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A Five-Step Approach To The Metaverse

Ask a handful of people about the metaverse, and you’ll get a dozen different responses ranging from a virtual land of opportunity to another avenue of harassment, the new Facebook, or technology jargon like Web3, NFT, blockchain, and VR. Some even call it the future of the internet and predict that’s where we will spend most of our time. What’s clear is that there isn’t a clear definition of the metaverse since it is in very early stages and is still evolving.

The metaverse is the promise of a virtual community with the potential to allow people to play, work, socialize and transact. Sound familiar? Does it remind you of this thing called the World Wide Web? This was exactly how the web was described back in the 1990s. Shortly after, we had virtual worlds like Second Life, or more recently, Roblox and Fortnite.

The metaverse is intended to be all that and more, the next evolution of some of those experiences, but three-dimensional. And with the right hardware, it can be an immersive experience. Strap on a pair (of VR glasses) and your 3-D digital avatar can do virtual equivalents of real-world activities, like exploring artwork in a museum, attending a concert, discussing work around a virtual conference table, or, if Zuckerberg would have his way, around a picnic table on a beach.

Clear as mud? You’re not alone, but some precursors may help explain. Since 2003, Second Life has offered a virtual world where people use the program on their computers to create virtual representations of themselves — avatars — and explore places and interact with objects and other avatars. They can explore the world (a.k.a the grid), meet other residents, socialize, participate in both individual and group activities, build, create, shop, and trade virtual property and services with one another. Countries, companies, entertainers, and media organizations have experimented with creating virtual presences in Second Life.

More recently, Fortnite, which started as an online video game platform, has been hosting virtual concerts by artists like Travis Scott and Ariana Grande, going beyond traditional gaming into virtual events and entertainment, where people (actually, their virtual avatars) can hang out and be entertained.

The metaverse has visions of being a network of many such interconnected virtual worlds. Think of it as an immersive 3-D virtual world that would mirror a lot of what we can do in the real world. For now, different virtual worlds exist, each needing different identities. They are not interconnected, making it less like the web (or Web3) and more like different distinct apps with nothing in common.

So, What’s A Designer To Do?

You’re probably wondering how you or your company can leverage the metaverse. Just like a few years ago, people were trying to figure out social media or mobile apps before that, and even before that, the web.

If you get caught up in the hype and headlines about the metaverse-related announcements from celebrities, influencers, global brands, and household name companies, the obvious answer may seem to jump right in — CANNONBALL! This could include converting real-world money to a virtual currency and investing in some virtual land or other digital assets and tokens of the non-fungible variety. Stop! Don’t fall prey to the Shiny New Object Syndrome! Instead of the impulsive cannonball approach, I suggest the purposeful diving board approach: take a few steps, plan, and focus on your approach to diving into the metaverse.

5-Step Approach To The Metaverse

Approach this exercise with a curious and open mind, yet with a healthy dose of skepticism about the hype. If you are doing this for your company, a good starting point is asking, “Why?” Why does the company want to be in the metaverse? How will it help achieve its business goals? Could it be for bragging rights and a news splash? Are you seeing competitors already making metaverse announcements, and you are worried your business may be left behind? These answers will keep you grounded as you go through the following steps.

1. Experience A Virtual World Or Three

If you’ve played games on an Xbox or PS, you’ve got a bit of a head start, and some of this will seem familiar. If not, no worries! You don’t need special equipment to experience virtual worlds like Decentraland or The Sandbox. Use your computer, log on as a guest, create your avatar, wander around, and get the lay of the land on a 2-D screen. Get familiar with the control keys for navigation and wayfinding (in Decentraland, M will quickly become a useful key to view a map and explore different areas).

In addition to exploring the virtual land, observe other avatars, and you will quickly realize those who know their way around and those who are just starting. People start in Genesis Plaza in Decentraland, and this is a good starting point to people watch (or avatar watch) — a good way to observe what others are experiencing, enjoying, and struggling with.

After getting the hang of it, immerse yourself in the 3-D experience with a VR headset. While headsets range from cardboard to PC, console, or standalone VR headsets running over US$1,000, the Oculus Quest 2 is a great starting point for a few hundred dollars. It will allow you to explore virtual worlds like Horizon Worlds. This will give you the immersive experience first-hand, including blocking out the world around you and not being able to sneak a peek at an email or grab a snack. Along with noting what you are physically and mentally experiencing in these virtual worlds, look for which areas are popular and what people seem to be enjoying.

Invite other enthusiasts to show you the ropes and make it easier to navigate this virtual experience.

2. Analyze Your Customers

The technology adoption life cycle breaks down the acceptance of new technology by personas of adopters. Adopters are one of five main elements influencing the spread of a new idea or technology, according to Everett Rogers in his book Diffusion of Innovations. He grouped people into five categories based on their speed of adoption of new technology:

  1. Innovators are the smallest segment of the market at 2.5%, but their opinions encourage others to investigate the product. These “techies” are often very familiar with new technology and have the resources to try new things, even if they fail.
  2. Early adopters are selective about the technologies they start using. The benefits of the technology attract these forward-looking customers. Others check in with them for information about new technology, and by adopting something, they often reduce other people’s uncertainty about that technology.
  3. Early-majority consumers do not want to be taken in by fads, so they are content to wait. But, if a product is practical or fits in their lives, it leads to adoption. They make up about 34% of the market.
  4. Late-majority buyers want to see that the public accepts the technology and all the bugs have been fixed. They adopt because of emerging norms, peer pressure, or necessity. This segment makes up about 34% of the market, just like the early majority.
  5. Laggards are the last audience who are traditional and don’t take risks with new ideas or technology. This segment is about 16% of the market and only adopts when they have to.

Using the lens of these adopter categories, review your company’s target customers and consider their technology adoption and use. If your customers are in the right half of Rogers adoption categories (late majority and laggards), they’re probably not adopting the metaverse anytime soon. If you have early market customers (innovators and early adopters), there is a high probability that they are exploring the metaverse or will be soon, and you should have something for them to engage with you there. And according to research firm Gartner, we are still a few years away from a sub-segment of the Early Majority starting to adopt the metaverse.

Also, consider their technology use: do your customers passively consume content (like social media and streaming media), or are they active and immersed (like gaming)? Gaming is a very close parallel to most of what we know as the metaverse today. Given the similarities, how is your company or brand currently engaged in gaming? How much time do your customers spend gaming, and how much of it would be with your company or brand? You can use this to extrapolate how they may potentially adopt and interact with your business in the metaverse.

3. Scan Competitive Activity

In this gold rush phase of the metaverse, early adopter influencers, celebrities, and companies are trying to navigate the novelty, and the hype and FOMO don’t help. But it would help if you looked at what your competitors are doing in the metaverse, how successful their efforts are, and the engagement they are getting. Here are some examples in the restaurant space:

  • Virtual promotion for real-world freebies
    Last Halloween, Chipotle moved its annual Boorito event to a virtual restaurant on the gaming platform Roblox. Avatars could dress up in virtual Halloween costumes and visit the virtual Chipotle cashier to get a promo code for a free burrito in the real world. They gave away $1 million in free burritos.
  • VR dining experiences
    Customers at restaurants learn to eat while wearing VR headsets without getting food all over their face, clothes, or the table. They are then taken on a VR journey with imagery, music, and narration, setting the ambiance as people eat their half-inch-by-half-inch bites.
  • Laying the foundation
    This February, McDonald’s filed multiple trademark applications, indicating it plans to offer “a virtual restaurant featuring actual and virtual goods” and “operating a virtual restaurant featuring home delivery.” This would allow a hungry avatar in the future to order a meal at an McD (or, if you prefer, Paneraverse, or Pandaverse, no prizes for guessing which restaurants) without leaving the metaverse and having it delivered home. Of course, IRL, they would have to take off the VR headset to eat!

Looking outside the current restaurant industry, celebrity entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk (aka Gary V) is experimenting with opening a members-only private dining club. Membership is a Non-Fungible-Token (NFT) that gives the token-holder access to restaurants and culinary experiences beginning in 2023. Think lifetime ownership to a country club or airline club. Don’t spend it all on membership, though; the food and beverage cost extra.

Following a similar model but with coffee shops already in place, Starbucks recently announced that it plans to offer NFTs later this year, not focused on speculative trading but offering access to exclusive experiences and perks (not yet announced). It brought to mind their limited-edition $450 metal gift cards that they used to sell around the holidays that offered loyalty status and benefits that went along with it. Like NFTs, those have resale value on eBay.

Some companies are laying the groundwork, others are starting small, and others are placing bigger bets.

4. Evaluate Relevant Opportunities

Armed with the knowledge of your customers’ technology adoption and use and what others in your space are doing, evaluate what makes sense for your company. If you haven’t already, identify and involve video game, VR, and metaverse-related enthusiasts (internal or external) during this step. Some key questions:

  • Are there different ways you could better serve your customers, employees, or business partners in the metaverse?
  • Are there opportunities for you to add value to your customers by enabling existing business, introducing new products, or reaching new markets in this virtual experience?
  • Is there tangible value in being seen as the first mover in your industry?
  • Are you able to deliver more impactful internal training or experiences for your employees? While customer-facing ideas are glamorous, employee applications may offer quicker value and return on investment.
  • Will you have the resources and talent to build, promote, support, and monitor your presence in the metaverse?
  • Does your company have an appetite for experimentation?

While not an exhaustive list, these questions should spur ideas and opportunities in the metaverse. Treating them as potential projects, use the dimensions of viability, feasibility, and desirability to evaluate and select relevant opportunities for your company.

This step may result in a few small ideas to dip your toes in the metaverse pool, bigger ideas that will take some time to implement, or a big disruptive innovative idea. On the other hand, if you answered “No” to one or more questions above, you may just realize that the metaverse is not for your company, or your company is not ready for the metaverse at this time. In that case, periodically run through the steps above to respond when the time is right.

5. Experiment And Adapt

If you realise that you need a presence in the metaverse, it may be easy to start small, test, and learn. Starting small could mean different things to different companies. For some, it could be offering free avatar swag for their customers and fans, while for others, it may be opening a virtual location, like JP Morgan’s Onyx bank lounge. The important thing with any new technology or channel is understanding how it differs from existing ones and not shoehorning existing strategies and tactics but adapting them.

Experience from the previous steps will also equip you when you get to this stage, just like walking a mile in users’ shoes help us understand and design sites and apps for those users. You will have first-hand experience trying to navigate a virtual world with varying conventions. Structural and design constraints don’t hold true, leaving plenty of room for creative freedom, which raises questions about how real virtual reality needs to be.

Also, keep in mind the hardware limitations that come along with a VR headset, such as physical discomfort, treading two worlds (trying to immerse in the metaverse while surrounded by real-world chaos), and battery life. And last but not least, 3D design is very different than the 2D design we have grown accustomed to.

A Word Or Three Of Caution

A designerly behavior is being excited about technological advances and the impact of design. We should balance that enthusiasm with care for the users we are designing and building for. A few things to consider for responsible design:

  • Design ethically, not for addiction, and advocate for users.
  • Prioritize users’ privacy, security, equity, and physical and mental wellbeing.
  • Safeguard your users against bullying and harassment, building on the measures being put into place by virtual worlds.

There’s a lot to think about, but don’t let that dissuade you. The journey starts with small steps.

Plan Your Company’s Metaverse Entry

Companies should keep up with technological advances like the metaverse at a pace and scale that makes sense for them. Acting without a plan (the cannonball approach) can result in missteps and poor results. A planned approach (diving board) helps companies understand how they can leverage the metaverse and their customers’ aptitude for new technology. It allows them to time their entry when the technology, their customers, and the company are ready.

Resources

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How to Set Up a Remote Desktop

Want to just get started? Sign up for Zoho Assist and create your remote desktop today.

In your workplace, there are a few things that you need in order to be productive. Sometimes, you need a second monitor to get all of your work done.

Or, you might need to access certain files that are only stored on your work computer.

If you find yourself in any of these situations, you can set up a remote desktop.

A remote desktop allows you to access another computer as if you were sitting right in front of it. All you need is an internet connection and a computer or mobile device.

The Top Remote Support Software to Set Up a Remote Desktop

If you want to set up a remote desktop, you need to have the right software. Here are the best software solutions to help you do that:

  • Zoho Assist – Best for unattended remote access
  • TeamViewer – Best for efficient remote support
  • BeyondTrust – Best for extra security enforcement
  • AnyDesk – Best for fast, user-friendly remote desktop support
  • Pulseway – Best for personal use

You can read our full reviews of the best remote software solutions here. 

5 Steps to Setting Up a Remote Desktop

Now that you know which software to use, it’s time to set up your remote desktop. Here’s how to get started:

  1. Allow remote connections using Settings or Control Panel
  2. Get started with Zoho Assist
  3. Start your remote support session
  4. Connect to the remote desktop
  5. Use your remote desktop for whatever you need

The Easy Parts of Setting Up a Remote Desktop

A remote desktop can be a useful tool for working from home or accessing your computer from a different location.

Although the process may sound daunting, setting up a remote desktop is actually quite simple. In most cases, all you need is two things:

A Stable Internet Connection

In order to set up a remote desktop, you need to have a stable internet connection. This is because the remote desktop uses your internet connection to create a secure, encrypted connection between your two devices. Without a stable internet connection, the remote desktop will not be able to function properly, and you will not be able to access the other computer.

Without a stable connection, the remote desktop will either not work at all or will be very slow and sluggish, resulting in a poor user experience. This can make it difficult or even impossible to get work done.

The IP Address of the Computer You Wish to Connect To

The IP address is necessary to set up the connection because it is how the computer you are using to access the remote desktop knows where to find the computer you want to control.

When you are using a remote desktop, the computer you are using essentially becomes a controller that sends commands to the computer you want to control.

In order to do this, it needs to know the IP address of the destination computer. The IP address acts as a sort of address or location for the destination computer, so without it, the remote desktop connection cannot be established.

Once you have these two things, you can use any free or paid software options to establish a secure connection.

While there may be some initial setup required, once the connection is established, using a remote desktop is usually just as easy as using your computer in person. 

The Hard Parts of Setting Up a Remote Desktop

While there are certainly many advantages to setting up a remote desktop, there are also a few potential challenges that users should be aware of:

Configuring Your Software

One of the most difficult aspects of setting up a remote desktop is ensuring that all of the necessary software is installed and configured correctly. This can often be a time-consuming and frustrating process, particularly for users who are not familiar with the relevant software.

Without the proper software, the remote desktop will not be able to function properly. In addition, the software must be compatible with the operating system and hardware of the remote desktop.

If the software is not compatible, it may cause errors or crashes. Furthermore, the software must be properly licensed and up-to-date. Otherwise, it may not work correctly or may not be supported by the manufacturer.

Ensuring the Remote Desktop is Secured

Another potential issue is ensuring that the remote desktop is properly secured. This typically involves configuring firewall settings and taking other security precautions.

To check your network security, you can use the Windows Firewall tool or a third-party security program. You should also make sure that your remote desktop software is up-to-date and has all of the latest security patches installed.

Failure to take these steps could result in sensitive data being compromised or malicious actors gaining access to the system. 

Troubleshooting on Remote Desktops

Troubleshooting problems with your remote desktop can be difficult, as it can be hard to determine exactly where the problem lies.

This is because the connection between the two computers is often not as stable as a direct connection. As a result, problems that occur may be due to either the remote desktop or the local computer.

In some cases, it may even be due to the internet connection itself. This can make troubleshooting slow and difficult, as well as frustrating for users who are not familiar with the process.

Despite these challenges, setting up your remote desktop can be a great way to improve workplace productivity and connectivity.

Step 1: Allow remote connections using Settings or Control Panel

To connect a remote computer, remote connections must be enabled. You can do this through the Settings app or the Control Panel.

Enabling Remote Access in Settings

Windows Remote Desktop is a useful tool for working on your office PC from home. By default, remote connections are not allowed on Windows 10 PCs.

