New comment by amarsharma in "Ask HN: Freelancer? Seeking freelancer? (May 2024)"

SEEKING WORK | REMOTE ONLY

Offering Remote Expertise in Web Automation, Scraping, Full Stack Development, and AI Consulting

I am an adept professional with 9 years of development experience, specializing in end-to-end web automation, full stack development, and AI-driven solutions. Through my career, I have designed and engineered a broad spectrum of innovative solutions, primarily focusing on web automation with Puppeteer, sophisticating REST APIs, and crafting intelligent LLM chatbots, tailor-made for platforms such as Telegram and Slack.

My robust skill set encompasses cutting-edge technologies such as React, Firebase, Ant Design, Retool, TypeScript, Node.js, and GoLang. I excel in leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs) and computer vision applications to revolutionize AI consultation services.

GitHub: https://github.com/amar-sharma
Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/amars63
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharmaamar/
For collaborations or long-term contracts, reach out to me at amarsharma.iitp@gmail.com.

Thank you for your time.

Meticulous (YC S21) is hiring #3 engineer to build future of testing

Hey HN!

I’m Gabriel, CEO and co-founder of Meticulous.

Our mission is to radically accelerate the pace of software development for every company in the world. We’re starting with a tool to catch UI bugs in web applications with zero-effort from developers.

How it works: Insert a single line of JavaScript onto your site, and we record thousands of real user sessions. We then replay these sessions on head and base commits of PRs, take screenshots at key points, and diff those screenshots to catch visual regressions before they hit production. We employ novel techniques to eliminate flakes. You can watch a 60-second demo at [meticulous.ai](http://meticulous.ai/).

We are a London-based YC company. Our engineering team previously worked at Dropbox, Opendoor, Palantir and Google, and have previously led 100+ engineer organizations at these companies. We raised $4m and are backed by some of the best founders and technical leaders in Silicon Valley, including Guillermo Rauch (founder Vercel, author next.js), Jason Warner (CTO GitHub), Scott Belsky (CPO Adobe), Calvin French-Owen (founder Segment), Jared Friedman (YC partner and former CTO of Scribd) and a bunch of other incredible folks.

Catching visual regressions is just the start. There is an entire category of products to build on top of replay. This ranges from catching exceptions to revealing the performance impact of frontend code.

We want to change the way the world develops software, and influence software approaches for decades to come.

We are seeding a London office and hiring an onsite founding engineer to join our team of four. We sponsor visas.

You will have autonomy in building out this technology, but here are a few problems you might work on:

– Build a distributed system to concurrently replay thousands of sessions, such that a developer gets a result in seconds.

– Speed up the replay of sessions in a way that retains determinism.

– Derive algorithms to detect sessions that cover differing code paths and edge cases, and ignore sessions that are too similar.

– Help build out a team of world-class, highly collaborative, software engineers.

As founding engineer, you get to shape the company, and build the culture and technology from the ground up.

What we look for:

In a sentence: Technically brilliant, delightful to work with, combined with a self-awareness and strong desire to improve. We also want to make sure everyone is highly supportive of each other; we win as a team.

We’re currently only looking to bring on folks with senior level skill sets and 5+ years of industry experience. You should have strong web fundamentals and a deep love for software engineering. Maybe you enjoy programming books like Clean Code, Designing Data Intensive Applications, Pragmatic Programmer etc. or enjoy hacking on interesting side projects. You value transparency and candid feedback, and are motivated by a strong desire to become the best engineer you can be.

You can read about our values here https://ruby-wish-a8f.notion.site/Mission-Values-979c32ec58e…

You will be given the space and time to up-level yourself as an engineer in terms of conferences, reading, or whatever you think will be most valuable. We will also set you up with mentorship, if you desire it, from top engineering leaders (folks running 100-engineer organizations at the world’s leading tech companies).

You’ll get to work alongside some of the best engineers there are, break new ground solving truly novel CS problems and deliver something that transforms how software is built.

If this sounds interesting, please reach out to me at gabe [at] meticulous [dot] ai with “HN” in the subject line and 2-3 sentences about what you find interesting about Meticulous and your resume/LinkedIn/GitHub.


Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36924518

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

TikTok Shopping: What You Need To Know

Not that long ago, it was all about Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, but now everyone is talking about TikTok.

It seems like every top brand is on there, and even smaller businesses like Elf Cosmetics and start-ups like Vessi are taking the platform by storm.

The social media site is so wildly popular that TikTok total user spending on Google Play and the App Store exceeded $824 million in Q4 2021. With eager buyers already lined up, It shouldn’t be a surprise that TikTok has got on board the social commerce train.

