Article URL: https://boards.greenhouse.io/logdna/jobs/4884318002
Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24571973
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Ambra Health (https://ambrahealth.com) | REMOTE (US), Full time | Performance/Reliability Engineer (SRE-like), Medical Image Processing and Storage
At Ambra Health we help the health care system solve complex problems with storing and sharing medical imaging data (X-rays, CT’s, etc), at locations around the world – including many renowned health centers. This involves managing a lot of medical data, getting it to the right place quickly and reliably over the Internet – some very challenging and interesting engineering problems.
We are looking for a US-based remote-only DevOps-oriented engineer to work closely with our storage and image-processing services development team. You would find ways (in hardware and software) to improve performance and reliability of those services, which manage over 10 billion images (5PB) in the cloud and in data centers around the world.
The ideal candidate would be able to work independently with minimal supervision, seasoned to make good productivity/planning decisions – but please reach out if you think you’re the right less-experienced person.
Requirements:
– Strong Linux system administration and diagnostic skills
– Experience operating a distributed application and diagnosing problems at the application, network and hardware level
– JVM tuning experience
– Full-stack tuning, at the hardware, OS, network and software levels
Big plus if you’ve got these skills:
– Familiarity with programming, profiling, or debugging a JVM or system language
– Experience with application instrumentation (specifying, collecting and analysing performance metrics)
– Experience with automating testing or deployment
– Experience managing cloud services (AWS, GCP, Azure)
Our hiring process is pretty painless – short introduction call, 1-hour phone call with the team to get to know each other, then (if it works for you) a paid part-time trial period to see if we like working together.
Send me an email with your resume: pete+jobs@ambrahealth.com
The post New comment by asn0 in “Ask HN: Who is hiring? (September 2020)” appeared first on ROI Credit Builders.
Email is one of the most effective marketing campaigns out there — in fact, the average ROI of an email campaign is 122%.
For those who aren’t afraid to take a few extra steps, email images will spice up your campaign and help your email campaign stand out.
I’m going to show you how to leverage images in email the right way.
You can use email images, but should you?
I want to start by asking a few questions, because these will help you determine if using email images helps or hurts you. Read these and answer yes or no:
Chances are you may not even know the answer to all these questions.
If that’s the case, then you’re not getting all you can from your email images, and this guide will help you.
But it’s not quite that simple. Having email images can boost your email’s aesthetics, but how do you increase email click-through rates with images?
Your click-through rate is the percentage of people who click on an image, link, or video in your email to continue through to your content. The average click-through rate is around 2.5% across all industries.
This number might sound a little low, but keep in mind, we’re talking about click-through and not open rates, which is the number of people who read your email.
Including images in your campaigns is a great way to increase engagement and improve your chances of driving traffic or even sales.
Many marketers will tell you there’s a specific magic ratio of image to text, but it’s not always true. What is true is image-only emails will almost always cost you a trip to the spam folder.
Do that too much, and you’ll find your whole domain blacklisted.
That’s no good.
The ideal ratio is around 30-40% image to text. Any higher, you run the risk of triggering spam filters. Any less will make your email difficult to read.
The only way to find out what works for your audience is to test it! Use A/B testing to figure out what works and what doesn’t.
How many times have you searched for something on Google, found what you wanted, and clicked through to the website only to realize the link didn’t lead where you expected — at all?
It’s frustrating.
The truth is, you might be doing this to people right now without even realizing it.
Your email image needs to align with your brand and remain consistent throughout your marketing campaign.
Make sure when someone decides to open your email, it remains true to your company message, and all the emails look relatively similar.
If you’re using blue headers with a specific font in your campaign, it should match the landing page your visitor ends on.
Email personalization is more important than ever.
Why?
Because there’s more impersonal spammy communication out there than ever before. Personalization changes the way your email appears based on the person you’re targeting.
Just think about it. How often have you received an email that seems like it was made for you?
Not often, right?
This is where you can get ahead of your competition by doing the things no one else is willing to do.
No product or service has “universal appeal,” so you need to narrow down your email images to a targeted audience.
According to Invesp, 59% of online shoppers find products more interesting when you personalize your marketing approach.
So, how do you personalize your email images?
Find products people need to purchase regularly and appeal to people who bought in the past. Amazon uses this strategy, resulting in 60% conversions from their on-site recommendations.
Here’s an example from Wayfair that was based on browsing history:
Recommend products to customers based on their previous buying history. Go the extra mile and even call it “Selections for [insert name].” That strategy helps create an “in-store experience” for your subscribers.
It’s as if you went to the clothing rack and specifically picked out items you thought would look great on them!
If you’re selling a service or a digital subscription, you can ask your subscribers why they haven’t made a purchase yet. Give them a chance to sound off on what’s holding them back.
Doing this not only helps the email feel more personal and intimate, but it allows you to get feedback on what you could do better.
We all know the importance of ALT tags for website images, but what about images in email marketing?
Are you currently using ALT tags properly in your email campaigns?
When the email client doesn’t download images correctly, your ALT tag becomes your lifeline for a few big reasons:
When all else fails, the ALT tag might be the thing getting the email recipient to open.
On the back end, an ALT tag looks like this:
<img src=”youremailimage.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”How to Use Email Images in Email Marketing” width=”482px” height=”205″ />
Where it says “alt=” is where your ALT text goes. So, if an email image doesn’t load properly, that’s what will display across the email text area instead of the image.
