You may have top-notch products and a great team, but if customers can’t find your business, making money could be tough. When you’re drawing up your marketing strategy, make sure to pay attention to social media. Forbes reports that social media marketing could give returns up to 41%, but that doesn’t mean just posting any old picture.

If you want to really show off what’s going on in your business, try using an app that lets you create custom collages for everything from social posts to your landing pages. Pic Stitch Pro is easy to use and has a lifetime subscription available for new users for just $39.99.

Show off your business.

Rated 4.7/5 stars on the App Store, Pic Stitch is a versatile iOS collage maker that you don’t need to be a design pro to use. Just choose from over 400 collage layouts and start pulling in pictures or videos. If you want to add some extra personality, choose from 25 filter packs or 30 border types. That’s not to mention all the photo and video editing tools. Refine your photos on the fly without switching over to another app.

This app could be a great fit for full marketing teams or new business owners who do all the marketing on their own. Now you can create pro-quality collages that you can share on Facebook, Twitter, or other socials using Pic Stitch’s one-tap sharing.

Create collages, no college degree required.

You don’t have to be a design pro to level up your visuals on your landing pages and social media. Just use this simple collage maker to bring some life to your pictures.

For a limited time, get a lifetime subscription to Pic Stitch Pro Collage Editor for $39.99 (reg. $149).

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Moe than 700 million people worldwide play the guitar, and there are numerous enterprises associated with the skill. Of course, it’s also one of the most fun instruments to play and not very difficult to learn. If you’d like to have a business, or even a hobby, related to playing guitar then the 2024 Guitar Lessons Training Bundle can help you quickly learn to play guitar even if you are a complete novice.

You need no experience whatsoever to start with the Beginner Guitar Lessons Crash Course, a student favorite with an average rating of 4.6 stars out of 5. It assumes you know nothing at all about guitar, but you’ll get quickly up-to-speed without skipping anything important.

You can then follow up with Guitar Technique, another highly-rated course. It will teach you the most important techniques for playing guitar. This course is actually for students at any level because the lessons are easy to start off with, then become more difficult as you gradually advance. You’ll begin to develop your own style in this class.

Blues lovers will thoroughly enjoy the Easy Blues Guitar Crash Course. It’s another beginner course, but you’ll quickly learn to play real blues guitar and the basic terms used in this genre. One of the best, easiest and most fun ways of improving your soloing is to play children’s songs. So you should love the Children’s Songs for the Guitar course, in which you’ll learn 20 children’s songs.

Once you’re done with the previous courses, or if you’re already at an advanced skill level on guitar, then you’ll be ready to take the Guitar Jam Method course.

It’s for just the intermediate and advanced guitar students, focusing on teaching you how to jam without needing to play a specific song. Creative guitarists can really improve their jamming and soloing skills in this class.

The course also contains seven modules “…for the Curious Guitarist”. These are Fingerstyle, Ear Training, Songwriting, Guitar Lessons, Jazz, Blues and Christmas Songs.

All of the courses are presented by Dan Dresnok, who has taught guitar to tens of thousands of students online and in-person. He’s also been a performer and recording studio session guitarist, specializing in music theory, guitar, blues, jazz, rock and bluegrass.

Get The 2024 Guitar Lessons Training Bundle while it’s available for only $19.99 (reg. $480).

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Microsoft Project has a proven track record as the go-to software for teams handling projects of all complexities. Even older versions, still capable of meeting most teams’ needs, are available at discounted rates. Previously discounted more than $100, this 2021 license to Project Professional 2021 is now available at an even more reduced rate.

Through 11:59 p.m. PT on April 16, you can save an extra six dollars on Microsoft Project Professional 2021 for Windows with code ENJOY20, bringing the total down to $23.99 (reg. $249).

The program comes with a wide range of pre-built project management templates to help you operate in an organized manner that can be looked back on with accuracy after the fact. It supports users syncing projects built online with those created on local servers.

Getting to the specifics, Project Professional features a lot of helpful tools. It enables users to submit timesheets and even differentiate between project and non-project work. It has what-if scenario generators and visualization tools to represent complicated schedules that a team may need to understand for proper coordination.

This all adds up to a relatively stellar critical reputation for Microsoft Project Professional. It’s rated an average of 4.4/5 stars on Capterra and GetApp, for example.