Recently, the social media site announced a new feature called TikTok Shopping; the potential is obvious, given its vast audience of over one billion users.

However, is TikTok Shopping for you, and how does it work? That’s exactly what I’ll talk about here.

What Is TikTok Shopping and How Does It Work?

The Hello Official Store Tik Tok Shop.

If you’ve ever been on TikTok and wanted an easy way to buy a product you’ve seen, TikTok Shopping lets you do just that.

In its launch statement, TikTok explained:

“TikTok Shopping is a suite of solutions, features, and advertising tools that give businesses the opportunity to capture the full power of TikTok’s influence on purchase decisions.”

The social media site explains that TikTok Shopping allows merchants to ‘enjoy a full-service commerce solution’ with TikTok managing the retail side, from product upload and purchase to shipping and fulfillment.

Sellers have two options. TikTok’s Shopping Direct Integration creates an e-commerce experience for creators/merchants that want to run their e-commerce stores directly from the TikTok platform. This option provides a full e-commerce experience with everything, including post-payment processes, occurring inside the TikTok app.

Then, there is Partner Integration, where sellers can add product catalogs via a TikTok Business account and buyers can browse and purchase inside the TikTok app. However, post-payment processes like returns occur outside of TikTok on the partner’s app or website.

As a buyer, you find TikTok shops as a tab on a seller’s account. You place your items in the shopping bag, just like regular e-commerce sites. Once you click on it, it takes you to the product catalog.

From there, you browse the store as you normally would and add items to your basket. When you’ve finished shopping, you can check out in the app or go to the company’s website.

To make TikTok shopping possible, the social media site is teaming up with well-known shopping brands, including:

  • Shopify
  • Ecwid
  • Square
  • Prestashop

Additionally, TikTok says the likes of Wix, OpenCart, BASE, and ShopLine are coming on board soon.

Who Can Use TikTok Shopping?

Currently, TikTok shopping is open to business account holders in the following countries:

  • United Kingdom
  • Malaysia
  • Vietnam
  • Thailand
  • Indonesia
  • Philippines
  • Singapore.

If you have a Shopify, Square, Wix, or other TikTok shopping partner account, you should be able to set up a store.

Should Your Business Use TikTok Shopping?

Before you decide if selling on TikTok is for you, it makes sense to look at your overall strategy and your customer base.

First, you must ensure that your target audience is active on the platform. If they’re not, then you’re not going to get much traction selling your products on TikTok.

According to Statista, 24 percent of TikTok’s audience are women aged between 18-24, and men in the same age group account for 18 percent of its audience. Further, women aged between 25-34 make up 17 percent of TikTok’s demographic, while men in the same age bracket account for 14 percent.

Then, it makes sense to look at the most popular categories on TikTok. Fitness and sports, recipes and cooking, fashion, home renovation, and beauty and skincare are among the top categories on the site. You could be a good fit if you have a business in any of those niches.

Next, you need to have an engaging and creative sales strategy. Since TikTok is all about short videos, can you capture the audience’s imagination in minutes while saying what you want to say? You can? Great. Now you just need to ask yourself one more thing.

Is TikTok Shopping worth your while? Or could you be putting your time and energy someplace else? Often, you won’t answer this question until you give it a try. It never hurts to have additional sales channels, and if social media shopping fits with your business strategy, then it might be for you.

How Does Shopping Fit Into Existing TikTok Campaigns?

TikTok Shopping is ideal for use alongside its other advertising solutions. Here’s a look at some of TikTok’s offerings:

In-feed TikTok Shopping Ads for Online Shopping

TikTok provides three in-feed shopping ads, including Collection Ads, Dynamic Showcase Ads, and Lead Generation. Collection ads let brands add custom, swipeable product cards in their in-feed videos to promote products.

Dynamic Showcase Ads lets you advertise thousands of your product SKUs with personalized video ads, and Lead Generation appears inside in-feed video ads, letting your business collect TikTok users’ details with online forms.

TikTok Live Shopping

Tiktok live with shopping ads.

(Image: TikTok)

Engage viewers, build relationships, and increase conversions with TikTok LIVE Shopping. With this advertising solution, brands can integrate their products from TikTik Shopping into a LIVE session.

For you as a brand, that means real-time connections with your audience. TikTok users can then buy products they see during a LIVE Shopping stream.

TikTok LIVE Shopping is on the up, with LIVE Shopping purchases increasing 76 percent between March 2020 to July 2021, and it’s available to business sellers.

Graphic showing Tiktok live shopping statistics.