The process of adding it might vary based on what email client you use. Here’s how to add ALT tags on MailChimp, for example.
You have three primary formatting options for your email image. PNGs, JPEGs, and GIFs are the most common choices. Let’s look at the pros and cons of each.
Portable Network Graphics offer a large color palette, which means compressing the file size doesn’t impact the image’s resolution.
Another benefit is that you can add transparent layers, making it easy to embed the image on top of other content. This lets you blend the background image into an email with live text.
The only downside to PNGs is the file size is much larger compared to JPEGs and GIFs because of the image quality.
JPEGs offer large image compression, but doing so impacts the quality of your image. When you reduce a JPEG image, it groups each section into larger blocks, which causes the image to become blurry — which isn’t a good look.
While these are the most common image types, I wouldn’t recommend using them for email images.
You get less color vibrance with GIFs because they use an 8-bit color palette compared to a 24-bit palette with PNGs and JPEGs.
The obvious difference is the animation effect. Using GIFs in your emails increases interactivity and can allow you to show more than one product with the same image.
Finding the right images to get your email message across is crucial. There’s a variety of different types of images you can use, and each has its own purpose. Let’s look at a few.
Providing statistics and data is almost useless without a graphic to back it up. When you provide charts in your email to prove a point, it makes it much easier for the recipient to grasp your message.
Inside’s business newsletter has a Series A funding tracker where you can see what startups recently got funding above $5m:
This easily shows at a glance who got the largest amount of funding, by size and color.
Piktochart is an infographic tool that makes it easy to create free charts (with a watermark). Just enter the data and select the type of chart you want.
Stock images are the easiest way to add images to your email marketing campaign. There’s a large assortment of sites to choose from like Shutterstock, Depositphotos, and Pixabay.
When sourcing the best image, choose something relatable to your audience. If you’re targeting middle-age moms of toddlers, find images that appeal to your demographic.
Don’t just add images to add images — make sure they have a purpose.
Instead of using a numbered list to explain how something works, turn the process into beautiful imagery with screenshots.
Awesome Screenshot is a browser extension on Chrome, Safari, and Firefox that makes it easy to capture screenshots directly from the browser. You can capture a whole page or a part and download it to your computer.
Keeping it real and making things personal is never a bad choice. Email marketing is all about pulling back the curtain and showing people what you’re all about.
You don’t need professional photos to make sales, and the realistic and pure nature of personal photos can be what you need.
Illustrations are a nice way to expand your possibilities. While you might be able to do a certain amount of things with a product, an illustration can display limitless options while staying true to your brand.
Here’s an example from comedian Nate Bargatze announcing a drive-in tour. After this image, his email contained a text call-to-action with more information.
Consider hiring an illustrator on Fiverr or Upwork to get affordable illustrations.
User-generated content is huge. In fact, 76% of customers trust content coming from “average” people versus the brand itself.
UGC helps create trust, and it offers authority from a relatable audience. For example, imagine how an image of someone using your product in their home would outperform a stock photo or a cartoon using it.
Offer rewards to happy customers by having them upload images to social media using specific hashtags and use those images in your email marketing campaigns.
While images are important – you should never send an image-only email.
Here’s why:
If you work in the corporate world, you understand this point. Many companies block images by default, and in fact, 43% of email users have their images turned off.
So, if you don’t have your ALT text game up to par, your campaign won’t load properly.
Email image sizes can cause subscribers with slow connections to lag and become unresponsive. If your email takes too long to load, your subscribers are going to click out or even unsubscribe because they can’t get your emails to open correctly.
More people are using voice assistants to read emails, and these do not recognize ALT text or HTML yet. So, if the user is trying to read your image-only email, you’re out of luck.
So, what’s the ideal email image format?
Remember earlier, when we talked about the pros of using PNG files for your email images? Here’s where this all comes together.
Background images applied as an element to the email allow you to put live text over it, providing the most accessibility. Even if the subscriber has images disabled, they’ll see the text, which ensures all your subscribers will get something from the email.
Including your CTA in your image is a fatal error. If the image is blocked or doesn’t load properly, the button or CTA you have is hidden and completely missed by the recipient.
Using bulletproof buttons allows you to build the button with code, rather than images. So if everything fails and your image doesn’t load, the subscriber will still receive your text and CTA.
Email images are an effective strategy to increase your email campaigns’ success, but you can’t take shortcuts.
Using the right image size, format, and design is critical to ensuring your emails get delivered and get results.
Follow all of the best and worst practices outlined in this guide, and you’ll be well on your way to a higher click-through rate and a repeatable email process that will drive traffic for years to come.
Need some help perfecting your email image strategy? Drop a comment below.
The post How to Use Email Images to Boost CTR appeared first on Neil Patel.
Are you currently running an online business?
Do you think you can sell more of your products applying the same actions?
Because that’s exactly what Conversion Optimization does for you.
You’re using the same ads, landing/sales pages, and funnels but they just convert more.
That’s something you absolutely want to focus on if you’ve been running ads for a long time but you haven’t found the formula for healthy scaling.
Just imagine doubling your conversions…
Wouldn’t that be CRAZY?
Well with today’s conversion rate optimization strategies you can easily do it.
You just have to know what to look for and how to get it.
So without further ado…
Here’s a detailed guide on how to find the best conversion rate optimization consultants and how to work with them to guarantee real trackable results.
The professional CRO Consultant is going to optimize your funnel to the very last bit.
But there are always activities that just generate more results than others.
Say for example your sales funnel is driving the most sales for your business.