However, you can easily enable this feature through the Settings app.

To do so, open the Settings app and go to the “System” category.

Then click Remote Desktop in the left sidebar. In the main pane, toggle the switch next to “Enable Remote Desktop” to the “On” position.

System category in Settings app with Remote Desktop selected in the left sidebar and a red square around the toggle for Enable Remote Desktop

A popup menu will appear. Click Confirm.

Confirmation window for enabling remote desktop

Once you’ve done this, you’ll be able to connect to your PC from another device using the Remote Desktop app.

Once you complete the steps, you can connect to the computer using the modern Remote Desktop app (recommended) or the Remote Desktop Connection app included with Windows 10.

You’ll also find two new options that are there to ensure you can always connect when you’re away.

These are “Keep my PC awake for connection when it is plugged in” and “Make my PC discoverable on private networks to enable automatic connection from a remote device.”

Remote Desktop screen in settings with red square around options to keep PC awake for connection when it is plugged in and make PC discoverable on private networks

If you want to further customize your remote connection settings, you can click the Advanced Settings link in the main pane. From here, you can specify which users are allowed to connect remotely, as well as other options such as network encryption and authentication. 

Advanced Settings screen

Enabling Remote Access in Control Panel

Windows 8 and 10 allow you to add users who can remotely access your computer through the Desktop app. If you have Windows 7, you’ll need to follow a few extra steps. First, open the Control Panel and go to System and Security > System.

Windows System and Security screen with red square around Allow remote access button

Under System, click Allow remote access on the right-hand side.

Windows System Properties screen with red box around option to allow remote connections to this computer

Under the Remote Desktop section, click the Allow remote connections to this computer radio button.

If you want, you can also click the Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication (more secure) radio button.

This will prevent anyone without the proper credentials from accessing your computer.

You can also click the Select Users button to specify which users are allowed to connect.

If you want to allow all users on your network to access your computer, click the Allow all users radio button.

When you’re done, click the OK button.

You should now be able to remotely connect to your computer using the Remote Desktop app.

Step 2: Get started with Zoho Assist

Zoho Assist landing page

Zoho Assist is an excellent tool for remotely accessing and controlling another computer. Thanks to its ease of use and accessibility (it’s free), it is an excellent option for small businesses or home users.

Getting started with Zoho Assist is very straightforward. To do so, head to the Zoho Assist website and create a free account. Once you’ve done this, you can download the Zoho Assist client onto your computer.

Zoho Assist signup screen

You will be prompted to enter your email address and create a password.

Once you have done this, your free trial will begin. Zoho Assist is free for personal use, but its enterprise features are free to use for 15 days with all new subscriptions.

After you have signed up and logged in, you will be taken to the main screen.

This is where you can add new computers, view recent activity, and access all of the features of Zoho Assist.

Step 3: Start your remote support session

To start a new remote support session right away, click the Start Now button. If you wish to initiate a session at a later time, you can click Schedule to set up a time in the future.

You will then be asked to locate the person you wish to connect with for your remote support session.

To do so, you can reach them in one of four ways:

  1. SMS invitation: You can send an SMS invitation to the person you wish to connect with. This is useful if they do not have an email address or if you want to connect with them right away.
  2. Email invitation: You can send an email invitation to the person you wish to connect with. This is a good option if they are not available by phone.
  3. Click a link to join the session: You can have your target user go to join.zoho.com to join a session if you don’t have their contact information.
  4. Create and send an invitation: You can create an invitation with your own custom message and branding, then send it to the person you wish to connect with through the messaging app of your choosing.

After you have selected how you would like to reach the person you wish to connect with, proceed to the next step.

Step 4: Connect to the remote desktop

Once you’ve sent the session invitation to the remote customer, connecting with the other computer is very simple.

Once your customer receives the invite and navigates to the session, they will be allowed to join the session through the above methods with a matching ID.

They will be prompted to download the Zoho Assist client if they haven’t done so already.

Once the client is downloaded and installed, you can select the target computer from the “Unattended Access” tab on the main screen.

You will then be asked to enter your email address and password. After doing so, you will be connected to the remote desktop.

You can now view and control the other person’s computer as if you were sitting in front of it.

Step 5: Use your remote desktop for whatever you need

Now that you have your remote device up and running, here are a few best practices to ensure your safety:

  • You have the same access to files and applications as the other person. This means you can view, edit, and delete files just as they can.
  • Be careful what you do on the remote computer. Just as you would not want someone else snooping around on your computer, respect the privacy of others by refraining from snooping on their computer.
  • Do not install any software on the remote computer without the other person’s permission. This includes things like games, programs, and even browser extensions.
  • Be aware that the other person can see everything you are doing on their computer. If you need to step away from the keyboard for a moment, be sure to let the other person know, so they are not left wondering what you are up to.

Now that you have your remote desktop set up, you may be wondering what you can do with it.

The answer is: anything you need!

If you are providing technical support, for example, you can use your remote desktop to view and control the other person’s computer. This can be a huge help when trying to diagnose and solve problems.

Remote desktops can also be used for less serious purposes, such as playing games or streaming movies from another person’s computer.

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Single Element Loaders: The Dots

We’re looking at loaders in this series. More than that, we’re breaking down some common loader patterns and how to re-create them with nothing more than a single div. So far, we’ve picked apart the classic spinning loader. Now, let’s look at another one you’re likely well aware of: the dots.

Dot loaders are all over the place. They’re neat because they usually consist of three dots that sort of look like a text ellipsis (…) that dances around.

Article series

  • Single Element Loaders: The Spinner
  • Single Element Loaders: The Dots — you are here
  • Single Element Loaders: The Bars — coming June 24
  • Single Element Loaders: Going 3D — coming July 1

Our goal here is to make this same thing out of a single div element. In other words, there is no one div per dot or individual animations for each dot.

That example of a loader up above is made with a single div element, a few CSS declarations, and no pseudo-elements. I am combining two techniques using CSS background and mask. And when we’re done, we’ll see how animating a background gradient helps create the illusion of each dot changing colors as they move up and down in succession.

The background animation

Let’s start with the background animation:

.loader {
  width: 180px; /* this controls the size */
  aspect-ratio: 8/5; /* maintain the scale */
  background: 
    conic-gradient(red   50%, blue   0) no-repeat, /* top colors */
    conic-gradient(green 50%, purple 0) no-repeat; /* bottom colors */
  background-size: 200% 50%; 
  animation: back 4s infinite linear; /* applies the animation */
}

/* define the animation */
@keyframes back {
  0%,                       /* X   Y , X     Y */
  100% { background-position: 0%   0%, 0%   100%; }
  25%  { background-position: 100% 0%, 0%   100%; }
  50%  { background-position: 100% 0%, 100% 100%; }
  75%  { background-position: 0%   0%, 100% 100%; }
}

I hope this looks pretty straightforward. What we’ve got is a 180px-wide .loader element that shows two conic gradients sporting hard color stops between two colors each — the first gradient is red and blue along the top half of the .loader, and the second gradient is green and purple along the bottom half.

The way the loader’s background is sized (200% wide), we only see one of those colors in each half at a time. Then we have this little animation that pushes the position of those background gradients left, right, and back again forever and ever.

When dealing with background properties — especially background-position — I always refer to my Stack Overflow answer where I am giving a detailed explanation on how all this works. If you are uncomfortable with CSS background trickery, I highly recommend reading that answer to help with what comes next.

In the animation, notice that the first layer is Y=0% (placed at the top) while X is changes from 0% to 100%. For the second layer, we have the same for X but Y=100% (placed at the bottom).

Why using a conic-gradient() instead of linear-gradient()?

Good question! Intuitively, we should use a linear gradient to create a two-color gradients like this:

linear-gradient(90deg, red 50%, blue 0)

But we can also reach for the same using a conic-gradient() — and with less of code. We reduce the code and also learn a new trick in the process!

Sliding the colors left and right is a nice way to make it look like we’re changing colors, but it might be better if we instantly change colors instead — that way, there’s no chance of a loader dot flashing two colors at the same time. To do this, let’s change the animation‘s timing function from linear to steps(1)

The loader dots

If you followed along with the first article in this series, I bet you know what comes next: CSS masks! What makes masks so great is that they let us sort of “cut out” parts of a background in the shape of another element. So, in this case, we want to make a few dots, show the background gradients through the dots, and cut out any parts of the background that are not part of a dot.

We are going to use radial-gradient() for this:

.loader {
  width: 180px;
  aspect-ratio: 8/5;
  mask:
    radial-gradient(#000 68%, #0000 71%) no-repeat,
    radial-gradient(#000 68%, #0000 71%) no-repeat,
    radial-gradient(#000 68%, #0000 71%) no-repeat;
  mask-size: 25% 40%; /* the size of our dots */
}

There’s some duplicated code in there, so let’s make a CSS variable to slim things down:

.loader {
  width: 180px;
  aspect-ratio: 8/5;
  --_g: radial-gradient(#000 68%, #0000 71%) no-repeat;
  mask: var(--_g),var(--_g),var(--_g);
  mask-size: 25% 40%;
}

Cool cool. But now we need a new animation that helps move the dots up and down between the animated gradients.

.loader {
  /* same as before */
  animation: load 2s infinite;
}

@keyframes load {      /* X  Y,     X   Y,    X   Y */
  0%     { mask-position: 0% 0%  , 50% 0%  , 100% 0%; } /* all of them at the top */
  16.67% { mask-position: 0% 100%, 50% 0%  , 100% 0%; }
  33.33% { mask-position: 0% 100%, 50% 100%, 100% 0%; }
  50%    { mask-position: 0% 100%, 50% 100%, 100% 100%; } /* all of them at the bottom */
  66.67% { mask-position: 0% 0%  , 50% 100%, 100% 100%; }
  83.33% { mask-position: 0% 0%  , 50% 0%  , 100% 100%; }
  100%   { mask-position: 0% 0%  , 50% 0%  , 100% 0%; } /* all of them at the top */
}

Yes, that’s a total of three radial gradients in there, all with the same configuration and the same size — the animation will update the position of each one. Note that the X coordinate of each dot is fixed. The mask-position is defined such that the first dot is at the left (0%), the second one at the center (50%), and the third one at the right (100%). We only update the Y coordinate from 0% to 100% to make the dots dance.

Dot loader dots with labels showing their changing positions.

Here’s what we get:

Now, combine this with our gradient animation and magic starts to happen:

Dot loader variations

The CSS variable we made in the last example makes it all that much easier to swap in new colors and create more variations of the same loader. For example, different colors and sizes:

What about another movement for our dots?

Here, all I did was update the animation to consider different positions, and we get another loader with the same code structure!

The animation technique I used for the mask layers can also be used with background layers to create a lot of different loaders with a single color. I wrote a detailed article about this. You will see that from the same code structure we can create different variations by simply changing a few values. I am sharing a few examples at the end of the article.

Why not a loader with one dot?

This one should be fairly easy to grok as I am using the same technique but with a more simple logic:

Here is another example of loader where I am also animating radial-gradient combined with CSS filters and mix-blend-mode to create a blobby effect:

If you check the code, you will see that all I am really doing there is animating the background-position, exactly like we did with the previous loader, but adding a dash of background-size to make it look like the blob gets bigger as it absorbs dots.

If you want to understand the magic behind that blob effect, you can refer to these interactive slides (Chrome only) by Ana Tudor because she covers the topic so well!

Here is another dot loader idea, this time using a different technique:

This one is only 10 CSS declarations and a keyframe. The main element and its two pseudo-elements have the same background configuration with one radial gradient. Each one creates one dot, for a total of three. The animation moves the gradient from top to bottom by using different delays for each dot..

Oh, and take note how this demo uses CSS Grid. This allows us to leverage the grid’s default stretch alignment so that both pseudo-elements cover the whole area of their parent. No need for sizing! Push the around a little with translate() and we’re all set.

More examples!

Just to drive the point home, I want to leave you with a bunch of additional examples that are really variations of what we’ve looked at. As you view the demos, you’ll see that the approaches we’ve covered here are super flexible and open up tons of design possibilities.

Next up…

OK, so we covered dot loaders in this article and spinners in the last one. In the next article of this four-part series, we’ll turn our attention to another common type of loader: the bars. We’ll take a lot of what we learned so far and see how we can extend them to create yet another single element loader with as little code and as much flexibility as possible.

Article series

  • Single Element Loaders: The Spinner
  • Single Element Loaders: The Dots — you are here
  • Single Element Loaders: The Bars — coming June 24
  • Single Element Loaders: Going 3D — coming July 1

Single Element Loaders: The Dots originally published on CSS-Tricks. You should get the newsletter.

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How to Start a Lawn Care Business in 5 Simple Steps

Starting a lawn care business gives you the rare opportunity to combine your entrepreneurial spirit and love for the outdoors.

Despite being a competitive industry, lawn care is one of the more affordable startups that offers tons of flexibility.

You can choose the services you offer, set your own schedule, decide whether you want to cater to residential or commercial customers—or both, and amazingly, get paid to exercise and follow your passion.

But just like any other business, you have to figure out the initial steps to put yourself on the fast track to success, which is exactly where this guide comes into the picture.

I’ll show you a step-by-step breakdown of how to start a lawn care business to ensure your venture is well planned, properly registered, and legally compliant.

Let’s begin, shall we?

Top Business Formation Services to Start a Lawn Care Business

If you want to start a lawn care business, you’ll need a business formation service. Here’s the best options.

You can read our full reviews of each business formation service here.

5 Steps to Start a Lawn Care Business

Starting a lawn care business is simple when you break it down into smaller, attainable steps:

  1. Chalk out your business plan
  2. Finalize your legal structure and register for taxes
  3. Set up your business account
  4. Procuring the necessary licenses and permits
  5. Build an online presence
How to start a lawn care business in 5 easy steps.

The Easy Parts of Starting a Lawn Care Business 

The best thing about starting a lawn care business is the low startup cost. 

All you need is some equipment and a way to arrive at your client‘s homes, and you can start earning right away. Even if you don’t have the capital to purchase equipment, you can always rent it—or simply use the tools you have at home.

Generally, launching and running any business requires a few years of experience, but not lawn care. Therefore, you can hire people who don’t have formal education or training. Nearly everything can be learned on the job, which again saves recruitment or training costs.

What’s more, working with a client in the lawn care niche will nearly always translate to more business.

For instance, after being mowed, a lawn will need periodical fertilizer and weed and bug treatments. If you do a satisfactory job on the first go and manage to impress your client, there are high chances they’ll hire you again for lawn maintenance.

The Difficult Parts of Starting a Lawn Care Business 

The hardest part of launching a lawn care business is beating the competition.

You may already have several lawn care businesses in your area, with most of them already having set clients. If you want to establish a loyal clientele in these circumstances, you’ll have to offer discounted prices—something that may hurt your finances.

The other problem is finding genuinely skilled workers.

You may be a one-person show right now, but once you start scaling, you’ll need reliable members on your team. Unfortunately, 35% of landscape and outdoor specialty firms cited difficulty in hiring new staff and/or being understaffed as one of the main challenges in the lawn care niche.

Nevertheless, all the effort and time you put in running your business and looking for skilled employees will pay off in the long run—provided you remain dedicated and know the right way to proceed.

Step 1: Chalk Out Your Business Plan

Having a well-thought-out and detailed plan can work wonders for your lawn care business. In this stage, you’ll find yourself asking critical questions when drafting your business plan, such as:

  • What kind of clients do you want to work with? Do you prefer working with homeowners over business owners?
  • Which geographic areas do you want to serve?
  • Who are your competitors? How well do you fare when compared to them?
  • What services do you plan to offer?
  • How much do you want to charge for your services?
  • How do you plan on marketing your business?

When mapping out the specifics of your business, you’ll discover opportunities and identify USPs that separate you from your competition—something that will likely translate to better outcomes and more business.

But before you do that, there are a few things you need to do:

Select a Name and Logo for Your Lawn Care Business

Brainstorm a creative and catchy name for your lawn care business. 