How To Set Yourself Up on TikTok Shopping

Before you can start selling on TikTok Shopping, you need to register. Here’s how to do it:

  • Either log in or sign up.
  • Verify your phone number (only available for the UK) or email address and documents
  • Choose a shop name. It must not include special characters, and TikTok says not to use ‘flagship’ or ‘official’ in your shop name.
  • Upload your passport or driver’s license.
  • If TikTok approves your site, you’ll get an email confirming your registration, or if there’s an issue with any of your documents, TikTok asks you to resubmit them.
  • Then the review process begins and takes up to three days.
  • Link a bank account and add your bank details.
  • You’re registered!

Setting Your TikTok Shop Up for Success

With your TikTok Shopping account set up, it’s time to start getting the news out about your new sales outline. Follow these tips to get started.

Optimize Your Product Pages

Treat your product pages the same way you would any other e-commerce site. Ensure you use high-quality images, use keywords, and keep your branding consistent.

Make sure your descriptions are detailed, tell customers all they need to know, and keep titles within the 34-character limit.

Start Spreading The Word

One of the most important steps of any advertising campaign is getting the news out. That means telling friends and family, sharing the link on your other social media channels, and posting regular videos.

You could also consider teaming up with brand ambassadors and influencers for a wider impact.

Get Tagging Down To A Fine Art

Want to stand out? Then add tags. TikTok Shopping allows businesses to tag products in their videos, making it easy for viewers to learn more about and purchase the products they see. One way to find suitable tags is to see what’s trending. You can do this by going to the ‘Discovery’ tab to view the tags users regularly add.

Offer Discounts

Who doesn’t love a discount? Encourage people to come to your store by offering exclusive discounts or deals. Make discounts time-limited to create a sense of urgency and come up with unique deals shoppers can’t get anywhere else. For instance, if you’re selling cosmetics, create a bundle of branded products.

FAQs

What Is TikTok shopping?

TikTok shopping is an e-commerce platform that lets business sellers create a product catalog. It’s currently running a pilot scheme in several countries, including the United Kingdom.

How Will TikTok Shopping Impact My Business?

It’s difficult to say at this early stage. It depends on which category you’re selling in and whether your target audience is on the platform. However, it does provide a fresh outlet to sell from and a new way to reach consumers. 

How Do I Sell On TikTok?

Business sellers can register for an account, and then they have to wait 2-3 days for approval. Once you get an approval email, you can start selling on TikTok Shopping. 

Conclusion

TikTok has an audience of more than one billion users, and with the growing popularity of social shopping, it makes absolute sense that it would launch into e-commerce at some point.

Like any other platform, it won’t necessarily be right for your business. However, if your ideal customer is likely to use the platform, so consider having a presence there and see how it goes.

It’s easy to set up a store, and there’s only one real way to find out what TikTok Shopping can do for your business, and that’s to give it a go.

Will you be joining TikTok Shopping?

How to Generate More Leads Through Your Online Marketing Campaigns

Are you happy with the number of leads your marketing campaigns are generating? Or, do you wish they were a bit more effective? 

If you’re serious about growing your business—whether it’s a B2B company, an e-commerce store, or a startup—increasing the number of leads should be a top priority. Setting up online campaigns is a good start, but it’s not enough. You need to optimize those marketing campaigns to squeeze every last lead from your funnel. 

Are you ready to get to work? Here are seven strategies to generate leads like never before.

Why Are Leads so Crucial to Business Growth?

Two of marketers’ top priorities are generating leads and converting those leads to customers. Only increasing customer satisfaction comes close to the importance of getting new leads. 

It’s no surprise that lead generation is a top priority. Without a continuous flow of new leads, sales dry up. Without sales, there’s no revenue. And without revenue, your business folds. 

What’s more, most people who land on your site won’t purchase right away. You need to constantly collect leads so you can nurture them and convert them into buyers in the future. 

Not just any leads will do, however. Referrals, conferences, and cold calling are all great lead generation strategies, but they aren’t enough. You also need to learn how to generate more leads from your online campaigns. 

Why are advertising leads better? Using targeting you can gather better leads faster and even automate parts of the process. How do you make sure your ads are driving quality leads? 

How to Generate Leads Online: 7 Strategies to Drive More Leads

If you aren’t sure how to create a lead generation campaign, I have previous articles to walk you through the process. What I’m going to do is show you how to generate leads online by improving your existing ad campaigns. 

Optimize Your Landing Page 

Your landing page (or squeeze page) is one of the most important elements of your online lead generation campaign. The goal is to leave the visitor with no choice but to hand over information in exchange for something valuable.  

Landing pages convert better than most other ads or offers. The average conversion rate is 2.35 percent, but some have conversion rates in excess of 10 percent. If your landing page’s conversion rate isn’t pushing double digits, you should look to optimize one or more elements ASAP.