Users get lifetime access on one PC, and updates are included.

Don’t forget that only through 11:59 p.m. PT on April 16 only, you can get an extra 20% savings on Microsoft Project Professional 2021 for Windows with code ENJOY20, bringing the total down to $23.99 (reg. $249).

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Imagine standing on the brink of the most transformative era in modern history, an era shaped by artificial intelligence, and failing to understand its impact on your business.

Ignoring the tidal wave of AI positions you squarely on the path to professional extinction. It opens the door for competitors to clone your success, for automation to replace your role and for your relevance in your industry to evaporate.

Think this is hyperbole? You haven’t been listening.

Watch this transformative video from bestselling author, Ben Angel, now — it will give you a crash course on the top risks entrepreneurs are walking straight into and the top skills they require to successfully navigate the change that is already underway.

Are you fully utilizing AI to drive your productivity and profits yet?

Download the free AI Success Kit (limited time only). And you’ll also get a free chapter from Ben’s brand new book, The Wolf Is at the Door: How to Survive and Thrive in an AI-Driven World.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has cracked down on five registered investment advisers.

The SEC imposed fines on five entities for violating marketing rules in what would be the second wave of regulatory action in the space of a year.

SEC fines investment advisors

All five firms have held their hands up and agreed to settle the penalties levied on them by the government body. The combined fines come in at $200,000 and the SEC has also imposed other charges.

The SEC’s investigations and orders found that “the five firms advertised hypothetical performance to the general public on their websites without adopting and implementing policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure that the hypothetical performance was relevant to the likely financial situation and investment objectives of each advertisement’s intended audience, as required by the Marketing Rule.”

The five firms charged are:

• GeaSphere LLC
• Bradesco Global Advisors Inc.
• Credicorp Capital Advisors LLC
• InSight Securities Inc.
• Monex Asset Management Inc.

Co-Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Asset Management Unit. Corey Schuster would comment on the charges and the importance of the rules in place to safeguard consumers. He said “Today’s actions show that we will continue to employ targeted initiatives to ensure that investment advisers fully comply with their obligations under the rule. They also serve as a reminder of the benefits to firms that take corrective steps before being contacted by Commission staff.”

This is the second wave of marketing rule breaches that have been investigated by the SEC. The first wave was brought to light and nine advisory firms were hit with regulatory scrutiny in September 2023.

The order result would say “GeaSphere agreed to pay a civil penalty of $100,000. Bradesco, Credicorp, InSight, and Monex agreed to pay civil penalties ranging from $20,000 to $30,000, which reflected certain corrective steps taken by each of these firms before being contacted by the Commission staff.”

GeaSphere was hit with the heaviest penalties as they were found to have misled the orders of the SEC. The company made false statements in advertisements and could not make good on its commitments to consumers.

GeaSphere also violated other regulatory requirements, including by making false and misleading statements in advertisements, advertising misleading model performance, being unable to substantiate performance shown in its advertisements, and failing to enter into written agreements with people it compensated for endorsements.

The order further finds that GeaSphere committed recordkeeping and compliance violations and made misleading statements about its performance to a registered investment company client “that the misleading statements were included in the client’s prospectus filed with the Commission.”

Image: Ideogram.

The post SEC hits investment advisors for violation of marketing rules appeared first on Due.

Building an efficient team isn’t all about finding the most skilled people and driving them forward. Your team’s emotional well-being also has a major impact on productivity, and happier workers tend to be more productive than their unhappy counterparts.

If you want to make some small changes to improve morale around the office, fun breakroom amenities could be the way to go, starting with gaming gear for your interested employees. The Bionik Pro Kit+ is a set of gaming accessories for the Xbox Series X/S that puts multiple essential pieces of gaming gear into one package, so you don’t have to buy them all independently. Usually $89, you can get this gaming kit for just $39.99.

Play to work and work to play.

The Pro Kit is a comprehensive gaming accessory package for the Xbox Series X/S. It includes the CLR-50 over-ear gaming headsets, featuring powerful 50mm drivers, an integrated microphone, and RGB color functionality for added visual flair. If one of your workers needs a little time to unwind without hearing the sounds of the office, all they need to do is pop these on and let the work day fall away.