You would want to optimize the pages in it first and then move on to optimizing different social media and other website pages.
So make sure you rank your activities from most to least important and then find a CRO Consultant that can help you with the top ones.
Further down this post, I’ll go over the questions you need to ask yourself in order to understand what to focus on first.
But for now, here’s the number one way a consultant can help you optimize your CRO:
Many people think conversions can be optimized only on paper.
But the same CRO process goes for any sales video you use in your business.
And with nowadays fast-paced world, most businesses have switched to selling high-ticket offers through webinars.
If you’re currently running a webinar you NEED to maximize the conversions coming from it.
You can’t keep pouring water into a leaking bucket, can you?
It’s your personal duty and obligation to make the most of your sales process in order to:
And that’s why hiring a professional CRO Consultant to look at your webinar, the pages, the emails leading to it, and of course the follow-up after is extremely essential.
He can quickly assess what needs to be improved and how to do it most efficiently.
Because I’m sure you wouldn’t want to record a 90-minute webinar from the scratch.
For many businesses, their website is basically their sales funnel.
It’s the place where they drive the most traffic and get the most sales.
So if your business is in the same spot, you’ve got to realize that depending on a single thing to bring in sales (the website) is a little ambitious.
And not having it fully-optimized for conversions is straight-up idiotic.
That’s why you need to hire an Expert CRO Consultant that can optimize every single bit of your website.
You would be surprised that 43% of business owners don’t know which is the most important page on their website.
That’s why it is very easy to get distracted and focus on the wrong thing when trying to scale your business.
Let’s say you already have your funnel up and running.
If that’s the case, you need to start focusing your attention on paid ads that bring in more and more potential customers to your pages.
That’s an easy way to check your actual funnel conversions and optimize accordingly.
But you can’t sell your products/services if your ads don’t convert, right?
Of course, if you’re just starting, you can try setting them up on your own.
But hiring a professional to at least check your work and give you valuable split-test suggestions is crucial if you want to run the same ads for a long time.
And trust me — you want long-term result generating ads.
Imagine this…
You’ve got a fully automated sales funnel that profits like crazy with ads.
You’re scaling it up but you want more…
That’s where you put your mind into social media marketing and social media presence.
Regularly posting conversion-optimized content on your Facebook Page, Facebook Profile, Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok… is essential if you want to be in front of everyone at all times.
I’m sure you know about the ancient rule of marketing — The Rule of 7.
It says that a prospect must see your marketing message at least 7 times before he proceeds to become a partner, investor, customer for your products and services.
That’s why you need to close your potential customers on all platforms.
Because if you don’t, they’re just going to lose their hype and forget about you.
Also, a well-thought-out social media strategy will not only increase your social media conversions but also your overall business followers.
Which helps in the long-term game.
And here comes the last but definitely not the worst option.
Which is optimizing your back end sales through with higher converting pages and follow-up.
We covered how to get traffic, how to convert it through your funnel/website, and now comes the fun part…
Your Back End. for most businesses that’s the place they make the most profits.
So neglecting it is the last thing you should do if you really want to scale your business to the moon.
Famous back end follow-up is Email Marketing.
An expert consultant will not only show you the best email marketing practices you can use in your business…
But also, he’ll suggest new ideas you didn’t even know existed till this point.
After you pick what you need help with, it’s time to find out how to start with conversion rate optimization.
Firstly, you need to find a consultant that specializes in what you need help with.
Simple right? Wrong!
Hiring a consultant can either be a walk in the park or an endless lion chase.
What do I mean by that?
Basically nowadays everyone pretends to be ten times better than they actually are.
You don’t want to individually outreach people that say they’re good on their social media.
The best way to ensure results is to prepare a detailed job post and put it on freelancing platforms like Upwork.
That way only people that have experience and results in the industry will reach out and start a chat with you.
Again, be very detail-oriented in your job post and make a step-by-step checklist covering what you need before proceeding to hire your ideal match.
Let’s say you hire a CRO Consultant and begin your first conversion rate optimization journey.
How can you know that you made the right choice?
Well, an easy way is to ask your consultant for expectations you can have during the project.
What increase in revenue can you expect in the first month? What will be changed and what will stay the same?
And most importantly, if you’re currently not doing it, start checking your sales and conversions daily.
I’m sure that the marketing tools you currently use track enough data to see if your consultant really makes a difference in your business.
Your ROI (Return On Investment) is crucial and you can’t craw through the desert blindfolded for months.
Meaning you can’t trust empty claims. You either get results or not. There’s nothing in between.
This section will be useful for you if you haven’t hired consultants in the past.
So if you have any questions or concerns about the process you’re about to go through, just follow this detailed plan and you’ll end up with trackable and real results.
I’m sure you’ve used google docs before. If you haven’t it’s Google’s alternative to Word.
So the first step of your journey is to clear your mind on what exactly you need from your consultant.
The answers to these three questions should give you a good idea of what you need help with.
If you end up having 2-3 different answers then you should pick the one that can generate the most sales in your opinion.
After you know what you need, it’s time to get it.
The easiest way to do it is to create a job post on a freelancing platform.
That’s a quick way to find medium-tier consultants that can do the job fast.
But if you’re a big business looking for the best of the best, you should consider talking to a leading consultant in a proven marketing agency.
Agencies have a lot more clients and that way they have access to much more relevant analytics for what works.
We recommend NP Digital as it is the best marketing agency when it comes to SEO and CRO.
