.  

Your agency should be able to show you how they plan on approaching your campaign or project. Ask them to break down the approach that goes into their strategy documents; this document should clarify how they’ll approach your campaign, what you should expect, what their goals are, and more.

You’ll want to provide your agency with the following:

  • Agreements. It’s common sense, but it’s also something many clients ignore. Take some time to look over their agreement; look for red flags and trouble spots with legal before you sign. 
  • Brand content. Gather all of your content, brochures, flyers, guides, promos, images, logos, style guides, and marketing materials for your agency. 
  • Photos. Give your agency access to all relevant photography — company photos, portraits/photos of key people, office space, location, general and event photos, etc.).
  • Accolades. Make a list of the social proof your company has — awards, recognition, testimonials, praise, positive reviews, or feedback you’ve received. Give your agency with the assets and resources needed if they ask.

The digital strategy company you choose will provide you with a list of items they need and the options you need to implement their plan successfully.  

How to Find the Right Digital Strategy Agency For You

You can use directories like Clutch.co, HubSpot Agency Directory, or Sortlist to find the right digital strategy agency that’s best for you. Here’s a list of some of the best in the industry. You can go through the traditional RFP process or you can simply request a quote. 

The 6 Top Digital Strategy Agencies

Here’s a list of six of the top digital strategy agencies online. 

1. Neil Patel Digital — Best For Content Marketing & Digital Strategy

I’ve created more than 4,294 blog posts in 10 years. I’ve written millions of words, and I’ve used content marketing to build three companies of my own generating 195,013 visitors a month. I did the same things for large fortune 500 clients; now I can do that for your business too.

2. REQ – Best for Enterprise Business Strategy

REQ is an award-winning agency with enterprise-level expertise. They’re industry veterans with some of the best talents in the business. They’re part of the Inc.500 and Deloitte Fast 500 lists – they’re one of the fastest-growing companies in America.

3. Usman Group – Best for Mid-market Business Strategy

With 80% of its clients in the mid-market range, earning between 10M – 1B, the Usman Group, specializes in digital strategy and market research. Their agency is oriented around design thinking; they produce projects that are evidence-driven, practical, and focused on research. 

4. DeSantis Breindel – Best for Branding Strategy

DeSantis Breindel is a digital strategy company that specializes in end-to-end branding strategy. They’re focused on all things branding — they serve businesses via brand differentiation, brand valuation, brand launches, and employee engagement and more.

If your company relies on image and brand reputation, DeSantis may be a good fit. 

5. Mabbly – Best for Data Analysis, Channel Strategy

As a digital strategy firm, Mabbly emphasizes market research and data analytics. They specialize in converting large and complex problems into growth opportunities for established and up and coming brands. Their starting price is slightly higher but worth the investment if you’re looking for a data-driven approach. 

6. Ironpaper – Best for Small Business 

Ironpaper bills itself as a B2B growth agency. As a digital strategy firm, their conversion growth strategy focuses on gaining traction with growth up to 1 percent. The growth phase starts at 1 to 3 percent, with anything above 3 percent listed as scaling. 

Conclusion

Businesses have less time to adjust; now, more than ever before, customers are expecting companies to meet their expectations and needs immediately. Digital strategies that played out over the course of one to three-year cycle now finish in a matter of days or weeks. Business is accelerating as customers move more of their business online. 

Most companies will need help to keep up. 

If you have the right digital strategy agency, you’ll have the support you need to adapt to a rapidly changing market and events. Use this guide to find and vet the right agency for your business. 

The post How to Choose The Right Digital Strategy Agency appeared first on Neil Patel.

Beyond a Simple Crowdfunding Definition: What You need to Know Now

Funding for businesses is needed now more than ever.  Funding that does not have to be repaid is always in high demand, as is funding that does not require a stellar credit score.  In the eyes of most, and rightly so, that is exactly what crowdfunding is.  That is not the crowdfunding definition however.  There is so much more to the whole crowdfunding scene. 

Crowdfunding Definition: What It Is, What It Is Not, and What Your Other Options Are

According to Dictionary.com, the crowdfunding definition is: 

“the activity or process of raising money from a large number of people, typically through a website, as for a project or small business.”