The dual-port controller charger has back-lit indicators and an adjustable USB power cord. Just keep in mind that the controllers themselves aren’t included. This convenient kit also comes with two 1200mAh high-capacity rechargeable batteries with custom covers compatible with Xbox Series X/S controllers.

Make sure the quality charging cable doesn’t wander to someone’s desk along with the cable extender. Both are included in this bundle.

Save on an Xbox Series X/S gaming kit.

See if a little fun boosts productivity around the office.

Get the Bionik® Pro Kit+ for Xbox Series X/S + Essential Gaming Accessories while it’s on sale for $39.99.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Denver has announced that the state’s rate of inflation has hit its lowest in three years.

The news means the Mile-High City’s inflation has hit under 3% and well below the United States average. The Denver-Aurora-Lakewood area would see this financial boon due to outsourced food and gasoline prices.

Denver tops the low inflation charts

The news comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ bi-monthly update.  The government institution has been tracking Denver’s inflation as far back as a little over a year ago Americans were struggling with the hefty price of things like food and gas.

At this time Denver was facing the worst inflation in the state’s recent history at around 5.4% compared to the national average of 3.7%.

The major contributing factors in the state’s turnaround are due to both food prices and how gasoline prices have plummeted in the state.

The report would say that “Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U advanced 2.8 percent. The index for all items less food and energy rose 3.4 percent over the year, and food prices rose 2.5 percent. Energy prices fell 5.4 percent, entirely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline.”

Gasoline prices also took a positive turn in comparison to last year when a major provider of the state’s fuel supply would need to go offline. The shutdown of the Denver pipeline from Suncor Energy would see a spike in gas prices to 35% and 50% respectively throughout the year.

The gas prices now in Colorado sit at $3.07 per regular gallon of gas which is down by roughly 10% across the year according to the AAA. The BLS report would say on energy prices “From March 2023 to March 2024, energy prices fell 5.4 percent, entirely due to lower prices for gasoline (-20.6 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service rose, and the index for electricity advanced 4.9 percent during the past year.”

The report focused on the surrounding areas of Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, which are made up of Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin, Jefferson, and Park counties in Colorado.

Image: Ideogram.

The post Denver inflation hits below the national rate appeared first on Due.

Today, you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t — at the very least — played with the idea of launching an ecommerce business. The U.S. is the global leader with an estimated 14 million ecommerce sites, and that number will only keep going up as selling online continues to gain traction among everyone from established brick-and-mortar businesses to individuals taking their first entrepreneurial steps.

While, yes, setting up an ecommerce store is easier than ever before, unfortunately, getting sales and succeeding is as difficult as it ever was. Perhaps even more, given the growing competition. As the CEO of an on-demand consumer goods platform, I have a front-row seat to the trials and triumphs of today’s digital businesses. I’ve witnessed first-time entrepreneurs attain life-changing success, and I’ve seen great ideas fizzle out due to poor execution and everything in between.

What I’ve noticed is that people succeed in many different ways, but they often fail in the same ones. It’s hard to spot a success story before it happens, yet it’s easy to tell if a business will struggle. With that in mind, here are the four most common mistakes people make that you should avoid when starting an ecommerce business.

Related: Business Owners: Are You Making These 10 Mistakes?

Succumbing to perfection paralysis

Some great products have never seen the light of day just because the business owner couldn’t find the perfect button color for their website. This sounds ridiculous – until it’s you who’s in that position, losing countless hours sweating the small stuff trying to make everything perfect.

Perfectionism is a common vice among first-time entrepreneurs in particular, as they have no grasp of what constitutes “good enough.” People go to great lengths to imitate the industry’s best examples while forgetting that the bigger companies often have entire teams of developers, designers and copywriters doing what the entrepreneur is trying to manage alone. “Doing things right” is simply unrealistic.

Instead, it may be wise to take a page out of a product developer’s book and focus on an MVP – a minimum viable product. The idea behind an MVP is that you do the minimum required to get a functional product or, in our case, a store. And then, once it’s up and running, you can iterate, improve and polish it to your heart’s content. This will help overcome perfection paralysis and focus on what really moves the needle.

Selling to everyone

Speaking of moving needles, building a brand without understanding your customer is like navigating without a compass. Sure, you may be moving, but in what direction? What challenges will you encounter? Should you have brought hiking boots or a boat?