So if you’re ready to take your conversions to the next level, book a call today and talk to an expert in no time:
This is critical. Always make sure your consultant has a proven track record behind his back.
An easy way is to ask for previous results these consultants have generated for similar clients.
Of course, if you’re talking to a marketing agency like NP Digital, you don’t need to worry about results.
Then it’s time to set up some calls. Try to talk to at least 3 consultants and always ask for their opinion about the strategy you should be using.
That way you’ll have different perspectives and maybe find out something you missed when doing your personal assessment.
After you’re sure who’s the best consultant of the bunch, you should begin your contract.
But don’t jump the gun too fast. You never know what could go wrong.
So before you start a long-term retainer with your CRO Consultant, you should first hire him for a test project.
Find a small thing they can optimize to start with.
If they do a good job, then move to a larger project.
And don’t expect results from consultants that charge 5 dollars an hour.
Go all out on this project and hire the best of the best so you get your desired results.
Tracking your ROI is extremely important as we mentioned previously.
You should always do the math and see if your consultant makes you money in return.
If you’re not happy with the results and don’t see a positive future at some point in your contract, just end it.
Still, if they did a great job until the point you decide to end the contract, always make sure to leave him a positive review/testimonial that he can use for future clients.
But what happens if this consultant never stops generating results?
That’s more common with agencies that specialize in multiple marketing skills.
And if that’s the case for you, just keep investing until they stop.
You wouldn’t want to throw away your golden goose, would you now?
If the results from the first month exceed your expectations, you should consider raising your consultant’s salary/working hours.
Let him manage and optimize even more parts of your business.
Of course, don’t force him to do it.
If they just optimize your funnel and you want to focus on social media presence, you should first ask him whether they do that as well.
If he’s not up for it, you can look for another talent that can handle this part of your business.
It’s time to make you some money!
Please use the process I just shared with you and do it now.
If you procrastinate on hiring a CRO Consultant, you can really lose on a lot of money.
Your conversions are the thing that drives your sales.
So leave what you’re currently doing and go get your Conversion Rate Optimization Consultant.
Also, have you ever worked with a CRO Consultant? If yes, how was it? Share your experience in the comments below:
The post Conversion Rate Optimization Consulting appeared first on Neil Patel.
Article URL: https://repl.it/site/jobs
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Article URL: https://boards.greenhouse.io/logdna/jobs/4884318002
Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24571973
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SimpleNexus|Software Engineer (full-stack)| Based in Lehi, UT.
Tech Stack: Vue.js, Ruby on Rails; Swift and Kotlin for mobile (we’re open to hiring those who don’t have experience in our tech stack as well)
We are a rapidly growing Saas company looking for talented Software Engineers to join the team!
SimpleNexus sets the bar for what a digital mortgage platform should be.
Check out our careers page at: https://simplenexus.com/sn/careers/ to apply and learn more about who we are!
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Cover (YC S16) | Infrastructure Lead & Frontend Engineer | Los Angeles, CA | Full Time | Onsite post-covid | https://buildcover.com Come join the team at Cover, where we’re reinventing how homes are designed and built. From architectural design through engineering, manufacturing, and installation, we’ve developed innovative solutions that address fundamental problems in the construction …
The post New comment by coverbuild in “Ask HN: Who is hiring? (September 2020)” first appeared on Online Web Store Site.
Atolla | VP of Engineering | NYC | Onsite | Full-time Atolla leverages a patented machine learning process to create custom skincare products using an easy, at-home skin test. If you or someone you know is interested in being a VP of Engineering at an early stage company, please check out the job post below. …
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Want to learn how to get approved for a business credit card?
We researched a ton of company credit cards for you. So, here are our preferences.
Per the SBA, small business credit card limits are a whopping 10 – 100 times that of consumer credit cards!
This demonstrates you can get a lot more cash with small business credit. And it also shows you can have personal credit cards at retail stores. So, you would now have an extra card at the same shops for your small business.
And you will not need collateral, cash flow, or financials to get company credit. But you do need to be fundable.
The best way to get approved for a business credit card is to build fundability. But what does it mean to be fundable?
Fundable: of or capable of being funded; deserving of being funded. Fundable also suggests – able to be funded by a lending institution or a credit issuer.
Lenders and credit providers want to see if your corporation is a good credit risk. Firms which are fronting your business cash, they wish to know that you can pay them back. They want to be sure you’re not committing fraud. It all starts with your industry.
Some industries are believed to be high risk or restricted. These industries, by definition, are going to have a more difficult time getting financing of any kind. There may be high risks of injury at work. Or the industry might engage in a lot of cash transactions.
This is the idea of congruency, and it turns up repeatedly. Business credit reporting bureaus and lenders will analyze your corporation carefully. Among the major ways they do this is by strictly looking for matching records.
Because of this, if your records do not all match, it will show up as if they are missing. Missing records will trigger a rejection, as a loan provider will assume fraud on its face.
Therefore, it is crucial to make sure that every record, anywhere, is identical.
Copy/paste this info; do not chance it with retyping.
Including a risky business type in your corporate name will cause funding rejections. Listed corporate ownership must be the same any place you list it. It is best practices to keep a record of every place where your corporation has a listing.
A business needs a professional-looking site. And it must have site hosting from a provider like GoDaddy. Do not use Weebly or Wix. It needs to be your domain, not domain.wix.com. Use Upwork to employ people who can help you get set up. Get a professional logo from Fiverr.
