Cybercrime is one of the most significant threats to modern-day businesses and organizations. To protect customers and sensitive data, there are cyber regulations and requirements in place, including industry-specific guidelines.    

If you run a business, or you manage or have access to personal or confidential data, it’s essential to be aware of the legal cybersecurity restrictions within your industry. 

Industry Guidelines

Organizations are required to adhere to cybersecurity requirements. In many cases, there are best practice guidelines, which cover all businesses, as well as industry-specific regulations.

Here are some of those cybersecurity requirements and standards:

HIPAA Compliance

HIPAA compliance relates to healthcare practices and organizations that deal with patient data. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act outlines procedures and policies to handle, share, and store patient data safely and securely. 

If you treat patients, provide medical services, or you have access to data to provide support in the form of insurance payments, for example, you will be required to follow HIPAA regulations. 

HIPAA compliance is critical for legal reasons, but it also helps to ensure that clients have trust in your organization. 

HIPAA requirements restrict outside access to sensitive data and lower the risk of breaches and attacks by creating a standard of robust cybersecurity measures. Statistics suggest that almost 90% of US healthcare companies have experienced a data breach. Therefore, upholding high cybersecurity standards is critical to your business’s data’s confidentiality.

PCI-DSS

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) is a set of cybersecurity guidelines, which applies to any company or organization that handles or accepts card payments.

Launched in 2006, this standard is designed to protect account and credit card information. Any business that accepts or processes card payments and information is required to adhere to the standards outlined in the PCI-DSS, regardless of how many transactions are undertaken or their value. 

DFARS and CMMC

DFARS and CMMC compliance are associated with Department of Defense contractors. Any contractor that works with the Department of Defense is required to comply with stringent regulations to ensure the safe and secure transmission and storage of classified and sensitive data. 

DFARS (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement) compliance has been required for years for companies wishing to compete for DoD contracts. The CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification) is a new, universal standard that is currently being implemented to strengthen previous DFARS requirements, and it governs cybersecurity across the DIB (Defense Industrial Base). 

CMMC compliance services are beneficial for organizations and contractors within the entire supply chain. This equates to around 300,000 companies. CMMC compliance provides a competitive advantage for contractors bidding for defense contracts.

If your company is compliant with these standards, you’ll be in a good position to take on future contracts without having to delay to get your cybersecurity up to scratch.

The Importance of Compliance

Cybersecurity is one of the most dangerous threats to modern businesses and organizations. Forbes estimates that the global cost of cybercrime will reach $6 trillion by 2021, but cost is not the only concern. 

Security breaches can also impact reputation and contribute to a lack of trust. If you run a business, or you’re looking to bid for a tender or a contract, it’s vital to ensure that your company is fully compliant. 

Cybersecurity rules and regulations are in place to minimize the risk of data breaches and cyberattacks. There are specific guidelines and standards within many industries, including healthcare, retail and defense. 

Hiring an experienced, reputable IT services provider is beneficial in protecting your business, your reputation, and your clients and it will help to eliminate the risk of attacks and penalties for non-compliance. 

Driving sales can change the trajectory of a company as a healthy cash flow can allow for growth. Digital marketing can be the perfect way to drive sales regardless of the size of your business. Each industry and business niche has its own intricacies of driving sales through marketing. Below are tips to help drive sales using various digital marketing strategies. 

Drive Traffic With Content Marketing 

Content marketing is the lifeblood of SEO with backlinks being a huge factor in how websites are ranked. There was a time where a volume of low-quality content converted in traffic but search engines have changed their algorithms to eliminate this. Quality content that answers a specific question or explains a topic thoroughly will likely lead to shares on social media and backlinks. Creating a viral piece of content that generates hundreds or thousands of backlinks can drive traffic to the website for years. This content should be updated regularly to make sure it is reaching its full potential annually. 

The company website also has to be top of the line while following the latest web design trends. You do not want to drive traffic to a website that freezes or looks like it was developed during the advent of the Internet. Your website needs to have specific goals in mind for different sections of the site. The blog should be used to inform while a page that introduces the staff is meant to put a face to a name at a company. A picture along with various facts about an employee can allow a potential client to identify with them.  