I recommend looking at your page’s copy, including its headline, first. Make sure your copy is short, sharp, and engaging. Users need to understand exactly what your product is and how it helps them within a few seconds of landing on your site. Make sure you focus on the benefits of your product to the user, not its features. 

Spend more time tweaking and testing your headline than anything else. This will be the first thing a user reads and one of the biggest deciding factors in whether they continue browsing the rest of the page. 

You can speed up a user’s understanding of your product by including a video on your landing page. A good chunk of your audience would rather watch a video than read your copy, which is why 76 percent of sales teams say video is key to securing more deals. 

Finally, remove all distractions from your page. The layout should be as simple as possible and there’s no need for a navigation bar or links to any other pages on your site. This leaves the user with two options: close their browser window or sign up. 

ConvertKit’s Creator Pass is a fantastic example of how to create a great landing page. There’s no headline navigation, the headline copy offers a clear benefit, and there’s an enticing call to action right in front of you.

How to Generate More Leads - Optimize Your Landing Page Like ConverKit

Offer Real Value

Arguably the most important part of your landing page isn’t the copy, image, or CTA. It’s the piece of content, tool, or resource you offer in return for each lead’s email address.

For most brands, gated content takes the form of a PDF download, something like an ebook or a whitepaper. But it doesn’t have to be. Case studies, surveys, webinars, and video series are all excellent types of gated content. 

Whatever form your gated content takes, it must deliver tremendous value. Otherwise leads will leave your funnel as quickly as they entered. How do you deliver value? By solving a problem your leads have. What are their pain points? Where do they get stuck? What expertise can you leverage to make their lives a little bit easier? 

Delivering value also means presenting gated content in the best way possible. Make it visually appealing, with images, videos, and other forms of multimedia content. The nicer it is for your leads to consume, the more they’ll engage with it.

Here’s an example of a non-ebook lead magnet from Leadpages: 

They know their leads often struggle to create high converting pages, so they created a training course to solve that issue. 

Use Automation to Nurture Leads

Collecting leads is just the first step of the process; you also need to nurture them. Only two percent of sales are made at first contact, yet most salespeople give up after the first attempt. If you automate the follow-up process, you don’t have to worry about a thing. 

I recommend using email to nurture when possible. It is a great way to drip feed messages to your leads, it also generates massive ROI. According to research by the Direct Marketing Association, the ROI of email marketing is £42 for every £1 spent

If you don’t have an email automation platform yet, check out my review of the best solutions. Then integrate your landing page’s form so every email is automatically added to your mailing list. 

Next, create an automated series of emails that is sent out at regular intervals. Your goal is to take leads through each stage of the buying process—and that means providing them with the right educational content at the right time. Start by educating them about your wider industry and their general problems. A couple of emails later, you can start to focus on your product and service and how you can help. 

The more emails you send, the more you can make your product the hero of the email, and the more direct you can be with the lead. 

Use Chatbots to Turn Conversations Into High-Quality Leads

Your salespeople aren’t the only ones who can nurture leads. Chatbots can automate almost every part of the lead generation process. They’re incredibly effective at it, too. Over half of businesses that use AI-powered chatbots generate better quality leads. 

Start by replacing forms on your landing page with a chatbot. Forms can be long-winded and rarely offer a great user experience. Chatbots make it easier for prospects to fill out their details. In some cases, users may not even be aware they’re filling out a lead form. 

You can also use chatbots to respond to leads at lightning speed. Response time matters in lead generation. A study by Harvard Business Review shows businesses that respond to leads in under five minutes are 100 times more likely to convert them. With chatbots, you can automate the response process and send a message as soon as a lead fills out a form. 

Finally, use chatbots to nurture and qualify leads. Chatbots can ask the same qualifying question as your salespeople to separate the wheat from the chaff. The best can be sent directly to sales, while everyone else is added to a nurturing sequence. 

Drift’s chatbot is an excellent example of this. It asks a qualifying question as soon as someone lands on the site, putting them straight through to a sales rep if they’re ready.

How to Generate More Leads - Use Chatbots Like Drift

Use Multi-Platform Campaigns

How many platforms are you using to advertise your landing page and gated content? You probably aren’t using enough.

Today’s customer journey is long. Most don’t convert to customers the first time they land on your site. The majority probably won’t sign up on your landing page, either. A recent Google study found it takes between 20 and 500 touchpoints to become a customer. 

The solution is a multi-touch campaign, where your message is delivered in multiple formats across multiple channels.  

Advertising on a range of channels maximizes the chances that potential customers will see and click your ad. It’s a numbers game at the end of the day. The more shots you take, the more chances you have to score. 