A business address must be a real brick and mortar building. It must be a deliverable physical address. This can never be a home address or a PO Box. Do not use UPS mailing addresses.
Never use a home address on your application.
Your corporation must have its own phone number. Do not give a personal cell or residential phone as a business telephone number. But VOIP (voice over internet protocol) is fine.
Also, your corporate telephone number must be toll-free. This is 800 exchange or such.
You must list your company phone number on 411. You can do so on http://www.listyourself.net. Your phone number has to have a 411 listing for most credit issuers, lenders, vendors, and even insurance companies to approve you. Check your record to see if you’re listed. Make sure your information is accurate.
Incorporation date, the business license issue date, and the date you opened your business bank account all matter.
You need a business bank account, to keep funds separate from personal accounts. Keep a good, positive balance and avoid NSFs.
This defines issues of liability, and it makes a difference when it comes to taxes. The best business entity for fundability is a corporation.
Corporations are legally distinct from their owners. Whether you pick a C-corporation, an S-corporation, or an LLC is your choice.
A sole proprietorship means the business owner is it when it pertains to liability and tax obligations. Nobody else is responsible. Incorporating fixes this.
Any complete company name must include any recorded DBA filing you use. This necessary for document congruency.
But no matter what, if you run a small business as a sole proprietor, the best thing to do is to incorporate. If you have already filed a DBA, you will still need to move onto a corporate business entity. You ought to only look at a DBA as an interim step on the way to incorporation.
Check with your Secretary of State to guarantee they have all the needed details for your business. Make certain that you are in good standing with them, and that your entity is active. You must submit annual reports and pay a fee each year to stay active.
Go to the IRS website and get a free EIN for your business. This is also where you choose a business entity like corporation, LLC, etc. To open a business bank account, and file business taxes, you need an EIN, so get this out of the way first.
Corporate e-mail addresses must be professional. This means something like admin@yoursite or info@yoursite. Your business e-mail must be on the exact same domain as your business. Do not use generic free email services likes Gmail, yahoo, or msn.
A corporation must have all of the licenses necessary for running. These licenses all must be in the perfect, accurate name of the business. And they must have the same corporate address and telephone numbers.
This means not only state licenses, but potentially also city licenses. Check with your Secretary of State’s office.
The biggest and best-known business credit reporting agencies (also called CRAs or bureaus) are D&B, Experian, and Equifax.
These companies collect data and offer it to the business CRAs.
CreditSafe provides alternative credit, where they base some of their scoring on utility and rent payments. These payments are typically not considered by other CRAs unless they’re late. CreditSafe reports these payments whether positive or negative. Third-party payments like Credit Suite, CRM, and software can be included.
LexisNexis is where a number of lenders get their info from. They furnish info on likelihood to pay, or not. If the application and LexisNexis do not match, then loan providers will deny you funding. They will see the disparity as fraud.
The SBFE collects data on small businesses from its members, which are lending institutions. Lenders use this information to make credit decisions.
FICO uses its SBSS (Small Business Scoring Service) Score to combine consumer bureau, monetary, application, and business bureau information.
Business credit providers and the SBA use the FICO SBSS score as a tool to decide whether they should authorize a loan to your business.
CRAs use identification numbers to designate your business.
Experian’s BizSource assigns a BIN (Business Identification Number).
Begin at the D&B website and get a free D-U-N-S number. If there is no D-U-N-S number, then there is no record and no PAYDEX score. Your D-U-N-S plus three payment experiences gets you a PAYDEX score.
Your company credit history is the single most important driver of your business credit scores. In turn, this influences fundability profoundly.
Late repayments will impact your business credit score for years. If you pay your business financial obligations off, as swiftly as possible and as completely as possible, you can make a very real difference in your credit scores.
If the business owner has poor personal credit, lenders will typically secure a UCC blanket lien if they give your company a loan.
This is a note on your credit report. It says the financial institution has an interest in all your corporation’s assets till you pay off the loan in full. Therefore, there may be dire consequences if you default.
UCC filings are a matter of public record. Lenders and credit providers take them into consideration when determining if your business is fundable.
These are all a matter of public record, and they can all negatively impact fundability.
Together with UCC blanket liens are any other liens against your corporate assets. A lien is a credit provider’s right to retain possession of property belonging to until the debt owned by that person or business is discharged.
A lien isn’t quite the same thing as collateral – it’s the property which is subject to the lien is the collateral.
These come from credit issuers which give you starter credit when you have none. Terms are usually Net 30, versus revolving.
The more trade accounts, the better. But in general, a few high credit limit accounts do more to enhance business fundability than a large number of very low credit limit accounts.
By getting trade credit ASAP, your trade accounts are as aged as they can be.
Opening and responsibly using business credit accounts can help you increase your available credit and boost your credit rating. The key is to use your credit.
Closing accounts has a direct impact on overall credit history. If a card is closed and is in good standing, it will fall off a credit report at some point. And once it’s gone, the history which accompanied it is gone, too.
By closing accounts, you are tanking the average age of your accounts. It’s a part of fundability over which you have control – simply use your credit and pay it back quickly. In this way, your providers will not feel the need to close accounts for non-use.
Congruency is a requirement in your business CRA records, as in all other areas.
Financial statements include business tax returns. It’s best if these are prepared by an accountant or an accounting company, or at least audited by them.
Tax returns should be complete and up to date. Reported income and expenses should be commensurate with those anticipated from a corporation of your size, age, and industry.