Social Media and Website Advertising

Social media ads work for a number of types of businesses to sell products, set appointments, and create brand awareness. There are some platforms that target users far better than others so make sure to take a look at the ROI of each. Ask website advertisers for previous campaigns they have done that are relevant as some might deliver far better results than others. 

Gather Email Information to Send Out Unique Pitches

The gathering of email addresses for those that have filled out contact information can be important. There are lead generation services that can be immensely helpful to a business of any type. Sending unique pitches depending on the inquiry that was sent is important. Generic pitches anger people for the most part as nobody wants to reach out then be immediately pressured to spend money. Track the open rates of emails with certain subject lines and pitches. You can hone a pitch to make it very successful when sent out with unique tweaks. 

Potential Client Questionnaires Can Work Wonders for Conversion Rates 

Bringing someone to a client questionnaire can do a variety of things. A salesperson can customize their pitch whether they will be pitching by phone or video call. Clients do not want to be pitched services or products they have no interest in and doing so can result in them looking elsewhere. People want to feel like they are investing money rather than being sold something. Make the customer feel like they are going to get what they want by creating a detailed questionnaire that sets expectations. Qualifying leads is also important as minimum spends are stables of companies that are growing quickly. 

As you can see, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to digital marketing driving sales. Take the time to assess how you can improve your overall digital marketing strategy today!

Are you getting your money’s worth out of LinkedIn?

Don’t worry so much about answering literally. Many business users don’t pay a dime to use LinkedIn, and that’s okay. There’s a lot to be done with the platform’s impressive menu of free capabilities, tools, and services.

Nevertheless, many LinkedIn users aren’t using the world’s most popular business social media platform to its fullest potential. Most don’t know what they’re missing.

If you’re among them, the good news is that LinkedIn isn’t especially difficult to leverage for all it’s worth. With a few changes to your weekly routine and a tweak here and there to your marketing allocations, you can turn LinkedIn into a lead-generating machine that fires on all cylinders.

Where should you start? Easy: with these 10 tried-and-true LinkedIn tactics that countless business owners before you have employed to great effect. First up, developing and deploying a consistent tone and messaging throughout your LinkedIn content.

1. Use Consistent Tone and Messaging Throughout

Each element of your LinkedIn presence should feel like part of a cohesive whole, not a random museum piece in a disjointed collection. To achieve this effect, you need to employ a consistent tone (some call it “voice”) and messaging (“theme”) throughout. In other words, today’s update should look (“sound,” if you prefer) like it was produced by the same team putting out updates six months prior.

2. Be Sure to Use the Correct Country Domain When Directing Prospects to Your LinkedIn Page

This one is of the utmost importance for organizations based outside the United States. (U.S.-based companies don’t have to worry as much because their LinkedIn default is “linkedin.com,” without a country-specific suffix.)

Why does it matter that you direct prospects to the correct country domain for your domicile — .fr, .uk, .sg, and so on? Because your LinkedIn profile almost certainly speaks to prospects in your homeland, even if you have ambitions to market (or already do market) to customers far beyond its borders. The LinkedIn profile for Asiaciti Trust, an international trust and corporate services provider, makes this plain: Its content clearly caters to clients and prospects in its home region, and the “.sg” suffix only reinforces its local credibility.

3. Avoid Corporate Jargon and Buzzwords

You’re the expert on what your organization does, that’s for sure. Just don’t forget that most of the visitors to your LinkedIn page aren’t experts. You shouldn’t treat them as such — which means you shouldn’t bombard them with jargon and buzzwords that you, your competitors, and just about nobody else understand.

4. Make Sure Your Employees Follow Your Company Page

Just this once, you want to be the center of attention. More accurately, you want to appear to be at the center of a universe of your own creation. The first step to achieving this: making sure every active employee (and contractor, if possible) in your organization follows your company page. The more, the merrier.

5. Tell a Clear, Compelling Story With Your Company Description

Your company description shouldn’t be a dry, point-by-point recounting of “vital” statistics that most prospects couldn’t care less about. It should be a compelling story about how your organization fits into your industry and why you and your team feel driven to do what they do. That’s what sells — not some industry award you happened to pick up last year.