Leverage Personalization

If you want an easy way to increase conversion rates at every stage of your online lead generation campaign, try personalization. In a survey of B2B sales and marketing professionals, over three-quarters (77 percent) said personalization made for better customer relationships, and over half (55 percent) said personalization led to higher sales conversions. 

How can you add personalization into your funnels to generate leads? 

Start by personalizing your ads. While Apple may have made creating hyper-personalized ads a lot harder, Google still makes it relatively easy to personalize paid search ads with dynamic ads. 

Next, personalize your landing page, particularly the call to action. Research shows personalized CTAs achieve 202 percent better conversions. Marketing tools like HubSpot and Unbounce can help you create dynamic CTAs that change depending on who views them. But you could also go old school and create several different versions of your page for each ad group and personalize the copy accordingly. 

Finally, build personalization into your email automation tool. Every major email marketing tool makes it easy to automatically insert the recipient’s name into the subject line and body copy, so there’s absolutely no excuse not to personalize your nurturing emails. 

Target Your Ads Carefully

There’s no point wasting resources nurturing leads who will never buy your product. That’s why you need to target your lead generation ads carefully. 

I’ve written extensively about how to find your target audience and identify target markets for paid campaigns, so I’m not going to cover old ground here.  

I will say it’s important not to be too hasty when judging the performance of your landing page ads. When pruning and optimizing ad campaigns, don’t just judge performance based on how many people they send to your landing page that sign up. That’s a good measure, but it’s not as important as how many people actually convert into customers. 

Think about it. One ad campaign could have a ridiculously high signup conversion rate of 20 percent. But if only a tiny fraction of those people make a purchase, it’s not a particularly effective ad. An ad campaign with a much lower signup conversion rate could be far more effective at generating high-quality leads.

Of course, this means you’re going to have to wait longer to collect relevant data. But the end result should be a much more targeted and effective ad campaign. 

The best way to target ads effectively? Target keywords with higher buyer intent. These are search terms that indicate the user is closer to conversion. 

Frequently Asked Questions About Generating More Leads

How do you build a lead generation campaign?

Start by having an objective and defining your target audience. Create a valuable piece of gated content and drive traffic to it using paid ads. Collect emails and then use email to nurture those leads. 

What is an example of a lead generation marketing campaign?

A gated whitepaper is an example of a lead generation marketing campaign. Webinars can also be used as a lead generation marketing campaign to acquire leads and nurture them using video

How do I optimize my lead generation campaign?

There are several strategies to optimize lead generation campaigns. Improve your landing page copy, put your emails on autopilot, use chatbots to speed up response time, and personalize messaging. 

Where should I advertise for my lead gen campaign?

Social media platforms are one of the most cost-effective places to advertise your lead generation campaign. But the important thing is to advertise wherever your target audience hangs out online.

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Conclusion: Generate More Leads to Improve Marketing ROI

Improving your online marketing campaigns and optimizing how you generate leads are the keys to growing your business. But you don’t have to use all of the strategies I’ve listed all at once. 

Optimizing your campaigns should be an ongoing endeavor, so pick one or two of these strategies to implement at a time. Pretty soon you’ll send your ROI skyrocketing. 


Now you know how to generate leads online, which strategy will you start with first?

How I Hacked Credit for Business

Building credit for business purposes can seem like an unbreakable barrier. You need to get accounts reporting on-time payments to at least one credit reporting agency to build a strong business credit score.  Yet, credit providers want to see a strong business credit score before they will approve you for a credit account.

If you know the secret formula you can hack the cycle, skip over a ton of wasted time and energy, and jump straight to the business of building credit for your business.

Here are 5 ways I hacked my way to building business credit.

Hack #1: I Set Up a Fundable™ Foundation

A business credit report and a personal credit report are different in a number of ways. One of the biggest differences is that your personal credit builds passively. You can bet with your first credit account, that account is reporting your payment history to your credit report. It’s just there, and it builds passively.

Reporting Credit for Business Is Different

Credit for business is completely different. Just having a business and having debt that you make payments on doesn’t mean you have a business credit report. Where are those payments reported? Well, if they are reported at all, it’s likely on your consumer credit.

Before a credit provider will report to your business credit report, you have to set up your company properly.

Building a Fundable Foundation

This began with making sure the business had its own contact information, separate from my personal information. Next, I got an EIN for free from the IRS. The next step was to incorporate. Operating as a sole proprietor or partnership doesn’t offer the separation you need for Fundability™.

After that, I opened a separate bank account for my business and got a D-U-N-S from Dun & Bradstreet. Then I hired a professional to ensure my website was awesome, and made sure my business email had the same URL as the website.