I recommend being safe and using something practical and professional, especially considering your business name is going to be on practically everything—from your emails to marketing and advertising materials to merchandise.

Logos are equally important as they help create brand awareness. If you don’t have a budget to hire a graphic designer right now, you can always use a free design website like Canva.

Canva homepage.

Decide What Lawn Care Services to Offer

Lawn care includes all kinds of services, ranging from cutting grass lawns to turf maintenance to debris removal to weed and pest control. Here’s a list of some of the most popular lawn care services offered by similar businesses:

  • Lawn installation
  • Planting native lawns, along with native species and pollinators in and alongside grass lawns
  • Selling fertilizers, insecticides, and other lawn care products
  • Weeding
  • Mulching and other similar gardening work

Try to gauge the service demand to make better decisions. For instance, if you find your client favors green and eco-friendly practices, offer specialized services around the same line to attract more customers.

Note: The services you decide will directly affect your startup costs, so you have to be mindful of your budget. For instance, if you offer mowing services, you’ll only need a lawnmower and a transport vehicle. But if you offer weeding in addition to mowing, you’ll need a lawnmower, a transport vehicle, wheelbarrows, weedwhackers, weedkiller chemicals, trowels, and so on.

Figure Out Your Lawn Care Business Costs

Prepare a budget to account for startup and ongoing costs, including business licensing, equipment, business stationery and supplies, website, promotional material, internet connection, vehicle, and so on.

Experts also advise getting liability insurance for your business, along with worker’s compensation insurance (if you plan on hiring employees).

Your startup budget should include factors like a mower, leaf blower, gasoline can, website creation, internet services, promotional signage, a pickup truck lease, among several others. These budgets generally clock at about $3,000—provided you don’t hire any assistants.

Besides this, you must account for ongoing expenses too, such as labor costs, trucks, and equipment maintenance. This will cost you about $5,000 per month, but the amount can be lower or higher depending on your location, business plans, and the salary you’re willing to pay.

Disclaimer: Please be careful when choosing lawn and garden tools. Not only do they involve money, but also directly influence your work quality.

Determine Your Target Market and Fees

Most lawn care entrepreneurs target local businesses since they’re usually willing to pay more for your services than residential customers and are likely to sign for regular service.

Big corporations can also be excellent customers, such as hospitals, shopping malls, schools, and office buildings. Most of them have multiple big lawn spaces, so there’s scope for more business.

You can stick to residential clients too if you want. There is no right or wrong choice here; it all boils down to your preferences.

Next on the list is to decide how much to charge your customers. 

Legitimate companies generally charge over 150% of the minimum wage for the total amount of time every worker is on the customer’s side. So if the minimum wage in your area is $10 per hour, your charges will be based on a rate of $15 per hour. 

Commercial businesses may pay even more because of the greater time involved to cut the lawn. 

Nevertheless, determining your charges is totally your call. Just make sure you don’t end up underpricing your services to attract more clients.

Step 2: Finalize Your Legal Structure and Register for Taxes

As you may have deduced, this step is about sorting out the legal formalities concerning your business, namely your business and tax entities.

And while this may sound intimidating, it really isn’t. Read on as I explain this in more detail below.

Choose Your Business Entity Type

To refresh your memory, you can choose between the four most common business structure entities: sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and limited liability company (LLC). 

While each structure has its own benefits and drawbacks, forming an LLC or a corporation will protect you from being personally liable if your lawn care business is ever sued.

You can also consider hiring online business formation services to sort out the nitty-gritty details involved in starting a business on your behalf.

Apply for an EIN

EIN stands for Employer Identification Number, which is also known as a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) or Federal Tax Identification Number (FTIN). 

It’s a unique nine-digit number that enables the internal Revenue Service (IRS) to identify your business for tax reporting. Think of it as a social security number for your business.

You have to apply for an EIN to register for state and federal taxes before you can open for business. The good news is applying for an EIN is super easy and completely free of cost. All you need to do is apply online on the IRS website using the EIN Assistant.

IRS.gov EIN assistant page.

Educate Yourself in Applicable Small Business Taxes

Your choice of business structure influences how your business will be taxed. For instance, if you decide to create a C-Corp, you’ll find yourself paying double taxes—first on behalf of the business and then on the amount you earn through the business.

Here are a few Quicksprout guides to help you understand this in more detail:

While you’re at it, you should also find out about specific state and franchise taxes that may apply to your business.

Step 3: Set Up Your Business Account

This step involves setting up a business bank account, a business credit card (if needed), and maintaining an account of all your expenses and income sources.

Open Your Business Bank Account

You need dedicated business banking to protect your personal assets.

If you mix up your personal and business accounts, the IRS will treat both your business accounts as a single unit, putting your personal assets like your home, car, and other valuables at risk if your business gets sued. Besides, opening a business bank account also simplifies accounting and tax filing.

So make sure you create a bank account for your business pronto.

Get a Business Credit Card

Learning how to build business credit is key for long-term success. 

This knowledge can help you get a credit card and other sources to finance to raise finance in your business’s name, which in turn, will give you access to several benefits like better interest rates and higher lines of credit.

A business credit card can also be useful for separating your personal and business expenses, putting all your business expenses in one place.

Set Up Business Accounting

After creating your business bank account and getting a credit card, you’ll have to set up business accounting, where you record all your expenses and sources of income. 

Doing this will help you understand how well your business performs. Plus, keeping accurate and detailed accounts can also streamline tax filing.

Step 4: Procuring the Necessary Licenses and Permits

Failing to acquire necessary permits and licenses can be very dangerous. You may end up paying exorbitant fines, but the government may order you to shut down your business.

Find Out the Applicable Licences for Your Lawn Care Business

You have to figure out the necessary licenses and permits you need to run your business.

In most states, businesses have to obtain a Lawn Service license. You may need to consider certain local licensing and regulatory requirements too.

  1. Check your town, city, and the county clerk’s office to get more information
  2. Contact any local associations listed in the U.S. Small Business Associations directory of local business resources. for more assistance.

Prepare Service Agreements

To be on the safer side, you should ask all your clients to sign a services agreement before starting a new project. This agreement should outline client expectations and minimize the risk of legal dispute by clarifying payment terms and conditions.

Step 5: Build an Online Presence 

Having a solid online presence is extremely crucial in today’s time. This includes creating your business website, social media profiles, and networking.

Let’s discuss a few ways to build a remarkable online presence to attract customers for boosting sales and marketing your services.

Create Your Business Website

All legitimate businesses have websites, so there’s no reason why yours shouldn’t. 

You can use website builder tools like Wix or GoDaddy to create a basic website within minutes. This way, you won’t have to hire a web developer or designer and still have a website you can be proud of.

Wix build your unique online presence page.

Sign Up for Popular Social Media Platforms

Your target clients can be on Facebook, Instagram, Yelp, and Google Businesses. 

You should first sign up on various social media platforms, followed by adding information about your lawn care business. Don’t forget to add photographs of your previous landscaping jobs and positive customer and positive customer testimonials to lend credibility to your name.

Network Your Way to the Top

Tons of small lawn care businesses start with only a single customer. So even if you’re just starting out, no need to worry. Your work will speak for you.

However, what you do need to do is network to gain more word-of-mouth publicity. Reach out to potential customers and advertise your services to boost business.

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How to Text From a Laptop

Want to get going right away? Sign up for SimpleTexting and start texting from your laptop today.

Texting and cell phones usually go together like peanut butter and jelly. But if you want to leverage the power of text messaging to market your products or services, reach prospects quickly, or alert your workforce to time-sensitive information, it’s actually really hard to do from your phone. That’s why business text messaging services exist. 

With these services, you can easily use your laptop to send a text message to a single recipient or a group text to larger audiences. This type of quick and efficient outreach can play a big part in your company’s success. Read on to learn how to quickly and effectively text from a laptop.

Quick Start Guide to Texting from a Laptop

Whether you want to send bulk texts to your entire customer database or an individual message to a high-value contact, SimpleTexting is software that makes it easy to do both. Sending a text to a single contact takes just two steps.

First, sign up for a SimpleTexting account. There are a variety of plans available there, with pricing determined by how many texts you plan to send each month. 

There’s also a 14-day free trial, so you can test the waters with no obligation. You don’t even need to provide a credit card. Once you create your account, you’ll be assigned a toll-free number and taken to a home screen like this:

SimpleText home screen

Next, send an individual text. Now that you have your account, sending a text couldn’t be easier. Just select Inbox from the menu on the left, then click New and type in the telephone number of your recipient. If you already have created a contact for this person in SimpleTexting, their information will auto-fill. After that, you can type your message in the box at the bottom of the screen and select Send SMS. That’s it! Your message is on its way.

It’s equally as easy to use SimpleTexting to send group texts to all of your contacts or to specific subsets that you can define. 

Send A Group Text From A Laptop In 5 Steps

With a business text messaging service, it’s never been easier to reach your customers or employees with just a few clicks. Here’s how:

  1. Sign Up With A Business Text Messaging Service
  2. Create A Contact List
  3. Add Records To Your Contact List
  4. Start A Text Campaign
  5. Send Your Campaign

I’ve selected SimpleTexting for this how-to guide because it’s one of the best all-around services on the market today. Depending on the business text messaging service you choose, the instructions that follow may be different.

1. Sign Up With A Business Text Messaging Service 

First, create an account with SimpleTexting. You can begin with their 14-day free trial, and you won’t even have to provide any credit card information to get started.

SimpleTexting signup and pricing page

To activate your free trial account, you will need to provide some basic contact information and answer a few questions about how you plan to use SimpleTexting. With no credit card requirement, this is a truly no-commitment way to try out a business text messaging service. 

2. Create A Contact List

Before you can send group texts, you’ll need to create a list of contacts. When you activated your free trial account, SimpleTexting automatically created a list called, appropriately, My First List. Feel free to add records to that list or create a new list with a more informative name.

For this tutorial, I’m going to create a brand new list. Here’s how to do it.

Select Contacts from the menu on the left of the home screen, then click the + New list button.

Contacts window with arrows pointing out contacts and new list buttons

Choose a name for the new list. Here, I chose Customer List, since I eventually plan to send a group text to current customers alerting them to an upcoming sale. Then click Create list.

new list window with arrows pointing to list name box and create list button

You will then see the newly created list on the Contact screen, as shown below.

contacts window with an arrow pointing to the newly created list

Of course, at this stage, your new list is empty. You’ll need to populate it in order to send a group text. The next step shows you how to get that done.

3. Add Records To Your Contact List

If you sign up for a monthly SimpleTexting subscription that includes 7,500 texts per month or higher, you unlock SimpleTexting integrations. This allows you to easily import your contact list data directly from your CRM or another source. You’ll actually get access to more than 400 apps, including some of the most popular CRM tools, including Salesforce, HubSpot, Infusionsoft, and Zoho CRM.

However, if you opt for a lower service tier or are testing out the free trial version of SimpleTexting, you still have several options to populate your contact list. You can import a limited number of CSV, XLS, or XLSX records, connect to a MailChimp list, create Zapier automated workflows that require coding, or manually enter data. 

To keep things simple here, I’ll walk you through the process of manually creating records in your list.

In the Contacts screen, click on your customer list to open it in a new screen. Select Add contact to create your first record in the empty list.

List screen with arrow pointing to the add contact option

You will then see a pop-up screen, like the one below. Fill in the desired information, then select Add contact to save the record. Note that only a phone number and list name are required, but that you can personalize the contact more than that. I’d suggest making sure to include the contact’s first and last name at least, and their email address would likely be helpful as well. 

Add contact pop-up window with arrow pointing to the add contact button

To add additional contacts in the list window, click the Add Contacts drop-down arrow, then select Manually add contact. 

List window with arrows pointing to the add contacts drop-down arrow and manually add contact selection

This will bring up another pop-up box for the new contact. Repeat these steps to add all your contacts.

And that’s it. You’ve created your first list of future text recipients.

4. Start A Text Campaign

Once you have your contact list populated, you are just a few steps away from sending out a group text. Here’s how to start the process.

From the SimpleTexting home screen, select Campaigns from the menu on the left, then choose New. 

Campaigns menu selection screen

You will see the following Compose campaign screen. Enter your Campaign name and choose whether your message will be formatted as SMS (text only) or MMS (media plus text).

Next, create your message. You can include emojis, custom URLs, media, and even custom fields to personalize your message. As you create your message, you can see how your message will look in the Message preview screen on the right.

Compose campaign screen with text preview window visible on the right side

In the Send to field, use the drop-down arrow to display all the lists you’ve created. Select the list you wish to use. Here we’ve chosen the Customer List we created in Steps 2-3.

List selection screen with arrows pointing to drop-down button and new list

You’re now almost ready to send your message to the recipients on your chosen list. Don’t close this screen, though. You’ll need to complete a few more steps to finish the process. 

5. Send Your Campaign

It’s almost go time. Your contact list is built and your campaign is designed and approved. All that’s left is to decide when to send it. SimpleTexting offers several options.

Scroll down the Compose campaign screen to the Send on section. Here you can choose when to send your text message. Your options are:

  1. Immediately – your campaign will go out as soon as you confirm it.
  2. Scheduled – your campaign will go out at a future date you select.
  3. Recurring – your campaign will go out multiple times on dates you select.

Whichever delivery option you choose, when you select Next you’ll be prompted with a final confirmation screen. This is where you can double-check and edit details of your campaign before you finalize it for delivery. 

Once you are sure your campaign is as you want it, click Send now (for immediate delivery) or Schedule (for scheduled or recurring delivery). In this example, we chose immediate delivery. If you choose a future date or recurring delivery, you would see a Schedule button instead.

Final approval screen with an arrow pointing to the send now button

Congratulations, you’ve just created your first campaign and sent or scheduled your first group text using a business text messaging service. 

Final Thoughts About Texting from a Laptop

With a business text messaging service, your laptop becomes a powerful tool to reach new and existing customers in an efficient and highly effective way. With it, you can send a single text to a VIP client or a group text to a targeted list–without having to squint at a mobile screen or set up everything using only your thumbs.

Text messaging boasts a nearly 100% read rate, so in just a few clicks you can get your important information in front of the eyes that really matter–all from your keyboard. It’s easy with a business text messaging service.

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The Essential Guide to Online Meeting Etiquette

Whether you attend one online meeting a month or a dozen each week, it’s important to know what to do–and what to avoid–to maximize the success of each call. While online meetings are a lot like in-person meetings, there are some nuances that require you to pivot and up your meeting etiquette game.

Don’t worry if you’re not sure where to start. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the “hows and whys” of online meeting etiquette, so you can avoid being that person in your next Zoom call. Everything you need to know to be an online meeting pro is covered here.

Online Meeting Etiquette Guide Quick Links

If you’re new to online meetings, reading through this entire guide from start to finish is a great way to get up to speed. But if you’re an online meeting veteran, feel free to jump to the sections you most want to know about right now.

  • Why Online Meeting Etiquette Is Important
  • Key Rules of Online Meeting Etiquette
  • Considerations for a Hybrid Meeting
  • Use the Best Tool For Your Online Meeting
  • Final Thoughts About Online Meeting Etiquette

Why Online Meeting Etiquette Is Important

With remote workforces the norm these days, chances are you’ve been invited to more than a few virtual meetings lately. It’s also likely that at least one of those meetings didn’t feel as productive as it could have been.

Meetings are a necessary part of the work day, whether they are in-person or online. But inefficient meetings rob businesses of valuable employee productivity time, which has a cumulative effect as the number of meetings and attendees increases. 

Any meeting can go south fast, but online meetings are even more susceptible due to their more casual nature and ease of scheduling. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way. 

One way to boost the efficiency and effectiveness of online meetings is by knowing and following basic meeting etiquette rules, especially those unique to online venues. These etiquette best practices eliminate common meeting pitfalls and maintain a professional tone in online meetings, which helps make those meetings more efficient, productive, and enjoyable for all. 