6. Publish at Least One Original Piece of Longform Content on LinkedIn Each Week

Fun fact: LinkedIn is an under-appreciated outlet for corporate longform publishing. Call it a blog if you must; its utility can’t be denied. Make it a priority to publish at least one original post — published on LinkedIn and nowhere else — per week, covering general-interest topics related to your business. If you’re new to blogging or just a little rusty, take a crash course in blog writing and get busy.

7. Showcase Your Employees’ Accomplishments Whenever Possible

It’s true that your LinkedIn page shouldn’t merely recount your most recent corporate wins, tempting as it is to go that route. But there’s no harm (and quite a bit of good) in showing off your employees’ accomplishments where it makes sense. You’ll look better by association.

8. Add LinkedIn Buttons to Your Corporate Website and Blog

Don’t assume everyone who wants to find your LinkedIn page will find it while browsing LinkedIn or trawling Google, especially if your company has a common (or commonly confused) name. Leave breadcrumbs in the form of LinkedIn buttons on your corporate website and blog.

9. Post Multiple Short Updates Per Week (Even If You Don’t Have Much to Report)

You surely frown on “busy work,” but LinkedIn is different. Short, substantive updates let your followers know that you’re still in the game, even if you don’t actually have much news to report. Put another way: letting your LinkedIn page languish is a surefire way to raise suspicions about your organization’s viability, founded or not.

10. Use LinkedIn’s Analytics to Refine Your Marketing Strategy

Last but far from least, LinkedIn has a powerful analytics suite that — in capable hands — can turbocharge your social media marketing strategy. If you’re not familiar with the platform’s capabilities, begin with this overview from LinkedIn itself. 

Does LinkedIn Really Work for You?

It’s a simple question with a simple premise: that LinkedIn is built to work for you, not the other way around. All it asks in return is that you leverage its capabilities to the fullest extent possible.

In the foregoing sections, we’ve described 10 tactics that will allow you to do just that. None requires a singular understanding of LinkedIn’s inner workings (or, frankly, an unusual degree of aptitude in general). You have what it takes, right now, to make the most of your company’s LinkedIn presence.

It should be clear by now that your company’s success depends, in part, on your ability to follow through on this. Companies that leverage LinkedIn as it’s meant to be leveraged tend to be more successful than those that fail to do so. Now that you know what needs to be done, there’s only one thing left to say: Let’s get to work!

Home improvement businesses can be immensely profitable when they are managed appropriately. A number of homeowners have improvements they have on their mind that they will make once they have the capital. A home improvement entrepreneur that is well-versed in the lending process can assist customers. There are aspects of any business that have to be managed in order to maintain the quality of services/products being provided. Some of these aspects can be minor but have a major impact on the health of the business. The following are aspects of your home improvement business that you need to manage. 

Hiring a Trustworthy Staff

The staff that you hire is extremely important for your home improvement business. You need to do thorough background checks on each of your hires for various reasons. The workers will likely be left alone in a part of a home that makes arrests for theft a huge red flag. Violent crimes against women or children should also disqualify an applicant no matter how proficient they are at their job. The background checks can also be a part of marketing as you can guarantee no issues will come from your employees. You also do not want workers that will try to steal clients and complete a job for cheaper due to the skills they have acquired. 

Scrap Metal Recycling

There is going to be so much cleaning to do after a renovation project is done. There needs to be a dumpster at the home so waste can easily be hauled away. Scrap metal recycling is wise as this can reduce work on your employees while earning additional money from the project. Find a company that will pay top dollar for scrap metal as this can be used as a bonus for employees when the project is completed. This bonus could be dependent on finishing the project by the deadline that the clients were given. 

Partnering With Quality Subcontractors 

You are going to have to subcontract certain parts of a home improvement project. You might have too much on your plate which will lead to needing some help. There could also be a flooring specialist that you trust that does impeccable work. You need to make sure that your subcontractors are appropriately licensed and insured. The last thing you want is the homeowner to be liable for an injury due to a subcontractor that you brought into your home. Background checks are important as well as you do not want the family you are working for to be in danger or have anything stolen from them. A home improvement professional might partner with a pool builder. The home improvement professional can handle the pool deck but might not have the equipment/expertise to complete this to the standard of the client. 

Run your home improvement business with the client’s desires in mind. Be honest about estimates and potential issues with each renovation. You could end up having customers for years regardless of what type of project they want to take on.