Hack #2: I Took Charge of My Personal Credit Score to Help Build My Business Credit Score

I got my free copy of my consumer credit reports from the business credit reporting agencies. I needed to be sure my consumer credit scores weren’t being dragged down by poor payment history or any other negative entries.

Also, remember that there are a lot of things that can affect your personal credit score. Business credit scores, once established, are pretty much only affected by payment history. The more on-time payments reported to the business credit reporting agencies, the better your score gets.

In contrast, personal credit is affected by:

  • Hard inquiries
  • How much credit you are using versus how much you have available to use
  • Average age of credit accounts
  • Even the account mix, or how many different types of accounts you have

This is all in addition to payment history. Why is personal credit important if credit for business is separate? First, most traditional lenders will check both scores. But also, at least two business credit bureaus, FICO SBSS and Experian, use personal credit in their formula for calculating business credit score.

Both Types of Credit Score Are Important

As a result, it is just as important to your business credit file as it is to your consumer credit file to keep your personal score strong. First and foremost, make those payments consistently on time. But also, watch how much available credit you are using at one time. Don’t keep balances too close to limits.

Then, try to have a good mix. All credit cards or all auto loans can have a negative impact. A mortgage, an auto loan, a couple of credit cards and maybe a HELOC could be a good mix.

And remember, every time you open a new account, you get a hard inquiry and the average age of accounts goes down. That doesn’t mean never opening anything new, but definitely be mindful of the impact.

Hack #3: I Checked My Business Credit Reports

First I had to be sure I even had one. Then, I knew that even without much of a payment history, my business credit reports could potentially show a low PAYDEX score or Financial Stress score. I wanted to be sure my Dun & Bradstreet credit reports were correct and complete.

Also, I wanted to see if my Equifax business credit scores were right, and my Experian business credit score was correctly reflecting my company’s credit history. I figured I could deal with the other credit reporting agencies later. First, I needed to see what my credit history looked like at that moment.

Monitoring Business Credit

Business credit reporting is a different animal altogether. You do not get free business credit reports from a business credit reporting agency. You can pay individual credit bureaus, but it can be pricey. Credit suite offers a monitoring package for a fraction of what you would pay with an individual business credit reporting agency.

It allows you to keep up with your business credit score from the top three business credit bureaus. Those are Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, and Equifax. You should be able to see your PAYDEX from Dun & Bradstreet, and any other score these three offer, such as your business credit risk score and your business failure score.

What To Look For

At the first look, scan for anything that could be blocking you. Any inconsistent or inaccurate information can cause a problem. Then, note how many accounts you have reporting so you know where you stand.

It’s important to note there are other business credit bureaus, but the only other one that is used with any regularity is FICO SBSS.

Other Important Agencies

There are other agencies that collect information that can affect your credit for business. For example, the Small Business Finance Exchange and LexisNexis both have information relating to public records and even insurance. Though they do not issue credit reports directly, business credit bureaus have access to this information. If it’s out there, they know, and it can make a difference in funding approval.

You can’t really do anything about the information they have. But start now ensuring they get only positive data. That will help counteract any old negative information.

Hack #4: I Got Accounts Which I Knew Would Report to One or More Credit Bureau for Business

Getting vendor accounts and business credit cards that report to one or more business credit bureaus is a proven way to build business credit. Still, it is easier said than done. Most vendors and credit cards do not advertise that they report to a business credit bureau.

How to Find Accounts that Report

Credit Suite keeps a database of fully vetted vendors that they know report. This includes which credit reporting agency or agencies they report to. Better yet, they divide them by which ones you can qualify to get at each stage of building credit for business.

For example, the first set of vendors, called Tier 1, or starter vendors, will not do a credit check. They base approval on other factors, such as time in business and revenue. That means they are perfect for businesses that are just starting the process.

Of course you can do it on your own, but it can take forever and may not even work. Applying to accounts randomly and hoping you meet approval requirements, then if you do meet them hoping they report on-time payments, is not effective or efficient. You could apply for accounts for years and still not have a strong business credit report.

Hack #5: I Continued to Check My Reports at the Major Business Credit Bureaus

I knew I didn’t have the time to look at my Equifax, Experian, and Dun & Bradstreet business credit files all day, every day. I needed a system to know when it mattered to check my credit for business accounts.

This is yet another way the Credit Suite can be a huge asset to a small business. Their monitoring service allows you to check scores, and they help you figure out what is blocking you if you run into problems. For example, sometimes public records can cause issues.

Bonus Hack: I Diversified and Helped My Commercial Credit Bureau Scores by Getting a Business Loan

Once my small business financial statements were strong, and I had strong credit for business, I could prove my business’s financial stability. As a result, I was able to get more money than I know other businesses like mine often do.