Key Rules of Online Meeting Etiquette

Some traditional meeting etiquette guidelines apply universally, whether you’re seated in the boardroom or joining a meeting from your living room. But in the more casual atmosphere of working from home, many of these common-sense etiquette rules unintentionally fall by the wayside. 

Then there are the unique etiquette considerations that only arise when the meeting venue is online. 

Whether you’re a Zoom expert or an occasional online meeting attendee, I’ll guide you through everything you need to know to bring your best self to your next online meeting. Let’s get started.

Before the Meeting

Great online meetings begin long before the scheduled start time. Whether you’re the meeting organizer or an invited attendee, dedicating prep time before you click the launch button goes a long way toward online meeting success.

As your meeting date approaches, make sure all the following boxes get ticked.

Make an agenda. If you’re the meeting organizer, take time to put together an agenda that spells out everything to be covered during the meeting, then distribute it well in advance. Whether your agenda is a formal memo/email or a simple bullet list within the meeting invite is up to you, as long as it informs attendees of what to expect to discuss. 

If you’re a meeting attendee who receives an agenda, review it ahead of time. This helps you adequately prepare so you can add value to the meeting discussion. If you’ve been invited but haven’t received an agenda, ask the meeting organizer for one.

Agree on meeting ground rules. This doesn’t have to be anything oppressive, just basic stuff that helps keep a meeting on track. Make clear whether using chat during the meeting is okay, what to do if you have to temporarily leave the meeting, how to handle interruptions, etc.

The key is to ensure all attendees are on the same page and expectations are understood before the meeting begins. This helps your meetings run smoothly and minimizes interruptions or undesirable behavior.

Be thoughtful about the guest list. If you’re the meeting organizer, limit your invitees to only those people who really need to be there. Don’t waste your colleagues’ time with unnecessary meeting invites.

If you’re on the receiving end of a meeting invite and can’t identify why you were invited, ask the meeting organizer before clicking accept. 

Get in the right headspace. When you’re joining a meeting from your computer, it’s easy to go straight from whatever you’re working on to clicking “join” at the meeting start time. But resist that urge, and take a lesson from the old days when you used to attend meetings in person.

In a traditional office setting, you likely stood up from your desk, perhaps grabbed a beverage from the break room, and then walked to the meeting room. All that activity gave you a mental and physical reset between activities. 

Try and do something similar before an online meeting starts, even if it is just standing up and stretching or walking away from your computer for a few minutes. When you return, you’ll find your head clear and ready for engagement.

Test your equipment. It doesn’t matter if you’re using a new piece of equipment or the same old computer and headset you’ve always had, making sure it works before the meeting starts is important. Few things are more embarrassing than fumbling around at the start of a meeting trying to get your headset working while your colleagues look on and wait.

Log in early. This goes hand-in-hand with testing your equipment. Don’t wait until the last second to join an online meeting. If you log in early, you have a chance to work out any bugs and slide into the meeting looking like the pro you are.

Dress appropriately. There’s no need to bust out formal business attire unless your company or the circumstances of the online meeting require it. But don’t go too far with the super-casual nature of working remotely. Don’t check into an online meeting looking like you just rolled out of bed or came straight from the gym. A simple rule of thumb is to wear something comfortable and/or professional that isn’t a distraction to other meeting attendees. 

Consider your environment. A quiet, private space with a neutral background and great natural lighting is the ideal spot to join an online meeting. An online meeting is not the time to showcase your eclectic collection of medieval weaponry on the wall behind you, unless you’re meeting with a group of fellow collectors! 

The same rule of thumb about your attire not being a distraction goes for your environment. If you can’t create a distraction-free space, then use the background blurring or virtual background features available in most online meeting software tools. If that feature isn’t available, consider a more neutral location to join your online meetings. 

During the Meeting

You’ve prepped, tested your equipment, joined early, and are ready for the meeting to begin. But how you act during the meeting is equally important as how you prepped for it ahead of time. 

Turn your video on. It’s fine to keep your camera off while you wait for others to join the call, but once the meeting officially begins your camera should go on. Seeing faces during an online meeting makes the experience more personalized and human.

Limit distractions. Mute all notifications, including email, chat apps, and anything else that might be an attention breaker during the meeting. This is especially important if you’ll be sharing your screen during the call. Unexpected pop-up notifications are the fastest way to share things with your colleagues you might not want them to know.

Likewise, if you’re easily distracted, close all unnecessary browser tabs and put your phone away. There’s nothing as annoying during a video call than other people visibly doing non-meeting related things, like surfing the web or scrolling on their phone.

Make appropriate introductions.  This probably isn’t necessary for a standing meeting that includes the same people every time. But if you’re hosting a meeting where everyone doesn’t know each other well, take a few minutes to run through brief introductions. This will set context and help others identify and understand who’s on the call and why.

Assess your audience. If you’re going to speak during the meeting, take a minute to understand who you’re talking to. Choose vocabulary and language they will understand. 

For example, if you’re a technical engineer speaking at a meeting with non-technical people, avoid jargon or specialized terminology that isn’t widely understood. The fastest way to lose your audience is speaking in a way they don’t understand.

Avoid talking over others. This is easier said than done sometimes, especially when there are a lot of people engaged during an online meeting. One way to minimize this is to pause for a second or two after someone stops talking before you begin to speak. 

And if two of you start speaking at the same time, go ahead and defer to your colleague. You’ll get your chance when they finish.

To mute or not to mute. For meetings with just a few participants, keeping your microphone on lets the conversation flow naturally, much as it would if you were together in person. The informal nature of small meetings also isn’t too impacted by the normal sounds of daily life, like loud cars driving past or a telephone ringing.

However, for large meetings with many participants, muting yourself unless you’re speaking is a good general practice. That way you minimize the risk that Fido interrupts someone’s presentation when the UPS driver rings your doorbell. And if you’re the host of the meeting and doing most of the talking, you might also consider muting all other attendees until you’ve finished speaking and are ready to take questions. 

Pay attention. Sure, it’s tempting to quickly fire off an overdue email response or answer a chat message when you’re in an online meeting, especially a long meeting. But don’t go there, especially if you’re not on mute and your camera is turned on. 

Keyboard clacking, message arrival chimes, and your furrowed brow looking away from the camera are surefire indicators you’re not tuned in to the meeting. It’s not a good look, especially if your boss is also in the meeting.

Allow participants to leave early. If you’re the meeting organizer, make it clear that it is acceptable for some participants to leave the meeting if their purpose there is finished. 

Don’t get in the habit of making all attendees stay for the sake of staying. You’ll usually end up with people multitasking once they see no value in being there.

Keep meetings short and sweet. The silver lining of online meetings is that the usual digressions into off-topic conversations doesn’t happen as naturally as when you’re meeting in person. Use this to your advantage.

If you’re leading the meeting, follow your agenda closely, build time in for Q&A at the end of the meeting, and don’t let tangents spiral out of control. That way, your meeting only lasts as long as necessary, even if it ends earlier than planned. 

End your meeting on time. Good meeting management by following a clear agenda is the best way to ensure your meeting ends at the planned time. If you do need to go over the allotted time, be sure to ask attendees if they can stay–don’t just assume they’ll all hang on longer than scheduled.

If they have to go, reassure them it is fine and promise to bring them up to speed later about anything substantive that was discussed. 

Thank participants for attending. Everyone’s time is valuable and online meetings have a way of sucking time away from the workday. Before screens go dark, be sure and recognize the attendees and show your appreciation for their time.

After the Meeting

Good online meeting etiquette doesn’t end when the meeting ends, especially if you’re the meeting organizer.

If you are in this role, make sure you take care of these final tasks after every online meeting.

Summarize and share meeting notes. Every productive meeting should result in notes identifying what was discussed and agreed to. Be sure to send this information out to all attendees, so they can remember what transpired.

Assign tasks and deadlines. If assignments were made during the meeting, be sure to identify who is responsible, what they need to do, and when it must be completed. You can include this in the meeting notes, input it into your project management system, or do both. 

Schedule followup meetings if needed. If the same group needs to meet again in two weeks, or if you need to follow up with each individual attendee, make sure to put those meetings on the calendar and send out new invites as soon as possible, so everyone can plan for them right away. 

Considerations For Hybrid Meetings

When some attendees are together in a conference room while other attendees are calling in from remote locations, all the general etiquette rules still apply. But there are a few more considerations to keep in mind to ensure these hybrid meetings are most effective.

Make sure everyone is visible. If the conference room has built-in technology for video calls, then make sure everyone gathered can be seen on the screen. If not, have each attendee join via their own computer, just like their remote colleagues.

Focus on inclusivity. Side conversations tend to naturally happen when people are physically together in a room for a meeting. Try to avoid thisq since remote attendees cannot easily be part of the chatter. 

Likewise, when some people are gathered in person but others are on video, you may need to go to greater lengths to engage the remote attendees. If you’re not hearing much from the remote people, check in with them throughout the meeting to make sure they’re getting what they need to make the meeting productive for them.

Give remote speakers the floor. Remote attendees don’t have the benefit of nonverbal cues like people physically together have. If two attendees speak at the same time and one is in the meeting room and the other is remote, defer to the remote speaker. 

Likewise, ask remote attendees questions throughout the meeting to make sure they aren’t forgotten. They may have valuable information to share, but be unsure when to interject.

Conduct post-meeting outreach. It’s easy to engage in a post-meeting debrief when a colleague is standing next to you, but not quite so easy if the person disappears behind a dark screen. Make it a point to call or message remote colleagues after the meeting to debrief and catch up. 

Use The Best Tool For Your Online Meeting

Common team messaging tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams are great for informally communicating with individuals or small groups of team members in dispersed locations. But when your needs exceed the limitations of those tools, you’ll want something beefier to manage online meetings. 

This is where conference call services like Nextiva, RingCentral, and Zoom come into play. Choosing a tool that offers robust video and audio quality, includes the ability to record calls, and accommodates large numbers of attendees is crucial to business success.

You might already have one of these tools in place. If so and you’re happy with it, congratulations. You’re already well on the path to online meeting success. 

If you aren’t already using such a service, be sure to check out my review of the top-rated conference call services on the market today. I walk you through the things to consider when choosing an audio/video conferencing tool, and dive into the pros and cons of each product.

Final Thoughts About Online Meeting Etiquette

Distributed workforces are here to stay and with them come the need for online meetings. To master this convenient technology and get the most out of every scheduled meeting, following good online meeting etiquette is crucial.

Ensuring you’re prepared before, during, and after every online meeting helps to make the most of your virtual meeting time. It also results in more satisfied colleagues and a more positive attitude toward online meetings, too.

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Next.js Wildcard Subdomains

A “wildcard”? What in the world? Great question, these types of domain stem from Wildcard DNS Records which look like this:

*.example.               3600     TXT   "Wild! You have found a wildcard."

When used, this DNS record will cause any subdomain that matches with the wildcard to hold a TXT value of: “Wild! You have found a wildcard.”

For example, if this was set on the domain smashingmagazine.com, apples.example.smashingmagazine.com and oranges.example.smashingmagazine.com would both return the above TXT value. The same principle can be applied to CNAME & A records as well.

Wild Use Cases For Wildcards

Wildcards can be used for a wide range of things. For now, let’s focus on where they can be applied in combination with Next.js:

  1. Providing Hosted Services
    The most common use of wildcard domains is to provide users of hosted services their own space with a unique subdomain. For example, if I was building a platform for restaurants to host digital ordering platforms with the domain menus.abc, I would be able to offer Dom’s Pizzeria domspizzeria.menus.abc and Magical Prata the domain magicalprata.menus.abc. The benefit of this is that it gives each of these establishments their enclosed space which they can customize and build out. This space can act as its own website — not tied to anything.
  2. Hosting Content And Personal Portfolios
    Wildcards can also be used as a space for hosting content in portfolios, giving a sense of individuality to these portfolios, an example of this would be how Medium provides subdomains for the authors.
  3. Wilder More Creative Use Cases
    You can’t define these use cases, but there are many creative use cases of these styles of domains. For example, later in this article, we’ll be developing a web toy that flips a webpage upside down making it readable for Australians.
The Caveats Of Wildcards With Next.js

Sigh. Unfortunately, using wildcards isn’t perfect there are a couple of drawbacks:

  • No More Static-Site Generation (and ISR)
    Unfortunately, there aren’t any special systems to provide custom statically generated pages for different wildcard subdomains like you may with dynamic routing for example (where you have [slug].js files).
  • Difficulties with Development
    When developing locally, it can be a pain to simulate wildcard domains and we’ll be touching on this a fair bit later on in this article but it is something important to keep in mind.
  • Limited Deployment Platforms
    Vercel supports Wildcard Domains, however, other Jamstack oriented platforms do not all support wildcard domains. For example, Netlify limits the feature to a select group of users on the Pro plan.
Building With Wildcards

With all this talk, let’s look at building with these domains. We’ll be focusing on three places where you can get the wildcard:

  1. Server Side In getServerSideProps,
  2. Client Side With useEffect,
  3. Server Side On API Routes And Edge Functions.

Server Side In getServerSideProps

This is the most commonplace in which you will need to extract the wildcard, you can use this on pages where you need to render completely different content for different wildcards. As discussed above, this can not be done through static site generation so we must do it on server-side rendered pages.

The getServerSideProps is passed a context object, in this object you can access the HTTP request object using context.req. In this request object, you can access the hostname at headers.host, which will return a string such as example.yourdomain.com. We can split the string into an array across each period and then access the first item in said array. In code, that looks like this:

export async function getServerSideProps(context) {
  let wildcard = context.req.headers.host.split(".")[0];
  wildcard =
    wildcard != "yourdomain"
      ? process.env.NODE_ENV != "development"
        ? wildcard
        : process.env.TEST_WILDCARD
      : "home";
  return { props: { wildcard } };
}

As you can see in this piece of code, we do an extra set processing on the wildcard if it’s the base domain we set the wildcard to home (if taking user input, this is a case you will need to handle) and if we are testing on localhost we can test out other wildcards. In our default export function, which renders our page we can use a switch statement to handle the wildcards:

export default function App(props) {
  switch(props.wildcard) {
    case "home":
      return <div>Welcome to the home page!</div>;
      break;
    default:
      return <div>The wild card is: {props.wildcard}.</div>;
  }
}

Client Side With useEffect

If you only want to make small modifications to each page on a different wildcard, you can avoid using server-side rendering by using the useEffect hook on the client-side. This approach will be rather similar to how we did it in getServerSideProps, except we will be relying on window.location.hostname. Using window means that the initial server render won’t be able to access the information, so we must wrap it within a useEffect hook that runs on the client-side. Here’s how that code looks like:

// useEffect and useState must be imported from 'react'

const [wildcard, setWildcard] = useState("")
  useEffect(() => {
    setWildcard(window.location.hostname.split(".")[0])
  }, [])

This approach, however, is far from perfect as there is a delay between the page’s first render and the wildcard being available. Therefore, if you are making drastic changes based on the wildcard then the changes will be jarring for your user. This may also hurt your cumulative layout shift measure on your web vitals. With this in mind, I highly recommend limiting your use of this approach to adaptations that would be off-sight from the viewer on the initial load. An example would be a branded footer, on a technical documentation page. It is, of course, still handy to know.

Server Side On API Routes And Edge Functions

API routes are another area where you may want to access a wildcard from. Fortunately, the same request object we discussed in the above section on getServerSideProps is also available when using a Node.js API route with Next.js. We can access it like this:

export default (req, res) => {
  let wildcard = req.headers.host.split(".")[0];
  wildcard =
    wildcard != "yourdomain"
      ? process.env.NODE_ENV != "development"
        ? wildcard
        : process.env.TEST_WILDCARD
      : "home";
  res.json({ wildcard: wildcard })
}

Following this, we can then take certain actions such as fetching different data from your database depending on the wildcard and return that from the API.