In particular for newer businesses, credit issuers and lenders will want to see personal financials. This includes taxes and reported income and expenses. Banks will even look at child support and criminal records.
Just like there are business credit reporting agencies, there are CRAs for personal credit. In addition to reporting on business credit, Experian and Equifax also report on personal credit. TransUnion only reports on personal credit.
There are companies which collect data and provide it to the personal credit reporting agencies. Some banks and other credit issuers use ChexSystems to get more information on your personal credit habits. They also report on insufficient funds, closed accounts, and overdrafts.
Lenders use LexisNexis information to cross-check loan applications. Your FICO score comes from your payment history, amounts of owed, length of credit history, credit mix, and new credit.
Much like your business credit history matters for calculating fundability, so does personal credit history. Data points like accounts over limit, authorized users, and short sales loom large.
Lenders are looking at settled debt, foreclosures and late payments. They are checking opened accounts and history length. They want to see if there are any bankruptcies in your past.
More than two recent inquiries will be seen as proof of credit shopping. Credit Utilization Rate also matters. Credit Utilization Rate is credit in use, divided by total available credit. Keep this ratio at about 30% or less. Experian checks utilization rate both overall and per credit card.
Even the process of applying can have an impact on your fundability. This includes time, negotiations, and whether your application is being made in person. Choosing a lender familiar with your industry makes a positive difference.
Establish business credit fast with our research-backed guide to 12 business credit cards and lines.
Keep all records consistent to ensure fundability. Set up your business legitimately, with a domain, phone numbers, an address, and more. Get all ID numbers and register with the IRS. Set up your business bank account for fundability. Keep all business financials organized and have them prepared by a competent professional. Get your personal credit ‘house’ in order.
Being fundable means your business can get financing from a credit provider or lender.
Take a look at the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express. It has no yearly fee. There is a 0% introductory APR for the initial 12 months. Afterwards, the APR is a variable 14.74 – 20.74%.
Get double Membership Rewards® points on day to day company purchases like office supplies or client dinners for the initial $50,000 spent each year. Get 1 point per dollar afterwards.
You will need good to outstanding credit scores to qualify.
Find it here: https://creditcard.americanexpress.com/d/bluebusinessplus-credit-card/
Also take a look at the American Express® Blue Business Cash Card. Note: the American Express® Blue Business Cash Card is identical to the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express. Yet its rewards are in cash as opposed to points.
Get 2% cash back on all qualified purchases on up to $50,000 per calendar year. Then get 1%.
It has no annual fee. There is a 0% introductory APR for the initial one year. After that, the APR is a variable 14.74 – 20.74%.
You will need great to outstanding credit to qualify.
Find it here: https://creditcard.americanexpress.com/d/business-bluecash-credit-card/
Establish business credit fast with our research-backed guide to 12 business credit cards and lines.
Consider the IHG ® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card. it earns hotel rewards worldwide. For each dollar spent at participating IHG hotels, earn 10 points. Earn two points per dollar spent at gas stations, grocery stores and restaurants.
Plus, all other purchases earn one point. New cardholders can get an 80,000-point sign-up bonus when they spend $2,000 in the first three months of account opening.
This card provides a free one-night hotel stay each year. Plus, there is a variety of benefits like travel and purchase coverage and an upgrade to Platinum Elite status with the IHG Rewards Club. The club offers complimentary room upgrades when available and guaranteed room availability.
The biggest issue is that the card does not have a zero percent APR introductory rate. And the standard APR is 17.99 – 24.99% variable. Also, the yearly fee is $89.
Get it here: https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/ihg/premiernaep
This credit card earns six points/dollar spent at participating Marriott and SPG hotels. And get two points/dollar on all other purchases.
Spend $3,000 in the initial three months from account opening and get two free night awards (each has a value of up to 35,000 points).
Cardholders get access to perks including a free one-night stay each year after account anniversary. Also get travel and purchase protection. So, this includes free standard in-room Wi-Fi and priority late checkout.
Perks include baggage delay reimbursement, and lost luggage reimbursement. There is also trip delay reimbursement. And there is purchase protection. Plus, there are concierge service and automatic Silver Elite status, which includes a 20% bonus on points.
Spend $35,000 each account year and get an upgrade to Gold Elite status. So, that includes a complimentary room upgrade, free daily breakfast and 4 PM late checkout.
There is an annual fee of $95. The APR is a 17.99– 24.99% variable.
Get it here: https://creditcards.chase.com/marriott/apply
Look at the Discover it® Cash Back card. There is a 10.99% introductory APR for six months from date of first transfer. So, this is for transfers under this offer which post to your account by January 10, 2019.
After the introductory APR expires, your APR will be 14.99% to 23.99%. So, this is based on your creditworthiness. Your APR will vary with the market, which is based on the Prime Rate.
You can get 5% cash back at different places every quarter. So, these are establishments like gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, Amazon.com, or wholesale clubs. But this is up to the quarterly maximum each time you activate. Plus, automatically earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases.
You will get an unlimited dollar-for-dollar match of all the cash back you have gotten at the end of your first year, automatically.
Get it here: https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/cash-back/it-card.html
Be sure to look at the Discover it® Student Cash Back card. It has no annual fee. The card also has a six-month introductory period of 0% APR on purchases. And there is an APR of 14.99 – 23.99% variable on all purchases after that period.
One one-of-a-kind feature is that it offers an incentive for scholars to maintain good grades with a $20 statement credit. If scholars earn a GPA of 3.0 or better each school year, the card will award the $20 statement credit every year for up to five years.