The ABCs of entrepreneurship will tell you that for your business to be successful, it must answer a real need. But it falls on your shoulders to identify who exactly has that need. More often than not, it’s a small subsection of people. (And if it’s not – that’s a red flag signaling you might be biting off more than you can chew.)

This audience will have unique characteristics, including demographics, preferences, pain points and more. Successful businesses leverage these factors to craft tailored messages, to choose the best advertising platforms and to further develop their offering. Conversely, unsuccessful companies aren’t aware of who these high-potential customers are and instead opt for blanket messaging that’s aimed at everyone and no one in particular.

Experience shows that a laser-focused approach beats a broad net every time.

Related: I Accidentally Became a Successful Entrepreneur. Here Are 5 Mistakes I Learned to Avoid When Starting a Business

Refusing to adapt or admit mistakes

Failure is an inevitable part of early entrepreneurship. Unfortunately, it is also at this early stage that people are most idealistic. They have resolute expectations of how everything will work, and they become tunnel-visioned on bringing this specific idea to life rather than building a successful business.

As you might expect, this initial vision is usually misguided. Do you want to stand out with a super distinct brand voice? There is a reason why nobody else is doing it. Do you want to bring a product to a new audience? There is a reason why this audience hasn’t been interested in that product.

The hallmark of a high-potential business is the ability to recognize when their idea doesn’t work and pivot toward an alternative. Yes, it’s hard to kill your darlings, but unless you do, you’ll find yourself banging your head against the wall, bleeding resources on a failed concept.

Note that this isn’t only about your business idea but all your business activities, including design, marketing, product, etc. If something doesn’t work, adapt.

Trying to juggle everything alone

To go from idea to first sale requires a wide variety of skills, meaning solo entrepreneurs must wear many hats. They need to be designers, copywriters, website developers, user experience experts, accountants, partnership managers, and marketers—and all of this without even mentioning the product itself, which includes design, sourcing, logistics, photography and more.

Some people manage, and it’s admirable. But you don’t have to go at it alone.

For example, I repeatedly see aspiring entrepreneurs get sucked into learning peripheral skills, e.g., graphic design, when, in reality, they need little more than a logo, which would cost $5 to get from a freelancer on a job site. Worse yet, people get burned out from the constant learning and abandon their business ideas just because they can’t manage something that they could have paid someone else a few dollars to do.

Sure, those who struggle through like to wear their adversity as a badge of honor. Taking pride in doing things the hard way is human nature. But it’s not necessarily good business.

For Christmas, we got my son two tickets to the Portland Trailblazers vs. Milwaukie Bucks game. We live about an hour from PDX, so technically, the Blazers are our home team. And we love them — always have. I grew up watching Clyde the Glide take on Jordan, Pippen and Grant in the 1992 finals (they lost to the Bulls, by the way). I’m not sure who was more excited about the tickets — me or my 10-year-old son!

If you’re unfamiliar with Damian Lillard, aka Dame Time, you should be! Drafted in the 1st round (6th overall) to the Blazers in 2012 from a small school in Utah, Damian has spent his entire career in Portland — until this season.

When the opportunity to play with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks came up, nobody could blame him for taking the opportunity for a chance to win a championship.

You would think the people of Portland, and Oregon, for that matter, would be mad.

Far from it.

When my son and I went to the game, you could feel the love and appreciation for Damian. The organization even put half of its iconic Rip City structure in green in front of the Moda Center! It is typically red and black only.

When they announced his name, there was a two-minute standing ovation. I have the video of it; I can prove it. Some signs read, “Win Your Ring and Come Home,” and many read, “We Miss You.” Adidas dedicated a basketball court at their Portland campus to him the day before the game. It is the first and only time they have dedicated any building to an athlete. Portland was still selling Lillard jerseys (for twice the price of last year, I might add!)

So, after seeing all of this and feeling love for him at the game. I wondered, what makes him so different? Why do people feel so connected to him?

Related: I Emailed All 30 NBA Owners, Asking Them to Meet With Me. Here’s What Happened.

What makes Dame different

He has truly connected with his fans. But on a personal level. Yes, he shares pictures of his adorable children, his music and his brands on social media, but it’s more than that.