This same logic can be applied to Next.js’ new Edge Functions / Middleware. This enables you to use wildcards in more than one route without duplicating code as well as speeding up the processing as code execution happens on the edge. Whilst the functionality is still in beta, it’s certainly something to keep an eye on.

// _middleware.js
export function middleware(req) {
  let wildcard = req.headers.get("host").split(".")[0];
  console.log(wildcard);
  wildcard =
    wildcard != "yourdomain"
      ? process.env.NODE_ENV != "development"
        ? wildcard
        : process.env.TEST_WILDCARD
      : "home";
  console.log(process.env.TEST_WILDCARD);
  return new Response(JSON.stringify({ wildcard: wildcard }), {
    status: 200,
    headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  });
}
The 🦘Aussie-izer

Now that we’ve explored the theory of this strategy, let’s explore how we put it into practice. In this section, we’ll be taking this approach to build a project that flips websites upside down (well, websites that are using a .com domain and aren’t subdomains) called the 🦘Aussie-izer.

To get started, we’re going to want to run yarn init and then yarn add next react react-dom, and finish up by adding these standard scripts to our package.json:

"scripts": {
  "dev": "next dev",
  "build": "next build",
  "start": "next start",
  "lint": "next lint"
}

As soon as we’ve got a standard Next.js project set up, we’re going to want to create the only code file we’ll need for this project: pages/index.js.

First, we’ll want to add the getServerSideProps function in which we’ll extract the wildcard (as I’ll be hosting this at aussieizer.sampoder.com) that’s what I’ll be evaluating to home as:

export async function getServerSideProps(context) {
  let wildcard = context.req.headers.host.split(".")[0];
  wildcard =
    wildcard != "aussieizer"
      ? wildcard != "localhost:3000"
        ? wildcard
        : process.env.TEST_WILDCARD
      : "home";
  return { props: { wildcard } };
}

We’ll then be using that wildcard, to render an iFrame to fill that page (by flipping iFrame over to create the effect), with our src being set to {`https://${props.wildcard}.com`}. We’ll use a switch case, as we discussed above, to render a small helper page if they visit the home page:

export default function App(props) {
  switch (props.wildcard) {
    case "home":
      return (
        <div>
          Welcome to the Aussie-izer! This only works for .com domains. If you
          want to Aussie-ize{" "}
          <a href="https://example.com">https://example.com</a> visit{" "}
          <a href="https://example.aussieizer.sampoder.com">
            https://example.aussieizer.sampoder.com
          </a>.
        </div>
      );
      break;
    default:
      return (
        <iframe
          src={https://${props.wildcard}.com}
          style={{
            transform: "rotate(180deg)",
            border: "none",
            height: "100vh",
            width: "100%",
            overflow: "hidden",
          }}
          frameBorder="0"
          scrolling="yes"
          seamless="seamless"
          height="100%"
          width="100%"
        ></iframe>
      );
  }
}

And we’re ready to go! The live version is available at https://aussieizer.sampoder.com and the source code can be found at https://github.com/sampoder/aussie-izer/.

Hosting/Deployment

If you’re hosting on a custom server, wildcard domains will be a breeze to set up through DNS. However, a great part about using Jamstack is being able to host on services such as Vercel or Netlify; these services have their own domain management systems.

Vercel

Vercel supports wildcard domains out of the box — for all accounts. To use them, first visit the Domains section of your deployment’s Settings tab. Next, you’ll want to enter your domain by using a * to signify the wildcard.

For the above example, I entered:

*.aussieizer.sampoder.com

You most likely will also want to add your root domain (aussieizer.sampoder.com, in my case) to be able to provide a homepage or some instructions, however, that could also be a separate codebase.

Netlify

Netlify limits their wildcards feature to Pro accounts; if you have a Pro account, you will need to email their support staff for them to then enable the option on your account. It will show up in the domain settings page once enabled.

Render

Render also offers wildcard domains to all users. Simply enter a domain with a * (signifying your wildcard) in the Add Custom Domain input on the custom domains section of your site’s settings page which will enable the wildcard. Please note that Render will require you to add additional records to your DNS so that they can issue a LetsEncrypt SSL certificate (exact instructions will be shown to you when you input your wildcard domain).

That’s It!

Wildcard domains often go under the radar — I hope you enjoyed exploring them with me. Thank you!

Also: FYI Australians do not actually see upside down.

Further Reading On Smashing Magazine

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How to Start a Media Business

It used to be that a handful of media companies with deep pockets owned and controlled the industry.

These conglomerates had complete control of the information and entertainment we consumed. 

The digital age has completely overturned the industry. 

Now, anyone with a computer and camera and an exciting take on news or entertainment can create a media company. 

If you’ve always been interested in the media business, there has perhaps never been a better time to join the fray. 

The Easy Parts of Starting a Media Business

Not everything about starting a media business has to be complicated.

One of the most promising prospects of getting into this business is the flexibility it offers. You are free to dedicate as little or as much time to starting and growing your business. In addition, you can start as a solopreneur handling all aspects of your business. This way, you can keep your day job until your company is profitable enough to justify running it full-time.

A media business also has low barriers to entry. Specifically, a digital media business requires little more than your time and effort. You can get started even without an office space, working out of your home. You can also get started with just the basics, like a workstation, internet connection, and website.

Similarly, there are few overhead costs when running a media business, especially in the beginning. You don’t need to worry about paying employees, inventory, storefront, and other overheads associated with most types of business. The media business also has potentially high gross margins. Coupled with the low overhead costs, you get to keep much of your profit.

Planning your media business is also more straightforward than it seems. A tool like Bionic has everything you need for media planning. You can easily create media plans, build flowcharts, predict KPIs, and automate your request for proposal (RPF) process. This software helps increase your productivity, allowing you to spend more time focusing on critical factors like building your client pipeline. 

Finally, all the information you need to start and run a successful media company is freely available. There are bountiful blogs, websites, Facebook groups, eBooks, YouTube videos, and other media dedicated to helping you start your business. Much of this information is also high value and completely free. You also don’t necessarily need specific media education or certification to get started.

The Hard Parts of Starting a Media Business

There are many attractive reasons to get into the media business. But not everything is rosy in this line of work. Like starting any other business, you can expect challenges and drawbacks when creating your media company.

The most immediate challenge you’ll face when starting your business is competition. The media business is crowded, and some of your competitors have been in the industry for decades. Building trust with your audience and clients can prove challenging. It will take some time before you can carve out a space for yourself in the media landscape.

Another challenge once you’re up and running is cash flow. This is especially true in the weeks and months following your big company launch. Starting your business means you are self-employed. There are no benefits or paid time off. Additionally, you don’t have a consistent check to look forward to. You only get paid for your work, and you can expect some dry months in the beginning.

Starting a media business is also labor-intensive. You’ll likely be handling all the administrative tasks on top of making major business decisions. In addition, your business could easily obliterate your social life and even get in the way of spending quality time with your loved ones.

Lastly, maintaining a positive brand image can prove challenging. You are putting yourself out there as an expert makes you an open target for criticism. Navigating the political and social landscape can be tricky. And, the internet can be brutal for people who are actively putting out their ideas and opinions. You need thick skin to succeed in this business.

However, a media business can be rewarding despite the challenges. The media market is incredibly fragmented in the digital age. There’s a good chance for you to find a niche that you are passionate about, matches your expertise, and where you are likely to succeed.

If you’re ready to pull the trigger on your business idea, here’s how to create a media business step by step.

Step 1 – Create a Plan for Your Business

The media business is an extensive industry. According to Law Insider, you’re in the media business if you engage in creating, producing, distributing, exhibiting, or otherwise exploiting visual, audio, or audio-visual works or recordings. Specific works falling under this definition include television, books, radio broadcasting, periodical publishing, and merchandising.

So, it is necessary to narrow down your idea of the media business you want to create.

Choose Your Niche

There are almost infinite options when starting a media business. So, choose a niche to get started building your business. Some of the most common media niches include:

  • Publishing – including newspapers, magazines, books, blogs, research papers, references, and comics.
  • Video & Animation – including video products such as YouTube, broadcast television, and animation
  • Video Games – including all types of virtual environments like virtual reality
  • Film – may include producing and distributing documentaries, movies, and music videos
  • Streaming Media – refers to on-demand media that people can access online
  • Audio – such as broadcast radio or podcasts
  • Music – includes producing, distributing, and performing music
  • Interactive Media – like apps, websites, and software

The business niche you choose is entirely up to you. But, there are a few guidelines that can help you choose the best niche. For example, you want to start with a general area where you are knowledgeable. To this end, think about your passions, hobbies, and previous work experience.

Then, identify a gap within that market where you position yourself to solve problems. For example, Michael Arrington started the now popular website TechCrunch.com as a part-time blogger. He focused solely on technology news, allowing him to position his blog as the go-to source for technology news. As a result, TechCrunch was acquired by AOL in September 2010 for approximately 40 million.

Create a Business Plan

A business plan will inform almost every aspect of building and running your business. So, it is worth dedicating some time and effort to creating a plan for your business. Primarily, the business plan will help you identify your goals and objectives. It will also chart a path to reaching the objectives and help you manage your budget and time.  

Some of the sections to detail in your business plan include:

  • Executive summary
  • Financial considerations
  • Objectives
  • Mission
  • Keys to success

The Small Business Administration (SBA) website offers extensive resources to help you plan, launch, manage, and grow your business.

Step 2 – Sign Up for Media Planning Software

Media planning can be tricky, especially when getting into business for the first time. Media planning software like Bionic helps to make the process easier. The Bionic team will even set up your account within an hour of requesting a free trial. The platform even sets up training at no extra cost to ensure you get the most out of the software suite.

Request a Free Trial

Simply visit this link to request your free trial. You’ll need to provide a few details including your first and last name, phone number, and email. Then, you’ll receive an email from the customer support team with the credentials for your active account.

The free trial includes all of the software’s features. The team will also help you create your first media plan. This software has everything you need to look professional from the get-go. Bionic works for all media channels, including radio, digital, TV, and print.

The software costs $195 per user per month. You also get a 14-day money-back guarantee in case you don’t like what the tool has to offer.

Step 3 – Identify Your Target Audience

It is also crucial that you identify the customer group you want to target with your media company. This step will also help you determine the direction of your business. For example, your target audience will determine the type of content you create, the most effective marketing channels, and even how you monetize your media business.

Learn the Types of Target Audiences

Breaking up target audiences into segments makes it easier to find your ideal audience. Some of the categories of target audiences include:

Interest – this group includes audiences with specific hobbies, interests, and entertainment preferences. Interest groups are especially valuable for creating brand loyalty. Therefore, it is worth segmenting audiences into different groups under this category. For example, you can have different groups for entertainment preferences, hobbies, and interests.

Purchase Intention – Audiences in this group are the spenders. They will be the backbone of how your media company generates revenue.

Subcultures – This group is even more effective for creating a community around your brand. Audiences in this group share everyday experiences such as entertainment fandoms or music genres. You can go a long way in creating a loyal following if you understand what motivates this target group.

Ask the Right Questions

There are a few critical questions that can help you identify your ideal target market.

  • The type of media you plan to offer your customers
  • The market segment that benefits most from your media
  • What is unique about the content you plan to offer?

The answers to these questions should easily guide you in identifying an ideal target audience. This way, you can create relevant media that appeals to your customer base. Then, you’ll be able to communicate your value through your core messages and media services.

Then, segment your target audience according to age group, interests, location, and language. This step will further help you target your message to the correct audiences.

Define Your Value Proposition

Defining your value proposition helps to set the pace for your business. Media businesses are a dime a dozen. So, it helps if you can figure out the unique value you have to offer. Does your media company offer unbiased news? Do you have a fresh perspective on entertainment news? 

Think about what you have to offer that is fresh, unique, and valuable in the marketplace. You’ll face a lot of competition from more established media companies. Having a unique value proposition will make it easier to take some much-needed market share.

Step 4 – Register Your Business

You’ll need to set up a business structure before you can get to the hands-on parts of starting a media business. Registering your business will help you appear professional right out of the gate. Also, registering your business has practical implications like paying taxes, liability protections, opening a business account, and hiring employees.

Choose a Business Structure

For most people, a Limited Liability Company (LLC) is the best business structure for a media company. An LLC is flexible, allowing you to publish alone or bring on partners. You also get limited liability protection, meaning that you are not personally liable for your business’ losses, debts, lawsuits, and other liabilities. This way, you can protect your personal finances and assets.

Additionally, an LLC offers flexible tax options to benefit your bottom line. For example, you can choose to be taxed as a partnership or corporation. We have a great guide here to help you choose the best business structure for your operation. At the very least, you should look into limited liability protection. So, a sole proprietorship or partnership is out of the question. These business structures do not offer limited liability protection. Your personal assets and finances will be fair game if you run into business difficulties like debt or lawsuits.  

Register Your Business

Once you’ve settled on a business structure, it’s time to make it official. The process of registering an LLC is relatively straightforward. You’ll need to:

  • Choose a name for your LLC
  • File an Articles of Organization with the secretary of state
  • Pay your state filing fee
  • Create an operating agreement
  • Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS

I recommend using a business formation service or a legal service. Of course, you can always register the LLC on your own. But, you may run into challenges in any of the steps. A formation service takes responsibility for the entire process. This option helps you form your LLC quickly and easily.

Step 5 – Start Creating Content

This step may look a little different depending on the medium you choose. For example, creating an entertainment news blog will look a lot different than a podcast. But, there are commonalities regardless of the media platform you choose to reach your audience.

Plan Your Content

Content planning is the foundation of the content creation process. So, it is worth taking this step seriously. First, start by researching topics for your content. This shouldn’t be too difficult if you’ve already picked a niche and identified your audience.

Still, you may be overwhelmed with content ideas and topics within your niche.

To solve this problem, research keywords that can help drive traffic to your platform. Google AdWords is an excellent tool for this purpose. It comes with a Keyword Planner. Here, you can get valuable search volume data for your targeted keywords. This tool is entirely free, and you can easily download reports.

You’ll want to make sure that you don’t have direct competition from major players. For example, it will take a lot to compete against The Economist if you plan to offer similar content.

Choose a Topic You Like

This point is especially relevant if you’ll be creating your own content. Building valuable content is a long-term game. So, you may not be motivated enough to produce content consistently if you do not enjoy the topic. On the other hand, search engines and audiences alike reward consistency.

For text-based content, make sure that your posts are easy to read. Images, headers, and bullet points help to make your content more scannable. Again, it may sound obvious but stick to the topic best you can.

For video-based content, be sure to create a structure. A good video should include a hook, a summary of the video, the problem you’re hoping to solve, and your unique take on solving the problem. Finally, end the video with a call to action.

Again, the key to a successful media company is consistency. So, make a schedule for creating content and stick to it. The Bionics software will prove invaluable for this step. 

Step 6 – Choose How You’ll Make Money

The main reason many people get into the media business is to make money. Fortunately, there are various avenues for generating profits in this business. You can also combine two or more business models to increase your revenue. Here’s a look at your monetization options for a media business:

Affiliate Linking

Traditionally, affiliate linking has been associated with social media influencers. But, even mainstream media companies are taking advantage of this potentially lucrative revenue source. For example, the New York Times runs a review website known as Wirecutter.

It is essential to include a disclaimer about your affiliate relationships. Similarly, ensure that the affiliate links are clearly marked. This step will help you maintain your journalistic integrity.

Sponsored Content

Sponsored is a relatively new revenue source. But, many digital media companies leverage sponsored content. Here, companies pay to advertise their content on your platform, alongside yours. You can create the sponsored content or have businesses submit it.

Either way, make sure that the sponsored content is clearly marked. Again, it helps your integrity if your audience doesn’t confuse your regular content with sponsored content.

Memberships and Subscriptions

Here, you put your content behind a paywall. Your audience needs to subscribe to get access to the content. This monetization method is very similar to how traditional media makes money.

Subscriptions and memberships can be tricky to monetize. But, it is still possible if you have a sizeable and loyal membership. You’ll need to offer a lot of value to convince your audience to subscribe to your content.