It sounds like a great plan, right?  It is, until you know that the average success rate of crowdfunding campaigns is 50%.  That said, 78% of crowdfunding campaigns reach their goal.  Of course, that sounds better.  Still, reaching your goal doesn’t guarantee success.

Check out our trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit. Conquer any recession!

Crowdfunding Definition: What Crowdfunding Is

The thing is, crowdfunding is definitely a viable option, but it is too risky to depend upon as your sole source of funding.  For some, it works out to where you can get a whole business off the ground without any other funding source.  For most, crowdfunding simply reduces the amount of debt you must take on.  Yet, for many, there are not even enough funds raised from such campaigns to get started. 

Crowdfunding Definition: What Crowdfunding is Not

Whether crowdfunding for startups or for an already existing business, it is not a legitimate only option.  There needs to be a backup plan for either supplemental funds or full funding.  If your credit score is good, there is no worry here as financing options abound.  However, a not so great credit score can make a backup plan more difficult.  

Crowdfunding Definition: Crowdfunding Platforms

While not an exhaustive list, these are some of the most popular crowdfunding platforms. 

  • Kickckstarter
    • Indiegogo
    • RocketHub
    • CircleUp
    • GoGetFunding
    • Crowdfunder
    • Fundable
  • Fundly

Whichever platform you choose, whether one of these or one not on this list, remember there are a number of crowdfunding resources available to help you on this journey.  You just have to look for them. 

Crowdfunding Definition: Behind the Scenes

definition of crowdfundingNow, the best way to find out about crowdfunding is to take a look at some actual campaigns.  Here are some of the most notable, the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

Pebble SmartWatch

Pebble actually has several of the top 10 campaigns ever on Kickstarter. Their 2nd campaign is the highest funded campaign to date, reaching over $20,000,000. That’s not too shabby for a goal of only $500,000. They blew it out of the water!

Are they still successful? Well, yeah, but not in the way you may think. They actually sold to FitBit.

FlowHive

This one is not one that most would expect to explode onto the scene the way it did. The FlowHive Indiegogo campaign definitely generated some major buzz. The idea was to find a way to get the honey from bees without harming the bees.

Traditionally, hives are simply broken open to obtain the honey. This process can kill the bees. FlowHive developed a fake hive of sorts, made from reusable plastic. Bees make honey in it, and the honey flows through a spout out into the world. The bees are safe and fresh honey is ours for the taking.

Apparently, beekeeping is growing in interest. This campaign raised $14,000,000. Though they won’t disclose exact numbers, the queen bees claim they are still buzzing and in the black.

CoolestCooler

The coolest cooler was a super cool Kickstarter campaign that came in at over $13.000,000 raised. The cooler boasted bluetooth and a blender among other things. Investors received a cooler for their donation toward the cause.

This one had some trouble when it wasn’t able to deliver investment rewards as quickly as promised and there was actually a lawsuit. In the end, everything worked out and everyone got their rewards.

BauBox Travel Jacket

This jacket has 10 different  elements, including a drink holder and a neck pillow. They raised over $11,000,000 across 2 campaigns. It was a bumpy start, partially because the jacket was available on retail sites before investors even got theirs, but it is still selling today.

As you can see, while mostly successful, even these top campaigns had some pretty serious bumps along the way.  You need to be prepared for the same, even if you reach your fundraising goals.

Crowdfunding Definition: The Backup Plan

Here are some options for financing.  The one that will work best for your business will depend on your credit score, your business fundability, and how much  you are able to raise through crowdfunding and other debt-free options.

Check out our trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit. Conquer any recession!

Traditional/ SBA Loans

These are lumped together because they each require working with a traditional lender and a decent credit score.  However, it is important to remember that SBA loans typically require a lower credit score, although still good, as they are government backed business loans. A few examples of SBA loans that work great for starting a business include: 

7(a) Loans

This one offers federally funded term loans of up to $5 million. Funds can be used for expansion, purchasing equipment, and  working capital, in addition to startup. Banks, credit unions, and other specialized institutions, in partnership with the SBA, process these loans and disburse the funds.  

504 Loans

The funds work well to purchase  machinery, facilities, or land. They are generally used for expansion.  Private sector lenders or nonprofits process and disburse funds. They are also good for commercial real estate purchases especially.  

There is also a requirement you be in business at least 2 years, or that management has equivalent experience if the business is a startup.  