Use this credit card to build personal credit. While this is a personal card versus a company credit card, for new credit users, their FICO scores will matter. And this credit card provides an outstanding way to raise FICO while also getting rewards. Better personal credit can also, often, be the key to unlocking online lending.
You can get 5% cash back at different places each quarter like grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants or Amazon.com up to the quarterly maximum. After that, this credit card offers unlimited 1% cash back on all purchases.
In the first year, all cash back rewards are matched 100%.
Downsides include a cash advance fee of either $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is more. And although they waive the first late payment fee, a fee of up to $37 applies on all other late payments. There is also a returned payment fee of up to $37.
Get it here: https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/cash-back/it-card.html
Look at the SimplyCash Plus Business Credit Card from American Express. There is a $0 yearly fee. And there is a 0% APR on purchases. So this is for the first 15 months an account is open.
But when the introductory period ends, the APR for purchases is 14.24 to 21.24%. So, this is variable and based on creditworthiness.
This credit card has several benefits. These include purchase protection, car rental loss and damage insurance. And they also include a baggage insurance plan, extended warranty coverage and a global assist hotline.
Also, get 5% cash back at US office supply stores and on wireless phone services. So, these must be purchased from US providers. But this pertains to the initial $50,000 of annual spending. Then, you earn 1% cash back.
You also earn 3% cash back on spending category of your choice. So, this is from eight distinct categories. They include airfare, gas, advertising and computer purchases. But it applies to the first $50,000 of annual spending. Then, you earn 1% cash back.
Cash-back bonuses are automatically credited to the customer’s billing statement.
Note: you cannot use this credit card for balance transfers. There is a foreign transaction fee of 2.7%. The credit card charges up to $38 in late fees. And the returned check fee is also $38. The penalty APR is 29.99%.
And, it applies if you have two or more late payments within 12 months. It can also apply if you fail to make the minimum payment on time or have a returned payment.
Get it here: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/credit-cards/simply-cash-plus-business-credit-card/44279
Check out the Capital One® Quicksilver® Card. It offers flat-rate rewards of 1.5% on all purchases. There are no limits to the amount of cash back rewards that cardholders can earn. Also, the card has a $0 annual fee.
New cardholders have a 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 months after opening the account. And after that they have a 14.74 – 24.74% (variable) APR after that.
A cash bonus of $150 is on offer for those who make at the very least $500 in purchases in 3 months of account opening.
Also, cash back rewards do not expire for the life of the account. And there is no limit to how much you can earn.
This credit card also offers travel accident insurance. And you get an auto rental collision damage waiver. There are no foreign transaction fees. And there is extended warranty coverage.
Downsides are the flat reward rate, not allowing for any more than that. And the higher APR after the first 15 months.
Get it here: https://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/quicksilver/
Establish business credit fast with our research-backed guide to 12 business credit cards and lines.
Check out the Ink Business Unlimited℠ Credit Card. Past no annual fee, get an introductory 0% APR for the initial twelve months. After that, the APR is a variable 14.74 – 20.74%.
You can get unlimited 1.5% Cash Back rewards on every purchase made for your business. And get $500 bonus cash back after spending $3,000 in the initial 3 months from account opening. You can redeem your rewards for cash back, gift cards, travel and more using Chase Ultimate Rewards®. You will need exceptional credit to qualify for this card.
Find it here: https://creditcards.chase.com/business-credit-cards/ink/unlimited
Take a look at the Brex Card for Startups. It has no annual fee.
You will not need to provide your Social Security number to apply. And you will not need to provide a personal guarantee. They will take your EIN.
Nonetheless, they do not accept every industry.
Additionally, there are some industries they will not work with, as well as others where they want more paperwork. For a list, go here: https://brex.com/legal/prohibited_activities/.
To determine creditworthiness, Brex checks a corporation’s cash balance, spending patterns, and investors.
You can get 7x points on rideshare. Get 4x on Brex Travel. Likewise, get triple points on restaurants. And get double points on recurring software payments. Get 1x points on everything else.
You can have poor credit scores (even a 300 FICO) to qualify.
Find it here: https://brex.com/lp/startups-higher-limits/
Check out the Capital One® Spark® Classic for Business. It has no annual fee. There is no introductory APR offer. The regular APR is a variable 24.49%. You can get unlimited 1% cash back on every purchase for your business, without minimum to redeem.
While this card is within reach if you have average credit scores, beware of the APR. But if you can pay in a timely manner, and completely, then it’s a good deal.
Find it here: https://www.capitalone.com/small-business/credit-cards/spark-classic/
Establish business credit fast with our research-backed guide to 12 business credit cards and lines.
Take a look at the Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business. It has an introductory annual fee of $0 for the first year, which after that rises to $95. The regular APR is 18.49%, variable due to the prime rate. There is no introductory annual percentage rate. Pay no transfer fees. Late fees go up to $39.
This card is wonderful for travel if your costs do not fall under basic bonus categories. You can get unlimited double miles on all purchases, without limits. Get 5x miles on rental cars and hotels if you book with Capital One Travel.
Get an introductory bonus of 50,000 miles. That’s the same as $500 in travel. However you only get it if you spend $4,500 in the initial 3 months from account opening. There is no foreign transaction fee. You will need a good to superb FICO score to qualify.
Find it here: https://www.capitalone.com/small-business/credit-cards/spark-miles/
For a wonderful sign-up offer and bonus categories, have a look at the Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card.