Display Advertising

Most media companies make money from display advertising. You can offer space on your website for businesses to advertise their products or services.

Display advertising is versatile, effective, and relatively easy to do. So, it is worth a shot when considering how to monetize your media business. This option is particularly profitable when you get a large audience. 

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How to Start an LLC in California

California’s economy is one of the most powerful globally, and small businesses make up 99.8% of all companies in California. 

LLCs represent 35% of small businesses in the US. This is because they offer some of the benefits of a corporation, like protecting personal assets without all the hassle and paperwork. 

Starting an LLC in California can be a quick and straightforward process with a little help. 

Your LLC can start generating profits faster than you thought was possible; just follow the steps below.

The Easy Parts of Starting an LLC in CA

Like most formal processes, starting an LLC sounds complicated, but it’s pretty straightforward. The process mainly consists of completing forms with basic information like your business name, address, and what your business does. 

LLCs are the quickest path to success for most small businesses because of owner-friendly policies like pass-through taxation and liability protection.

Liability protection lets you protect personal assets like your home or car when you create your startup. Pass-through taxation enables members of your LLC to skip corporate taxes in favor of individual federal income taxes.

The articles of organization sound formal and complex, but this form is quick and easy to complete in California. Getting an EIN from the IRS is also an easy process. You can grab one online for free.

The Difficult Parts of Starting an LLC in California

It only takes a quick search to learn about the potential negatives of running a business in California. But when you look at creating an LLC, even the bad news isn’t so bad.

Naming an LLC in California can be tricky because of its list of requirements. But these rules have your customers in mind. They are a good guide to follow no matter what state you license your LLC, especially if you plan to operate nationally someday.

There are also some types of LLC, like the series LLC, that California doesn’t allow unless you’re a foreign entity. If you already have a clear business plan, confirm that the LLC structures in California will enable you to execute it as outlined.

Another downside to operating an LLC in California is the costly annual franchise taxes. These come in at a minimum of $800 per year, no matter how little your business earns.

The LLC operating agreement can also be tough to complete, but it’s common for any LLC. In a state known for lawsuits like California, this document can be a strong layer of protection for you and your business.

Local and state licenses can be more complex in California for the same reason. Maintaining an LLC in Cali means paying attention to regular changes in legislation. Headline-grabbing changes from the last several years include The California Revised Uniform Liability Act and The California Consumer Privacy Act. 

These kinds of regulations can make ongoing compliance a headache for small business owners.

LLC services like ZenBusiness can help create your LLC and keep it compliant. This saves time and effort for you, so you can focus on growing your new business.

Step 1: Choose a Business Name

Choosing a name for your business sounds fun and easy, but it’s a very important decision. This step can be pretty time-consuming because California has rigorous naming guidelines. There are several places you’ll want to check for duplicates before you can choose your business name. 

Brainstorm name ideas

As you think about your perfect business name, write out a long list of name ideas. If you jump on the first name you like, it may already be used by another company or website. You’ll want to avoid the hassle of negotiating for your chosen business name.

Add the LLC

Add one of these to your business name if it doesn’t already include it:

  • Limited liability company
  • LLC
  • L.C.C.
  • Limited
  • LTD
  • Company
  • Co 

You might wonder how the business name will impact your branding when naming your LLC. In this case, you can file a DBA (“doing business as”), which is like a nickname for your business. You’ll need to submit your DBA or fictitious business name in the county where you operate your business.

Cut confusion

An LLC name in California can’t include words that could lead customers to confuse your business with a state or federal agency. So, avoid names like The FBI: Fun Business Institute or The San Diego Treasury.

Some terms, like bank, university, or attorney, may require you to show that a licensed individual in that industry is part of your team. 

You’ll also want to avoid words that indicate that your business offers insurance or terms that indicate your business is a corporation and not an LLC.

These regulations help make sure that businesses aren’t misleading the public.

As you choose a business name, ask friends or coworkers what comes to mind when they see your business name. This can help you make sure you are giving people the right idea about what your business does.

Look for state duplicates

Once you have a handful of good business names, do a business search for the State of California to see if your favorite names are available. If the name you choose is too similar to an existing business, you may have your LLC application rejected.

Search the web

Web domains are hot commodities. Check to see if the domain for your business name is available, even if you don’t plan to build a website right away.

Reserving and changing your name

If you’re still figuring things out but want to keep a business name just in case, you can reserve an available name for up to 60 days. Just file a name reservation request!

You also have the option to change your business name later. 

Step 2: Sign Up for ZenBusiness LLC Formation Services

California has more one-of-a-kind rules and regulations than most other states. Their regulations also change more often than you might expect. Maintaining your LLC will mean careful attention to deadlines for annual reports, fees, and taxes. It’s also essential to follow their guidelines carefully when starting an LLC.

Business formation services like ZenBusiness take care of the tricky parts of registering your business as an LLC. They can also help you maintain your LLC status. 

ZenBusiness pricing starts at $49 for the Starter plan, including preparing and filing the LLC paperwork, annual report service, an operating agreement template, and a 100% accuracy guarantee. The Pro plan is $199 and includes expedited filing, an EIN, compliance help, and more. The highest plan is Premium at $299. It has a “rush” filing speed and also includes a business website, domain name, email address, and more.

Agent of Service of Process

California requires businesses to have a registered agent, called an Agent of Service of Process.

This individual or business entity needs to be a full-time resident or corporation in California. They have to be available for company business during normal business hours every day the business is open during the year. The agent of service of process receives legal documents like tax forms and lawsuit notices.

They also maintain a calendar for compliance to make sure your California LLC is on top of required reports. Your agent also maintains an archive of legal documents. This makes it easy for your business to stay compliant when requirements change.

ZenBusiness offers registered agent service free for your first year as an LLC. The service is affordable and essential for any business with a small team and a tight budget. 

They will take care of LLC compliance, so you don’t have to worry about annual filing and other deadlines. They also have expert support to guide your business through challenges that may come up.

Decide on management

The decision of whether your members or an outside manager will manage your LLC is an important one. The Beginner’s Guide to Members vs. Managers in an LLC can help you make this critical decision.

This is something you’ll need to decide before officially filing, as the answer is required on the articles of organization. You’ll choose between a member-managed or manager-managed LLC.

Step 3: File Your Articles of Organization

You’ll work with ZenBusiness to file your articles of organization.

Before you submit, be sure to proofread your forms carefully. Make sure you and your partners are on the same page about the details. 

You can file online, in person, or by mail, and it costs $70. There is an extra $15 drop-off fee if you choose to submit forms in person. 

The processing time after you submit the articles of organization is usually five days. For an additional $750, the state can process your filing the same day you submit it! 

Each amendment to the original articles of organization costs $30. This process requires you to complete another form.

Step 4: Create Your LLC Operating Agreement

The operating agreement is a California LLC mandate. The operating agreement outlines the rules and expectations the LLC members have agreed your LLC will follow. Not all states require one, but even where it is not mandated, it is highly recommended.

This document is legally binding and will help protect your business from internal disputes when challenges come up. 

You don’t have to file the operating agreement formally, but you’ll need to keep any written agreement or amendments with your LLC business records.

Use an operating agreement template

Your ZenBusiness plan comes with an operating agreement template. It can really simplify this complicated process. 

Choices about profit and loss distribution, dividing ownership, and membership structure can be tough to agree on. Starting with this template can smooth the path to logical decisions.

Other things included in the operating agreement include voting rights, adding or removing an LLC member, and even dissolution procedures.

Most of us don’t want to think about the end when a project is only beginning. But outlining a plan for dissolving your LLC will help ensure all members have a clear picture of the future options for your new startup.

An operating agreement will also help ensure the courts maintain your California LLC status. This is just in case your team does something that puts your business in danger of dissolution, like forgetting to pay your filing fees or making changes to the business without amending your articles of organization.

Step 5: File the Initial Statement of Information

You’ll also need to file the initial statement of information within 90 days of forming your California LLC. This costs an extra non-refundable fee of $20, and you can take care of this online, in-person, or by mail.

After the initial filing, you will need to file this statement every two years. This report will include basic information about your business. It has updated addresses and other contact information, along with confirming the main activities of your business.

If you stick with them, ZenBusiness will accept, scan, and archive legal mail for your business. That ensures that these critical communications are all in one place. This makes your LLC records easy to find, which makes it easier to maintain your LLC status.

Step 6: Compliance With California Tax, Federal Tax, and Other Regulatory Requirements

The location and function of your California LLC may mean that you’ll need extra business licenses for the compliant operation of your LLC. 

For example, if you’re opening a clothing store LLC in Berkeley, California, you might also need:

  • A business tax certificate from the city
  • A DBA statement from Alameda County
  • A CalGold certification for health and safety standards

If you operate in more than one California city, you may also need a license in each city where you operate. The CalGold website is a helpful place to get started. 

You may also want to hire legal services to make sure you have everything covered. Incfile is the best online legal service for startups. They can help your team navigate the legal requirements in your local California community.

California sales tax and employee taxes

Your California LLC may also need to register with the California Tax Authority. California is a complex state for taxes. California employer taxes alone include:

  • Employee withholding tax
  • Employment training tax
  • Unemployment insurance tax and disability insurance

Our Guide to Understanding How LLC Taxes Work walks you through the different types of taxes your LLC might encounter. It can give you an idea of how to prepare your business for those taxes.

California franchise taxes

Another to-do on the California LLC tax list is paying your annual franchise tax.

California’s fee is pricier than most other states. It’s an $800 annual fee regardless of your business income. LLCs making more than $250,000 also need to pay an extra fee.

Some LLCs may be exempt from this franchise tax. It’s a good idea to work with a tax professional to ensure that your business pays the minimum in taxes and state fees for compliance.

Step 7: Get Your EIN

An EIN is an employer identification number that the Internal Revenue Service assigns. You’ll need this ID number to file and manage your California state and federal taxes and to open a bank account for your LLC. The IRS offers a quick online form to request your EIN.

An EIN is also required if you plan to hire employees for your business. This ID is unique to your LLC, so you’ll need to request a new EIN even if you had one for your business before filing for the LLC.

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Top 10 August ’21 IoT Articles to Read Now

Introduction

IoT deals with devices connected with each other, sharing data to achieve autonomous tasks. IoT has brought in home automation, modular furniture, smart complexes, and many new ways to save resources. How awesome would it be to find top trending articles in the IoT Zone in one place so that you can always stay up to date with the latest trends in technology? We dug into Google analytics to find the top 10 most popular IoT articles in August. Let's get started!

10. IoT Messaging Protocols

Want to learn more about the top platforms for IoT messaging protocols? Check out this article with different types of messaging protocols for your app.

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How to Start a Dog Grooming Business

As a certified dog groomer, you might choose to do more with your talents than work for a grooming company or pet store.

In fact, you might want to start a dog grooming business of your own!

Starting a dog grooming business comes with the challenges that any business faces, but the initial setup can be the most confusing.

After that, you can tailor your company to your needs and create the life and business you’ve always dreamed of.

This guide breaks down the process of starting a dog grooming business, step by step, to get you on the way to becoming a successful business owner.

The Easy Parts of Starting a Dog Grooming Business

If you plan to start a dog grooming business, you’re likely already an excellent dog groomer—and that’s half the battle! You already know what you’re doing and how to make dog parents happy. And when you make dog owners happy, it’s easy to get referrals from your loyal customers to gain new business. 

You should find that getting your business off the ground isn’t too challenging if you’re in a non-competitive area, as there’s always a need for a qualified dog groomer wherever there are dogs around.

Additionally, most states do not currently require a dog groomer to have professional training and licensing for them to run their business. Although certification and licensing can help set you apart, not having them usually won’t stop you from becoming a business-owning dog groomer, which can cut down on the time it takes you to get started. It’s more important to have experience as a dog groomer that gives you the skills you need to produce happy clients.

When it comes to managing your business, software like Gingr can make things much easier. The pet business software takes care of appointment booking, payment processing, pet report cards, and other aspects of a dog grooming business that take time away from your services. Groomers can take advantage of Gingr’s features for as low as $80 per month.

The Difficult Parts of Starting a Dog Grooming Business

Dog groomers can start small and grow their businesses as they gain new clients. Still, even small businesses aren’t all smooth sailing. You might face a few obstacles along the way, and understanding what they are now can help you prepare for them during the process.

As I mentioned, dog groomers don’t always need to have professional licenses. However, they do need business licenses through their state and, possibly, their locality. Business licenses come with additional fees and paperwork that you’ll need to have in place before beginning business operations. 

Another challenge is the extensive startup costs that can go into this business. Dog groomers use a lot of equipment that can quickly add up, like bathtubs, grooming tables, crates, and possibly even a dedicated vehicle. Without a financial nest egg to get off the ground, you might find yourself in significant debt as you get moving.

Additionally, groomers need insurance to protect their business and their clients, and plans can be costly. However, liability insurance is non-negotiable, as it covers your business if a dog gets injured or lost while in your care. It can also protect your business if a customer or employee gets bitten or injured by an aggressive or anxious dog. Add to that property insurance to cover damage from dogs, nature, or accidents, and the expenses add up fast.

It’s in your best interest to check with your state about the required insurance for your business. An insurance agent can help you with this. But, consider going over bare minimums if you can afford it. Your plan should offer ample protection for your customers and business.

Finally, you might have difficulty finding trustworthy and skilled employees for your team. Not everyone can be a groomer, and not all excellent groomers have people skills that cater to your customer service needs. It’s a delicate balance to find the right people to fit your team. 

You might try recruiting software to save time posting jobs and screening applicants. You can start with Recooty for free for one open job slot and posting to multiple job boards, scaling up to the $49/month plan as you grow.

Step 1: Plan Your Business

Planning is, quite possibly, the most important step you’ll take when launching a business, as it sets the tone for everything your business does now and in the future. Here’s what you need to do before getting those adorable pups through your door.

Get Certified

Getting a license or certification isn’t always required for dog groomers to start taking clients. However, it certainly doesn’t hurt, especially from a business standpoint. Think about it: Would you rather your dog visit someone who completed a grooming certification program or a person with no credentials to their name who says they can groom dogs?

The first option is who you’d probably pick. Your customers will also prefer their dog’s groomer to be able to prove their expertise, and certification can help. Certification is especially crucial if you plan to specialize in specific services, like grooming for dog shows, or breeds, like curly-haired dogs.

The National Dog Groomers Association of America (NDGAA) sets the standard in this area with workshops and a certification program that’s recognized across the country. Members can also benefit from professional liability insurance, discount programs, and tax and legal assistance.

Identify Your Clients

What type of clients are you interested in bringing on board? 

Some groomers are open to grooming all kinds of dogs, while others prefer to specialize in small breeds, large breeds, or show dogs. Mobile pet groomers cater to owners who cannot leave their homes or work varied schedules outside of traditional business hours. Dog salons tend to be for high-end clients willing to pay big bucks to have their pooch pampered. 

Figure out your niche now so you can more easily target your ideal clients once you’re ready to open.

Nail Down Services and Pricing 

Generally, dog groomers offer bathing, flea and tick removal, nail trims, and haircuts. Some groomers add more off-beat services that dog owners look for, like de-matting, hair styling, teeth brushing, and winter coat stripping.  

First, consider what you know how to do best. Start with those services that show off your skills and keep customers happy. You can always expand what you offer later as you learn more or add new team members and have a larger client base with a need for those services.

Once you determine your services, start to explore pricing. Check competing dog groomers in and around your service area to understand what going rates are. Remember to consider your target clients; those looking for monthly trims aren’t going to be willing to pay the same rates as customers interested in high-end, spa-quality grooming. 

Find a Location

Dog groomers have several location options to consider, each of which can play a role in their monthly expenses and how many clients they can handle at a time. 

While mobile grooming vans are affordable, easy to get started with, and convenient for customers, they usually can only hold 2-3 dogs at a time. Other affordable but potentially size-restrictive options include running your business in a salon rental space or from your home.