That’s the thing about business credit. It’s not the only piece of the puzzle, but it is a big piece of the business funding puzzle. If all of the other factors a lender considers is borderline, a strong business score can put a small business over the line into approval range. As a result, you are able to access more credit for business purposes than you would be otherwise.

If everything else is in range, a strong small business credit profile can help get better terms and interest rates. This is why as a business owner, it’s important to take all credit information into account. 

Not only does the success of small businesses depend on the personal credit reports of the business owner, but the business needs to have its own credit information as well.

Hack Credit for Business With Our Help

Credit Suite is a one stop shop for hacking business credit. When we start with a new small business owner looking to build business credit, we first figure out where they are right now. That means looking at your company’s credit report and your personal report.

If you need to build a Fundable™ Foundation, we walk you step by step through that process. If you are already past that, we jump right in to helping you find accounts that report. That may mean starting with vendors, or you may be ready for a business credit card.

As you work through the process, we help you keep up with your business credit information so you can see your progress. As your PAYDEX score and other business scores grow, you’ll notice you will typically not have any problem getting funding.

What is the secret to hacking business credit? I made it easy for you. It’s a Credit Suite! Find out more now. 

The post How I Hacked Credit for Business appeared first on Credit Suite.

Top 5 Ways Fundability™Can Prevent a Loan Denial

What is Fundability™ and what on earth does it have to do with business loan denial? First, by its very definition Fundability™ is the ability to get funding.

If your business isn’t seen by a lender as Fundable™, you will not get loan approval. It’s not all about your credit report or credit score either.

There is so much more to approving a loan application than that. Good credit history is important, because of course they want to know you’ll make your monthly payments. However, your application has to make it to that point first. If the business isn’t set up to be Fundable™, it might not.

Loan Approval and Denial Issues

It can be incredibly disheartening to fill out a loan application and get a denial. Whether you apply at your local credit union or a traditional bank, they are going to pull credit reports just like with a personal loan.

The difference is, in addition to personal credit and financial information, they will want to see the credit history of the business as well. If your personal credit score is great you may be able to get a loan based on it alone, but it will most likely be considered a personal loan.

How Fundability™ Helps

Strong Fundability™, which includes a strong credit score for your business, will increase approval chances and the chances of getting better terms and lower interest rates.

Understanding why a lender denies an application can be helpful. There are many seemingly small details that can cause issues, and they are not likely to tell you what your specific problem is. So, it’s important to know what factors they consider other than credit.

A Tale of Two Credit Scores

You have two types of credit scores when you’re a business owner. Rather, you should have two types. You should have a personal one and one for your business. The truth is, many business owners do not even realize the second score exists.

The Two Are Not the Same

Sure, they may have some vague idea that their business has its own credit separate from their personal score. But, they think it just sort of happens. This is due to the fact that personal credit does just that. It just happens, passively, as you get and use credit.

Credit scores for business are completely different animals. You have to be intentional with both establishing and building it. You have to actively set up your business in a way that it will have its own score, and then seek out accounts that will report positive payment history so that your score grows. Not every account will do this.

Top Fundability™ Factors that Can Help You Avoid Loan Denial

There are at least 125 factors that affect the Fundability™ of a business, and they all make a difference when it comes to loan denial. However, here are the Top 5.

# 1: Good Personal Credit Can Help Business Prevent Loan Denial

Your personal credit score is still a part of this, even though it is separate from your business. It is affected by several factors. These include credit utilization and payment history. Even how many different types of accounts you have on your report can negatively impact your score.

How Can You Know What’s On Your Personal Credit Report?

You are entitled to a free credit report each year. Make sure to get it from each of the main credit bureaus. Check your free credit score, as it may provide some insight if you have a loan denied. Some apps offer a free peek at your score once a month also, so you can keep up with it during the year.

Beware of Hard Inquiries

In addition to the fact that most traditional lenders will check your personal credit, it can also affect your business credit. It is not unheard of for a business credit bureau to actually use your personal credit score in their calculation of your business credit score. Both Experian and FICO SBSS do this.

So, even if a credit provider only relies on business credit, your personal credit may still affect Fundability™.

#2: Good Business Credit Can Help Prevent Loan Denial

In contrast, payment history is the main thing that makes or breaks business credit. Get your credit report from each credit reporting agency, and check it carefully. You may find the score isn’t great or that it is non-existent because of many accounts not reporting positive payment history. 

You will not find free access to your business credit reports. Yet, Credit Suite offers an ongoing monitoring package that is a fraction of the price that others charge.

Choosing the Right Accounts Is Important

It’s important in the beginning to choose credit accounts carefully. You need to both get approval and know they will report payments you make. Not all do, and some only report missed payments.