As mentioned above, he came from a small school. He has shared how he wasn’t always sought after and how he had to work harder. He’s shared how he had to put time behind the scenes when nobody was watching (or, quite frankly, cared) and didn’t know if he would actually make it to the NBA.

I feel like many of us can connect with that. Especially entrepreneurs. We put a lot of work in behind the scenes, and we’re unsure if it will be enough.

All athletes, celebrities, and mega-successful entrepreneurs are real humans, but we don’t always get to see that side of them or really connect with them. Damian has brought us along for the ride.

In addition to his personal story, Damian has spent (a lot of) time giving back to the city of Portland. Not only is he the all-time leading scorer for the Blazers, but he also founded the Lillard Foundation, was highly involved in the RESPECT program in many PDX high schools, and gave his time to the Special Olympics. He is like a family member at college for a semester, and we’re ready for him to come home.

A few weeks ago, the Blazers played the Bulls in Chicago. Guess who was at the game? Dame Time. He literally drove from Milwaukee to Chicago to support his old team. For most people, a two-hour drive to see an NBA game wouldn’t be that crazy, but for a professional athlete on a Monday night?

That shows who Damian is. I honestly don’t know how many professional athletes would do that on their night off. And that’s why people love him. He shows that he cares. He gives without expectation.

Related: 5 Simple Steps to Build a Personal Brand

How to improve your personal brand like Damian Lillard

Marketing will always be based on relationships. Creating them. Building them. Strengthening them. Enjoying them.

Damian crushes this.

Personal branding is becoming more important because people crave more connections (especially post-pandemic). And the fact is, like Dame Time, we all have a personal brand whether we like it or not, so it’s advantageous to put some effort into your brand. We may not have his exposure, but we all have a story to tell. People to help. Dreams to pursue.

A personal brand is so much more than your color scheme, tagline, or logo. It’s your vibe. It’s how you want to make people feel when they come across your social media platforms, sign up for your email list or browse your website. It’s more than pictures of your products, travels or kids. Don’t get me wrong, those are part of it, but it’s how you make them feel.

Remember Maya Angelou’s quote, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Related: 6 Tips for Leveraging Your Personal Brand to Create Partnership Opportunities

Feelings = Memories

What is your mission? What is your experience? What have you pushed through? How can you connect with your ideal customers? What do they need to feel from you to reach out to you?

How do you make people feel when they meet you at your business? How do you make them feel when they read your content or watch your videos?

That will ripple through everything.

Action steps

Take some time to review your messaging, branding, social media profiles, website and any other marketing channels you use to connect with potential and current customers.

Try not to:

1. Overthink this.

2. View this as an arduous item on your to-do list.

Remember why you started your business, and have fun with it! Block off an hour and put some thought into your brand.

If you need some inspiration, just Google Damian Lillard!

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) theme for April’s National Financial Capability Month has been revealed.

The SEC is asking Americans “What does your financial future look like? Having a plan can help answer the question.”

Creating financial plans is a key part of securing the future and throughout April the SEC and key stakeholders within the government institution will be talking about building a better financial roadmap.

SEC talks about the financial future

The government body will be releasing guidance from leaders in the SEC and those working in the engine room of the financial fair-play body. They will “highlight the importance of creating a saving and investing plan to help investors meet their financial goals, and will encourage them to take advantage of the free tools and resources available on Investor.gov.”

The SEC will also bring investor education events to various audiences, including students, underrepresented communities, older investors, and the military throughout the United States.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler said of the announcement “Investors turn to our capital markets every day, whether to grow a nest egg, plan for retirement, save for an education, or prepare for the inevitable bumps along the way.”

The SEC has released several tools to keep people informed. Including:

April’s Financial Capability Month Investing Quiz;

Director Lori Schock said “”Creating a saving and investing plan that helps you meet your financial goals and sharing those ideals and goals with your family and friends may not only help you stay more committed to your decision-making but can provide you with support to help you stick with your plan for the long term.”

The SEC will be bringing educational events to all residents of the United States but will be focusing that little bit more on older investors, high school and colleague students and service members. The regulatory body will also be targeting community organizations and affinity groups to help Americans plan for a healthier financial future.

Gensler would conclude “To be an informed investor is to be a more effective investor, and I encourage the public to take advantage of the many resources we offer on Investor.gov.”

Image: Ideogram.

The post SEC: What does your financial future look like? appeared first on Due.