Renting space in a shopping or strip mall could offer more room but will also be costlier. The priciest option is buying your own space, but it can also provide long-term security and a bit more control over how you run your business.

Speak with a realtor in your area that specializes in commercial properties to help you in your search.

Step 2: Set Up Business Software

From scheduling appointments to accepting payments, a lot more goes into a dog grooming business than simply grooming dogs. Business software specifically designed for pet-focused businesses can streamline all the extra tasks on your plate to give you more time to make money doing what you do best. 

Sign Up for Gingr

Gingr is a full-service software for pet businesses, like dog groomers. Groomers can use the software to set their schedules, allow online customer booking, and accept payments, including tips. Dog parents can even receive a pet report card detailing everything you did for their pup during their stay.

Gingr takes care of the business side of things, too. Manage your employees’ schedules, track inventory with Gingr’s retail management features, and take advantage of automated pricing that keeps invoicing simple.

Choose the Right Plan

Dog groomers can choose from three Gingr plans starting at $80/month when paid annually. For most groomers, the lowest-tier plan, Pet Spa/Train, should do the trick. It features an online portal, automated email and SMS reminders for customers, card payments, an employee time clock, and appointment scheduling.

The only time you’d need to opt for a different plan is if you plan to offer dog daycare or boarding services in addition to your grooming services. These plans add prepaid daycare packages for customers to book and a lodging calendar to view your clients’ reservations at a glance.

Step 3: Legally Set Up Your Business

Your grooming business now has a plan in place to welcome furry clients. But before you do, there are a few legalities to get situated.

Choose a Business Structure

A business structure details how a business will operate. Some entities are straightforward to set up, while others require more paperwork and planning. Your options as a dog groomer include:

  • Sole proprietorship: This is the simplest business setup. As a sole proprietor, you can file your business and personal taxes together using tax form Schedule C, and you won’t need to file your business with the state. However, you’ll also be personally responsible for any business debts you incur, and it can be challenging to get loans or credit lines for your business. 
  • Partnership: This is similar to a sole proprietorship but with another partner who shares the business responsibilities. You and your partner will both be responsible for any business debts and taxes.
  • Limited liability company (LLC): LLCs must file their business with the state. However, the process in most states is simple and affordable. An LLC separates business from personal liability, meaning that if your company gets sued or incurs debts, you won’t personally be held responsible for any monetary connection. LLCs can still file their taxes with their personal tax return.
  • Corporation: There are two types of corporations: S corporation and C corporation. Corporation business owners do not get held personally responsible for business debts, but these business structures are more complicated to set up. With a C corporation, you’ll typically qualify for more tax deductions. However, they can be costly to set up, and business owners must file business taxes separately from personal. An S corporation allows Schedule C filing, making it a potentially simpler entity than a C corporation for dog groomers.

It’s important to check with an experienced business attorney before choosing your business entity. They can guide you on the best option for your business, along with ensuring that you meet any local regulations. 

Get Accounting in Order

Keeping personal and business finances separate is ideal when tax time rolls around. Your grooming business should have a separate business bank account for accepting payments and purchasing things for your business. BlueVine is excellent for brand-new small businesses, as it has no monthly fees and no minimum deposits.

Speaking of tax time, consider hiring an accountant as soon as possible. An accountant experienced in business taxes can help you navigate tax breaks, sales tax, and other necessary financial aspects of running a business. 

Get Pet Groomer Insurance

Insurance is more of a necessity than an option for pet groomers. Most states will require you to have, at minimum, liability insurance for your business. This covers most accidents that can occur at your business, such as a dog biting you or a customer slipping on the floor.

If you plan to have employees, you’ll also need workers’ compensation, which protects employees that suffer from an injury or illness at work. Property insurance is also important to consider, as it covers weather events, theft, and other uncommon occurrences that could affect your business location long-term.

Step 4: Set Up Shop

With a legal business now ready to go, you can transition to setting up your grooming spot with all the essentials. 

Purchase Grooming Tools and Equipment

Getting your grooming business off the ground is more important than packing it full of everything you might not need right away. Instead, start small. Depending on your location size, you might start with just two grooming tables and one bathtub, for example. You can always scale later; right now, it’s about having the essentials to begin bringing in customers.

As a dog groomer, the following tools and equipment are just some of what you might need to get started:

  • Shop-cleaning supplies
  • Bathtubs
  • Grooming tables
  • Dog crates
  • Shears, clippers, brushes, and combs
  • Shampoo and conditioner
  • Scented sprays
  • Towels
  • Fur dryers
  • Nail clippers
  • Gloves
  • Dog treats 
  • Bandanas and bows
  • Ear and teeth cleaning products
  • Table and chairs for the break room
  • Seating for the waiting area
  • Pricing board

Set Up a Phone System

Having a phone at your location is essential for customer communication. Many groomers call customers when their furry friends are ready to get picked up. And, even if you have business software like Gingr in place for booking, many customers will still prefer to call for booking or changing appointments or to ask questions about your pricing or services. 

Ooma Office is one of the most affordable phone systems for small businesses, but other office phone systems might also be good options for you. 

Consider Payment Types

Although accepting cash is the easiest way to take payments, it’s probably not the best long-term solution for your business. Some customers will prefer to make credit and debit card payments for services or even pay through an app. Gingr can make your payment processing easier with contactless payments, automatic subscriptions, and more.

Every payment your customers make through the Gingr system will be recorded right in their accounts for their convenience, too. Payment processing is available on any Gingr plan. 

Step 5: Market Your Business

To start getting customers through the door, you’ll need to market your business and continue promoting it to scale your grooming company. 

Promote Your Business Locally

For your initial influx of customers, it might be best to start local. Tap into local advertising sources, like radio, newspaper, or mail adverts. You can also set yourself up with social media accounts, like Facebook and YouTube, for people in your area to learn more about you and share your posts with their friends. 

Also, add your grooming business to local directories. Google My Business is one of the best, allowing people searching for a groomer in your area to find you easily. You can also try Foursquare, Yahoo! Local, and Yelp.

Finally, consider partnering with other local companies for cross-promotions. For instance, you might ask your local vet clinic if you can offer each other’s business cards to customers. Or, leave flyers that give the clinic’s dog owners a 10% discount on their first appointment at your shop. 

Launch a Website

Make a presence for your grooming business online with a website. It doesn’t need to be complicated, but it should provide your basic information, like contact and pricing details. 

Adding a blog to your website can also drive traffic to your business page through search engine optimization (SEO). WordPress, Squarespace, and Wix are among the best website builders for people without website design experience who want to get their site and blog up and running quickly. 

Get Repeat Customers

Making the customer experience as simple as possible is one of the best ways to ensure that they return to you. Using Gingr can help you do that with simple booking, service subscriptions, and automated notifications and reminders.

Leverage your current customer base by asking for referrals, too. When a customer sends someone new your way, you can offer special pricing on their first appointment or a free service, like nail trims, to encourage them to come. For your current customer, provide an enticing incentive, like 25% off their next appointment, to thank them for their referral.

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How do I choose a router for my home?

The web interface of a router automatically sets the language for your device according to the Time zone a user sets. English is the common default language chosen for most countries. You can also change the language of your router through the Basic homepage of the routerlogin.net interface. When you are done changing the language, click on the Confirm button, refresh the current page and the page refreshes with the language you selected.
https://19216811netgear.net/

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How to Start a Consulting Business

Starting a consulting business takes time, effort, and patience.

But the rewards are worth it.

You can work from home if you wish, choose your hours, and set your own prices. The flexibility is unmatched.

Additionally, the consulting field has relatively few barriers to entry, especially if you have in-demand skills and expertise.

Don’t know where to start? I’ll take you through the process of creating a consulting business step-by-step.

The Easy Parts of Starting a Consulting Business

There are numerous avenues to enter the consulting business. Factors like the increasing number of new enterprises, soaring profits in some sectors, and growing private investments mean constant demand for consultants. Some industries with the greatest need for consulting services include media and technology companies, manufacturing, non-profit organizations, life sciences, and healthcare.

Additionally, setting up a consulting firm doesn’t always have to be a long and complicated process. For example, you could set up your business as a sole proprietorship. While this option doesn’t offer the personal liability protection of LLCs and corporations, you may not need to register your business. This option allows you to set up quickly and scale your business as you grow.

Many niches don’t require you to have special certification or degree to be a consultant. Continuing your education can help you remain competitive in your specific industry, but, in many cases, you can get by with the knowledge and experience you already have when starting your business.

Similarly, the consulting business generally has few financial barriers to entry. You can start your business at home with little more than a phone, project management software, and your expertise. Project management software is beneficial for automating many monotonous tasks, so you may not need to hire staff in the initial stages of your business.

WorkflowMax is an excellent example of project management software that can prove invaluable when getting your business off the ground. This software offers useful features, including lead management, client management, document management, time tracking, job costing, quoting, invoicing, and reporting. It is also affordable, starting at $55 per month for up to three users.

The Difficult Parts of Starting a Consulting Business

Like with any new business, consulting has its challenges. The first significant challenge is cash flow. It takes time to build a client pipeline, and there can be months without work. There will also be a lot of rejection as you work to grow your brand equity and reputation. So it’s a good idea to have at least six months’ expenses saved up before leaping into this business.

The initial period of growing your business also requires you to do a lot of non-consulting work. Many new consulting firms don’t have the budget to hire employees to handle administrative tasks. These tasks may include invoicing, filing taxes, drawing up contracts, managing clients, taking defaulters to small claims court, and following up on unpaid bills. These necessary aspects of your business can take time away from your core competency, which is consulting.

Finding the right audience can also be challenging. You’ll need to identify an underserved target market amidst fierce competition from other consultants. On the other hand, the target market should also need your services and afford your rates. This combination can be challenging to master. It takes intense market research to identify a target market where your business can flourish. Sometimes that might mean relocating to a different area with better and more lucrative prospects or finding a new target market. 

Step 1 – Identify Your Niche Market

The good news is that consulting is a broad market with many points of entry. Consultants are needed in just about any field that you can imagine. Even so, it is necessary to choose a niche. A niche will help you get clients more quickly, deliver more value to your customers, and enjoy greater profits. A niche will also make business easier to brand and potentially allow you to become a leader in a specific market.

Evaluate Your Skills and Experience

Your expertise is the obvious place to start when considering a consulting niche. If nothing else, your clients expect you to have above average or excellent expertise in your chosen field. Your ability to deliver value to your client is also the lifeline for your business. Therefore, choose a niche where you have above-average or exceptional expertise.

Similarly, consider which niche has the most demand for your skills. Also, you’d like to get the most value from your efforts. For this reason, look for high-paying niches or where there is a high possibility of scaling your business quickly.

Research the Competition

The Boston Consulting Group doesn’t have to worry about the other consulting businesses directly competing with them. The firm has the reputation and brand equity that clients flock to do business with. But you are not so lucky. Competition is likely to be a significant headache when you are starting.

Pricing your services appropriately can be challenging. You’ll have to take into account your competitor’s pricing, even if you offer superior services. It will also be harder to attract clients if your competitor has a more solid or longstanding reputation.

Be sure to research other consulting firms in your niche and geographical location. You may need to consider another niche if the competition is too steep. Alternatively, you may have to come up with a unique value proposition to attract clients.

Keep in mind that some consulting can be done entirely remotely; others cannot. So when picking a niche, consider whether you want to work remotely or physically go into your client’s offices. You must also consider your chosen industry’s expectations. If you want to work entirely from home, but the niche you are looking at has a standard of being on-premises, you need to know that and adapt your expectations.

Create A Business Plan

A business plan may not be mandatory at this stage. This is especially true if you plan to start small. However, a business plan can help increase clarity, create a structure for your business, and source funding. The business plan doesn’t have to be complex. Even a one-page business plan is better than nothing.

Start by defining your market and the specific services you offer. Moreover, articulate why you are best suited to serve your niche market. Also, think of your unique value proposition and include it in your business plan. For example, you may be taking clients through a well-defined methodology or offering a service guarantee.

Your business plan should also include details about your target market. This includes your pricing strategies, competition, and how you intend to go to market. Also include details about your marketing plan and whether you plan to hire employees.

Step 2 – Get Project Management Software

Most startups have limited budgets, so hiring employees might not be possible right off the bat. But project management software can be a trusty tool to help you develop and grow your business. The software can help you handle multiple aspects of your business, including managing clients, projects, job costing, and invoices. I like WorkflowMax for its transparent and affordable pricing.

Choose Your Plan

WorkflowMax has a straightforward and transparent pricing structure. You pay according to the number of users. WorkflowMax pricing is as follows:

  • 3 Users – $55
  • 5 Users – $80
  • 10 Users – $120
  • 20 Users – $190
  • 50 Users – $275
  • 100 Users – $350

You also have the option to tack on more features if needs be. But, of course, you’ll have to pay extra for these features. For now, the three–user plan has enough features to help you set up and run your consulting business.

Set Up Your Account

WorkflowMax is easy and intuitive to set up. Even so, the software comes with instructional videos in your dashboard. You’ll get step-by-step instructions on how to set up your account.

Create Systems

Ideally, you wouldn’t want to start over every time you begin a new project or acquire a new client. Templates are a great way to save time and effort on many of your repeatable tasks. Consider creating templates for tasks such as client proposals, onboarding templates, data gathering forms, and contracts.

WorkflowMax comes preloaded with templates to simplify your work. These include templates for generating new leads and creating new jobs. You can also create custom templates for quotes, invoices, job briefs, tax letters, and statements. Besides increasing efficiency, templates also help you work efficiently and maintain quality between projects.

Step 3 – Set Your Prices  

Creating a pricing structure can be tricky, especially in the beginning. It might take a few tries before you can narrow down on the perfect structure. But it is still crucial that you create a clear structure to present to prospective clients. Pricing is one of the most important considerations for clients, so take your time to think it through and research it.

Consider Pricing Factors

There are a few things to think about when coming up with your price. Some of the important considerations at this point include:

  • Your industry standard
  • How much your competition is charging
  • The time and resources you expect to invest in your projects
  • Your experience and expertise
  • The amount you need to earn to support your business
  • Your desired income

Be sure to include a miscellaneous line item in your pricing. As you will soon find out, additional resources and expenses are almost inevitable when doing business. This is something most clients understand, as long as it’s reasonable.

WorkflowMax has a job costing feature that can help you to establish your prices. You can also estimate the cost of your projects broken down into individual tasks. You can also create job quotes, calculate profits, and compare each project’s estimated and actual cost. This feature is handy for determining if your price is too low or high.

Choose Your Pricing Model

There are three main ways you can structure your pricing. The option you choose depends on your industry standards and what works best for your business. Each pricing model has its advantages and disadvantages.

Per-project pricing – This pricing model means you get a fixed amount for each project. Many clients prefer this option since it’s easy to estimate the total cost of the project. You’ll usually get paid in installments during the contract. Most consultants using this model charge a fixed monthly fee. A potential pitfall of this model is late payments. This is particularly true for large agencies and companies with long pay cycles. You can help avoid this problem by billing the first and last month before the project commences.

Hourly fees – Hourly fees can be great for ensuring you get paid for all the hours you spend working. This pricing model ensures that no billable task falls through the cracks. WorkflowMax has a time tracker to ensure that you capture all your billable hours. You can then generate automatic invoices based on your timesheet data. The downside of this pricing model is some clients might think you are too expensive. Billable hours can also be unpredictable, making it difficult to accurately estimate the cost of projects.

Retainer fee – Experienced consultants with strong reputations typically charge a retainer fee. This means the client pays a fixed rate every month in exchange for an agreed-upon number of hours. This option can be great for generating consistent cash flow. But some clients may include a clause in the contract that you can’t work with competitors for the duration of the contract. This model can also be expensive for small businesses that prefer a fixed project fee or hourly rates.

Step 4 – Register Your Business

Registering your consulting business isn’t mandatory if you plan to do business as a sole proprietorship. But registering your business has advantages, including personal liability protection and opening business bank accounts, hiring staff, getting loans, and building a reputation with customers.