Microloans

Microloans work for starting a business, purchasing equipment, buying inventory, or for working capital. Community based non-profits administer microloan programs as intermediaries.  Financing comes directly from the Small Business Administration.  

Credit Line Hybrid

A credit line hybrid is a form of unsecured business funding.  With it, you can fund your business without putting up collateral.  You only pay back what you use.  

It is not as hard to qualify as you may think.  Your personal credit needs to be good, as in at least  680.  In addition, you can’t have any liens, judgments, bankruptcies or late payments.  Furthermore, in the past 6 months you should have no more than 4 inquiries, and you should have less than a 45% balance on all business and personal credit cards.  It’s also preferred that you have established business credit as well as personal credit.

However, if you do not meet all of the requirements, the credit line hybrid is still accessible. You can take on a credit partner that meets each of these requirements.  Many business owners work with a friend or relative to fund their business.  If a relative or a friend meets all of these requirements, they can partner with you to allow you to tap into their credit to access funding. This makes a credit line hybrid an excellent option for bad credit business funding. 

Credit Line Hybrid Benefits

There are many benefits to using a credit line hybrid.  For example, it is unsecured, meaning you do not have to have any collateral to put up.  Next, it is no-doc funding.  This means you don’t have to provide any bank statements or financials.  

Not only that, but typical approval is up to 5x that of the highest credit limit on the personal credit report. Also, it is possible to get interest rates as low as 0% for the first few months.  That allows you to put that savings back into your business. 

The process is usually fast, especially with a qualified expert to walk you through it.  One other benefit is this.  With the approval for multiple credit cards, competition is created.  This makes it easier, and likely even if you handle the credit responsibly, that you can get interest rates lowered and limits raised every few months. 

Alternative Lenders

These are also an option if your credit score is lacking.  Remember, lenders change details such as requirements and rates frequently.  Be sure to check with the specific lender for the most up to date information. 

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.

Upstart

Upstart is an online lender unlike any other.  It  uses a completely innovative platform for loans.  The company itself questions the ability of financial information and FICO, on their own, to truly determine the risk of lending to a specific borrower.  Instead, they use a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to gather alternative data.  Then, they use this data to help them make credit decisions.

This alternative data can include such things as 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. 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.

Check out our trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit. Conquer any recession!

Fora Financial 

Founded in 2008 by college roommates, online lender Fora Financial now funds more than $1.3 million in working capital around the United States. There is no minimum credit score, and there is an early repayment discount if you qualify.

The minimum loan amount is $5,000 and the maximum is $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.

Just like any other online lender, they do have certain requirements to qualify for a loan.  For example, a personal credit score of 600 or more.  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.

Crowdfunding Definition: The Down and Dirty Truth

Knowing the crowdfunding definition is just the first step.  As with most else in the world, a definition isn’t enough.  Once you know the crowdfunding definition, the hard part starts.  You have to figure out if it is right for you and your business.  It may work great, or it may not.  Plan for the best and hope for the worst is a great motto to live by here.  Do your research on how to run a great campaign, and spend the time necessary to thoroughly research platforms and determine which one will work best for your needs. 

Then formulate your backup plan. Do you need loans, a credit line hybrid, or some combination?  The time to figure that out is on the front end, before you need it.  By the time you see the need is a reality, it could be too late.

The post Beyond a Simple Crowdfunding Definition: What You need to Know Now appeared first on Credit Suite.

New comment by bananaoomarang in "Ask HN: Who is hiring? (May 2020)"

Scite | Senior Full-Stack Developer | Remote/NYC | https://scite.ai/jobs

scite is a startup based in Brooklyn, working to help tackle the reproducibility problem in science by mining and analyzing existing literature. For more info on us see https://scite.ai.

We are looking for a senior full-stack developer interested in making a positive impact on a large societal problem. Our team is nearly fully remote so we are looking for individuals that are self-motivated and eager to take on a leading role at a growing startup. Specifically, we are seeking people with experience in any/all of the following:

– JavaScript (ES6)

– React/Redux

– Python

– Postgres

– Elasticsearch

– Docker/Docker Swarm

– Mongo

– Keras/TensorFlow

If you’re interested in applying, please email a short note explaining your interest and background as well as your resume to jobs@scite.ai

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