Credit Suite maintains a thorough and up-to-date database of vendors that report, along with what is required for approval. We can help you apply for the right ones at the right time to build business credit in the most effective and efficient way possible, saving you both time and money.

#3: Having a Fundable™  Foundation Helps Prevent Loan Denial

A Fundable™ Foundation includes:

  • Having separate business contact information
  • Getting an EIN
  • Incorporating
  • Opening a separate, dedicated business bank account
  • Ensuring you have all licenses needed to operate legally
  • Having a professional business website and email with matching URL

While none of these things guarantee loan approval, they are all necessary for Fundability™ and building business credit. So, a lack of these things can definitely result in loan denial.

#4: The Right Business Name Can Help Prevent Loan Denial

Imagine a lender looks at your loan application and see’s the name “Jack Sparrow’s Weed Dispensary.” While marijuana is legal in some states, it is pretty much universally considered a risky industry by lenders. That said, this name could get your loan denied before they even look at a single credit report.

Instead, just leave the part that indicates risk out. Just call it “Jack Sparrow’s.” At least you’ll get further along and avoid loan denial simply because of your business name.

But, you likely know already that your credit score is important when it comes to both getting a personal loan and trying to get business funding. Let’s look at some of the lesser known Fundability™ Factors that can cause, or prevent, loan denial.

#5: Consistency Is Key to Avoiding Loan Denial

In a lender’s mind, inconsistency is a red flag for fraud. It doesn’t take much. If your business information is not listed exactly the name everywhere they look, you may have a loan denial on your hands.

This includes something as small as using an ampersand in one place and the word “and” in another. Even a common misspelling can lead to big problems.

For example, if you list your business as “Joe and Bo’s” on the loan application, but the credit report says “Jo and Bo’s” or “Joe & Bo’s,” or anything at all different, you could be denied automatically.

Lenders spend a lot of time going through a potential borrower’s credit history. Most will not take the time to chase down and reconcile minor errors before they even get to the credit reports.

Remember the Basics

Of course, you always have to handle credit responsibly. Things like excessive credit card debt on your personal credit will always cause issues. Furthermore, if your business does not have the monthly gross income it needs to handle loan payments, approval isn’t likely.

The whole point of underwriting is to ensure your company can and will handle monthly debt payments, and monthly income is a big part of that. Some business owners use personal loans to fund their business until they get to that point. It’s best to avoid this if at all possible. You could end up with bad credit on the personal side and bad credit or no credit on the business side. It’s best to find a balance.

What Will Business Loan Underwriters Look At?

Underwriters will look at all sorts of things to determine loan eligibility. Of course, they will start with the application. Make sure it’s complete and accurate. Then, they’ll examine both your business and personal credit file.

Other Datae Underwriters Consider

It varies by lender, but one thing they may look at is the cash deposit history in your business bank account. Personal finance information may come into play if you do not have a lot of business finance history. That means potentially employment history, defaulted loans, late payments, and more can be fair game. A hard credit inquiry on your personal credit report related to this is possible as well, which will have a small negative impact.

Beyond Approval

If you get approval, this information will play a part in decisions related to interest rate and credit limit. Loan offers depend heavily on your financial situation, and each new loan will go through the whole process again. So, if you have been denied once, but have made all your loan payments on any other debt since then, you may not be denied the next time.

Credit Suite Can Help With Fundability™ to Help Prevent Loan Denial

There are a number of ways Credit Suite can help. First, we have trained business credit specialists that can walk you through each step of setting up a Fundable™  Foundation. Then, we can help you find the accounts you need to report payments so that your business credit score can grow.

As already noted, we offer business credit monitoring at a fraction of the cost, so you can see each step of the way how many accounts you have reporting and track your progress.

Not Just Fundability™, But Financing Too

In addition, we can help you find the funding you need right now. Our finger is on the pulse of the industry. We know which lenders are approving most frequently at any given time. We know which loan products you qualify for, and we can guide you as to which types of funding may work best for your business now and in the future.

Credit Suite has the Secret Sauce For Cooking Up Strong Fundability™ and Business Credit

Our team can give you long term strategies to help increase your chances of getting approved. We can show you how to apply for a loan in a way that will offer better odds by ensuring there is no missing information or inaccurate information.

As you qualify for more accounts, your business credit score will only grow. If you keep your finances in order, including keeping excellent credit, you will soon be eligible and get approved for credit cards and loans.

With the strong Fundability™ Credit Suite can help you build, you can get the funding you need, when you need it, now and in the future.

The post Top 5 Ways Fundability™Can Prevent a Loan Denial appeared first on Credit Suite.