Pay a yearly fee of $95. Regular APR is 17.49 – 22.49%, variable. There is no introductory APR offer.
Get 100,000 bonus points after spending $15,000 in the first 3 months after account opening. This works out to $1,250 toward travel rewards if you redeem via Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Get 3 points per dollar of the initial $150,000 you spend with this card. So this is for purchases on travel, shipping, internet, cable, and phone services. Plus it includes advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year.
You can get 25% more in travel redemption when you redeem for travel with Chase Ultimate Rewards. You will need a great to excellent FICO score to qualify.
Find it here: https://creditcards.chase.com/business-credit-cards/ink/business-preferred
For no yearly fee while still getting travel rewards, check out this card from Bank of America. It has no yearly fee and a 0% introductory APR for purchases during the first nine billing cycles. After that, its regular APR is 13.74 – 23.74% variable.
You can get 30,000 bonus points when you make a minimum of $3,000 in net purchases. So this is within 90 days of your account opening. You can redeem these points for a $300 statement credit towards travel purchases.
Earn unlimited 1.5 points for each $1 you spend on all purchases, everywhere, every time. And this is no matter how much you spend.
Likewise earn 3 points per every dollar spent when you reserve your travel (car, hotel, airline) through the Bank of America® Travel Center. There is no limit to the number of points you can earn and points don’t expire.
You will need outstanding credit scores to get this one (as in, 700s or better).
Find it here: https://www.bankofamerica.com/smallbusiness/credit-cards/products/travel-rewards-business-credit-card/
Have a look at the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ Card from American Express. It has an annual fee of $125. There is no introductory APR offer. The regular APR is a variable 17.24 – 26.24%. You will need good to outstanding credit to get this card.
You can get 75,000 Marriott Bonvoy points after using your card to make purchases of $3,000 in the first three months. Get 6x the points for qualified purchases at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels. You can get 4x the points at US restaurants and gasoline stations. And you can get 4x the points on wireless telephone services purchased straight from US service providers and on US purchases for shipping.
Get double points on all other qualified purchases.
Plus, you get a free night each year after your card anniversary. And you can earn an additional free night after you spend $60,000 on your card in a calendar year.
You get Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status with your Card. Also, spend $35,000 on eligible purchases in a calendar year and earn an upgrade to Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status through the end of the following calendar year.
Plus, each calendar year you can get credit for 15 nights towards the next level of Marriott Bonvoy Elite status.
Find it here: https://creditcard.americanexpress.com/d/bonvoy-business/
Have a look at the Capital One® Spark® Cash for Business. It has an introductory $0 annual fee for the initial year. Afterwards, this card costs $95 annually. There is no introductory APR offer. The regular APR is a variable 18.49%.
You can get a $500 one-time cash bonus after spending $4,000 in the initial three months from account opening. Get unlimited 2% cash back. Redeem any time without any minimums.
You will need good to exceptional credit to qualify.
Find it here: https://www.capitalone.com/small-business/credit-cards/spark-cash/
Check out the Discover it® Business Card. It has no yearly fee. There is an introductory APR of 0% on purchases for year. After that the regular APR is a variable 14.49 – 22.49%.
Get unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases, with no category restrictions or bonuses. They double the 1.5% Cashback Match™ at the end of the first year. There is no minimal spend requirement.
You can download transactions| easily to Quicken, QuickBooks, and Excel. Note: you will need good to superb credit scores to receive this card.
https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/business/
Check out the Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card. It has no yearly fee. There is a 0% introductory APR for the initial 12 months. After that, the APR is a variable 14.74 – 20.74%. You can get a $500 one-time cash bonus after spending $3,000 in the first three months from account opening.
You can get 5% cash back on the initial $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on net, cable and phone services each account anniversary year.
Get 2% cash back on the initial $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year. Get 1% cash back on all other purchases. There is no limitation to the amount you can get.
You will need outstanding credit to get this card.
Find it here: https://creditcards.chase.com/business-credit-cards/ink/cash?iCELL=61GF
Check out the Bank of America® Business Advantage Cash Rewards MasterCard® credit card. Get an 0% introductory APR for the first 9 billing cycles of the account. After that, the APR is 13.74% – 23.74% variable. There is no yearly fee. You can get a $300 statement credit offer.
Get 3% cash back in the category of your choice. So these are gasoline stations (default), office supply stores, travel, TV/telecom & wireless, computer services or business consulting services. Get 2% cash back on dining. So this is for the first $50,000 in combined choice category/dining purchases each calendar year. After that earn 1% after, with no limits.
You will need exceptional credit scores to qualify.
Find it here: https://promo.bankofamerica.com/smallbusinesscards2/
Take a look at the Capital One® Spark® Cash Select for Business. It has no yearly fee. You can get 1.5% cash back on every purchase. There is no limit on the cash back you can earn. Also earn a one-time $200 cash bonus as soon as you spend $3,000 on purchases in the initial 3 months. Rewards never expire.
Pay a 0% introductory APR for 9 months. Then pay 14.49% – 22.49% variable APR after that.
You will need great to superb credit scores to qualify.
Find it here: https://www.capitalone.com/small-business/credit-cards/spark-cash-select/
Your outright best business credit cards hinge on your credit history and scores.
Only you can select which features you want and need. So, make sure to do your homework. What is outstanding for you could be disastrous for other people.
And, as always, be sure to build credit in the recommended order for the best, speediest benefits.
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