Set Up an LLC

A limited liability company (LLC) is the way to go for most beginning consultants. While the rules vary slightly from state to state, the process of starting your LLC is relatively straightforward.

You’ll first need to find a unique name for your company. Then choose a registered agent. A registered agent is a person who’ll be receiving official and legal documents such as subpoenas and lawsuits on your behalf.

Next, you’ll need to prepare an operating agreement. You’ll need this if you’re going into business with partners. The operating agreement outlines how the LLC will be run. Details in the agreement include how profits and losses will be allocated, member voting rights, ownership interests, and how the business will be governed.

You’ll also need to file an Articles of Organization with the state. This document contains the particulars of your business, including the business name and address, the purpose for forming the LLC, and the length of its existence. Finally, you’ll receive a certificate indicating that your company exists if your application is successful.

Get Certified

Most consulting fields don’t require any special certification. But some specialized fields may come with these requirements. Even where not required, the appropriate certification can help build your credibility. This credibility is especially critical when you are just starting.

There are also certifications tailor-made for consultants in different industries. Some popular certifications for consultants include:

  • Chartered Enterprise Analyst (CERA)
  • Certified Human Resources Consultant
  • Certified Educational Planner
  • Accredited Agricultural Consultants

Step 5 – Start Reaching Out To Prospects

Clients are the lifeblood of your consulting business. You’ll need to be aggressive to market your business and reach out to prospects. You’ll also need to create a roadmap for how you intend to sell your business.

You can start with your immediate network, including family members, friends, and work contacts. Speak to your network about the services you offer. They’ll be happy to refer clients to you.

Create a Business Website

A business website is a must-have in today’s business environment. Most of your clients will look you up online before hiring or find you on the internet while searching for related services. So, create a professional business website to showcase what you have to offer. This is also a great place to show off your credentials, certifications, licenses, and anything that can help boost your credibility.   

Leverage Social Media

Social media is a great platform to get the word out about your business. LinkedIn is beneficial for finding professionals in your industry. Also, consider joining groups in your industry. This is a great place to contribute to discussions, offer valuable insights,  and network with others in the business.

Write Client Proposals

A client proposal is an effective tool for closing sales. The proposal is also your chance to show your clients how you will solve their problems and serve their needs. Some of the important aspects to cover in your client proposals include:

  • The specific problem you are solving
  • Why you are offering your services
  • What the project is
  • Timelines for the project
  • The budget for the project
  • Deliverables
  • How you measure results

WorkflowMax easily lets you create proposal templates for your clients. You’ll only need to customize your templates with each client to save time. Templates are also a great way of sending out a consistent image.

Step 6 – Build Your Brand

It may take some time for clients to start coming in. But building your reputation can help accelerate the process. Most of your initial clients will be referrals. So, go above and beyond to make your clients happy.

Stay Organized

The key to getting referrals and repeat clients is to stay organized. This means keeping all your essential information in one place, delivering projects on time, and following up with invoices and payments. You’ll be juggling many tasks and responsibilities in the beginning. That’s why project management software like WorkflowMax is so useful.

WorkflowMax has a robust document management feature to ensure you never misplace crucial information. You’ll be able to keep all your important files securely in one place. You can also send documents and attachments directly to a job on Workflow Max. The software integrates with Google Drive, Box, and Dropbox to make document management even more effortless.

Hire Staff

It may be necessary to hire employees as your business grows. However, taking more business than you can handle is a recipe for disappointing your clients. At the very least, consider hiring a virtual on-demand assistant. The assistant can take care of some of the dirty work like chasing payments or doing market research while you focus on revenue-generating work.

Deliver Results

You’ll need specific metrics for tracking your results. You can also talk to your clients about what they hope to achieve. Ultimately, you’ll need to deliver results to be successful in your consulting business. Finally, be sure to stay on top of industry trends to provide top-notch consulting services to your clients consistently.

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The Beginner’s Guide to Business Locations

The population of the world is nearly 7.8 billion people. And, according to a recent study, over a quarter of them are shopping online–26%!

There is no denying that online shopping is a significant part of our modern-day lives, especially when it comes to companies such as Amazon and Alibaba. 

Yet, there is something about a physical business location that people still love. While online shopping is convenient and easy, people still love to window shop, see and touch the merchandise, try things on, and get a deeper connection to the company. 

That is certainly the case for retail stores and restaurants, but a business location for an office and other non-customer-facing businesses is also crucial. 

You must take your time when choosing a “home” for the business. It is not something you pick simply because you like the space. Far more goes into it to ensure that you get the best location for your business. 

Not sure what those considerations are? Don’t worry. 

To help you in this endeavor, we have created this guide. Read on to find out all you need to know about business locations.

The Basics of Business Locations

Whatever the purpose of the building, it is a physical spot where your company does its work. That could be a retail shop, restaurant, or office for your employees. 

The business location you choose depends on the type of business that you operate.

The location you’d choose for a retail shop has very different requirements than one for a tech start-up. 

Here are a few different types of business locations so you can decide which best fits your needs.

Retail Business

This type of business sells actual goods or services to a consumer for their use. A retail business needs to be somewhere with a lot of foot traffic and a popular spot for people to pass by. 

Retail businesses include restaurants, clothing and shoe stores, stationery stores, candle shops, and more. These are businesses that often rely on local in-person shoppers.

While storefronts in places like the downtown of a city or a mall are great for retail stores, you can also get creative with it and opt for airports, pop-up shops, and, if your business is big enough, a free-standing building.

Commercial Business

This type of business is one where goods or services are sold. Commercial business can mean anything outside of the manufacturing or production of products, as those are considered industrial businesses.

Examples of commercial businesses are real estate firms, engineering companies, insurance brokerages, mechanics, architecture firms, and other professional services.

The space you want for this type of business does not need to rely on heavy foot traffic.

Home-Based Business

With more people working from home than ever, you may find that your home does not accommodate you living and working in it, along with the others you occupy that space with. 

Home-based businesses can be anything from a photographer, graphic designer, other freelancers, and even salons. Home-based businesses vary widely in the type of business they are and what they sell.

As your business grows, you may need to consider a business location like renting office space, a studio, or expanding into a shop.

Mobile Business

Things such as food trucks and pop-up shops are becoming increasingly popular with the introduction of mobile card readers that you can attach to your smartphone. Also, given the current high real estate prices, this option offers a lower barrier to entry than permanent locations. 

Maybe you have a business that would be well-suited to hop from place to place or work out of something like a truck.

Industrial Business

Locations for something like an industrial business are more limited than some of the other types of companies. 

This is because, with an industrial business, you are operating either a manufacturing or a distribution business and thus need lots of space to store whatever you are making and/or selling. Your factory, farm, or other industrial business usually has specific needs for space and equipment that small retail businesses don’t.

You may want to consider a location close to major highways or airports to make transporting the goods easier or one on the outskirts of a town for lower real estate prices per square foot.

In addition, you will have to look at the pollutants that may be a byproduct of your business to determine the distance you need to be from a city center to keep the air safe and proximity to safe disposal.

3 Tools to Improve Business Locations

Since location is such an essential part of your business, you must have the right information and tools to help you find the best location for you. 

Some great options provide you with information to help you make an educated decision on where your business should be located.

Mapcite

This award-winning software platform helps companies access and use location data. It does this by creating custom data sets based on your specific company needs. 

With that information, Mapcite helps transform the data into usable location data to help you determine the best location for your business. 

This tool is ideal for those not well-versed in location analytics and need some help gathering and understanding the information. 

Mapcite also has an app that allows you to: 

  • Search information based on your current location
  • Get new information and images based on your location
  • Set virtual boundaries around areas (geofences) to create “triggers” for the discovery of information

Mapcite offers a free version that allows you limited access to the app. 

It also offers these pricing plans: 

Free. The free plan comes with a shared cloud, up to 1000 data rows, email support, and limited access to the app.

Standard. $99 per month. This comes with cloud storage, between 1,000 and 100,000 data rows, up to five users, email support, and cloud subscription access to powerful map visualization and analytics. 

Company/Organization-Wide. POA monthly. This comes with an on-premises or dedicated cloud, unlimited data rows, phone and email support, and the ability to deploy Mapcite across an organization.

Mapbox Studio

Want to be able to upload and visualize geodata easily? 

Try the new intuitive user interface of Mapbox Studio. 

This studio offers all sorts of products and features, including: 

  • Real-time maps
  • Ability to design custom maps
  • Data building
  • JavaScript library for vector maps
  • Mapbox tiling service
  • Static maps
  • Search points of interest
  • Movement data

Movement data may be one of the most important parts to look into for your business location. It provides you with up-to-date insights about where the most people traffic is, which will come in handy for choosing your site. 

Pricing for Mapbox Studio is determined by what you use. They have a free tier of every product in their suite so that you can get introduced to it before diving deeper. They also offer volume discounts that allow you to get volume pricing as your usage grows.

To see more information about their pricing, visit here.

Targomo

This AI-based location intelligence platform out of the UK was built to analyze, plan, and predict data about your location network.

With the information gathered by Targomo, you can get a competitive advantage in your business location.

This software integrates sociodemographic data as well as mobility analysis to determine the performance of different stores. It also helps predict how a competitor may impact your business, which can be a great benefit. 

Targomo offers a free option that allows you to use some of the basics of the software, including: 

  • Analytics
  • Free data sets
  • Free reporting 

The paid pricing plans are as follows: 

Free. The free tier covers one user, 10 locations, one project, population statistics, building and infrastructure data, and some analytics.

Pro. From 899 euros per month (around $1,062 USD). With this, you get tools to optimize your network, enhance your location analytics, use in-depth location data, and build powerful reports. 

Enterprise. Contact for pricing. This package offers everything the Pro package does and the ability to replicate your success with geo AI, receive a customized setup, and get data science consulting & CSM.

6 Tricks for Finding Great Business Locations

Now that you have a better understanding of business locations and the tools available to help you find the best location, it’s time to get into some tips and best practices that can help determine what is best for your business.

Know Your Budget

This may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many people start scouting locations that are way out of their budget. 

When figuring out your budget, you must consider more than the monthly rent or purchase price–there is far more to the budget than that. 

Some additional costs you may run into include: 

  • Taxes
  • New equipment
  • Renovations and updates
  • Minimum wage requirements (if you have employees)
  • Utility upgrades
  • Licenses and insurance
  • Vehicle licensing (if applicable)

As you look at the cost of a new site, you have to keep all staffing and equipment costs in mind, as they are also part of your overall budget. Before signing a new lease or buying land, make sure to cost out whatever you need to purchase or spend to get the company up and running in the new location.

Remain On-Brand

You may find a space you love that gets great foot traffic, but does it fit with your company’s brand? 

If you are in the business of manufacturing mid-range sunglasses, you probably don’t want to put your manufacturing headquarters in the middle of a high-end shopping district. 

Be aware of what your brand is and where it would best fit. Look at what other businesses are in your desired location and see how they do or if there is any overlap. Look to your competitors–what kind of locations have they chosen and why?

Take Safety Into Account 

Safety is a major consideration when finding the right location for your business. Whether your business will be retail or a spot for your employees, anyone that comes to your site needs to feel safe. 

In addition to ensuring it is safe for people, you also need to pick a secure location for your inventory that won’t run the risk of burglary or theft.

In addition, think about the cost of security measures like alarms, cameras, security guards, fences, or other things. If you need to implement any, you’ll have to include it in your budget for the location.

Pay Attention to Demand

You don’t want to pick a location for your business that is right next to your competition. Instead, find an area where your product or services is in high demand, which most of the time means a place where your competition isn’t prevalent.

Research the demographics of the areas you’re searching in to see where your target market is, what they shop for, and what competition is nearby. Understanding the market and demand for your products or services is extremely important.

Note Parking

Regardless of what type of business you have (retail, commercial, mobile, industrial), you need to find a location that offers ample parking. Not only does there need to be a lot of parking available, but the parking also needs to be convenient. 

Take into consideration whether the available parking will require people to pay for it. If so, how much? You may want to offer validation if this is the case. 

Your goal is to make it as easy as possible for people to have access to your business.

Consider Your Employees

Whether your business is a retail store or just an office, you will have employees coming in and out regularly. You want to make it easy for your employees to get to work.

To aid in this, consider a location near public transportation (if available), so they have an easy way of getting to work. This is valuable to employees and may help you in finding higher-quality employees as well.

What to Do Next

When looking for a business location, it is important to have the business’ best interests at heart in addition to those of your employees and customers (if applicable). 

As you can see, many factors go into deciding if a specific location will work, and it’s not a task to be taken lightly. 

To aid you further, one of the first steps to take is defining your company identity. This will help you build the foundation of your business that allows you to grow, which is vital when you choose a permanent location. Here is an article on how you can define your company’s identity. 

Once you’ve gotten your business location sorted, you can start to think about what you need in the space to make it a place for conducting business. One often overlooked thing is digital signage. Whether you have a retail store or an office, it is important to have signage showcasing your brand and identity. One solution to consider is Telemetry TV. Check out our deep dive into this product here. 

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The Best Free and Premium Shopify Themes of 2021

The recent pandemic has forced many businesses to go online. This has created a boom for Shopify, a popular eCommerce platform that makes it easy to open up your online store.

With hundreds of beautiful themes and apps that enhance your shoppers’ experience, Shopify has everything you need to shift your operation online and create a digital storefront for your business.

But to get started, you’ll need a solid Shopify theme and that’s what this post is all about. We’ll cover the best free and premium Shopify themes for 2021 that will allow you to launch your store as quickly as possible.

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18 Best Free And Premium Shopify Themes

Below, you’ll find an overview of the 18 best Shopify themes along with their features.

Debut Free Shopify Theme

DEMO / TRY THEME

Helas Minimal Premium Shopify Theme

Helas Minimal Premium Shopify Theme

The Helas theme has a clean and minimal design. It would work well for a fashion store and has a product-centered layout which makes it easy for your customers to see what you have to offer. Notable features include product carousels and labels, plenty of customization options, built-in customer reviews, wishlist support, and more.

DEMO / BUY THEME

Vintage Free Minimal Theme

Vintage Free Minimal Theme

The Vintage theme is a free Shopify theme that would work well with home and garden, entertainment or arts and crafts stores. The theme has a minimal design and includes features such as recommended products, stock counter, in store pickup availability indicator, and more. In addition to that, the theme is responsive and easy to use. 

DEMO / TRY THE THEME

CORO – Minimal & Clean Fashion Shopify Theme

CORO – Minimal & Clean Fashion Shopify Theme

Here’s a versatile and responsive Shopify theme that can be used for any type of store. It features a minimal design and has a built-in mega menu. Notable features include automatic price changes, products’ quick view, powerful customization options, product labels, built-in product zoom, and more. 

DEMO / BUY THE THEME

Narrative Free Shopify Theme

Narrative Free Shopify Theme

The Narrative is a free Shopify theme that would work well for stores selling only one or two products. The theme has a simple design and includes features such as hero video, customizable image blocks, quote slides, customizable navigation, wide layout, and more. On top of this, the theme looks stunning on both mobile and desktop devices. 

DEMO / TRY THEME

Hikez | Trekking & Hiking Premium Shopify Theme

Hikez | Trekking & Hiking Premium Shopify Theme

If you have a store that sells hiking, camping, and trekking gear, the Hikez theme is a great choice. It has a stunning grid based layout which makes it easy to organize and display your products. The theme is fully responsive and comes with awesome features such as product carousel and product comparison, 5 types of mega menus, Ajax filters, multi-currency support, and more. 

DEMO / BUY THEME

Brooklyn Free Shopify Theme

Brooklyn Free Shopify Theme

If you’re looking for a free theme that was designed with apparel stores in mind, the Brooklyn theme has you covered. This theme features a modern and elegant design and has plenty of customization options. You’ll also find all the necessary features for a powerful eCommerce store such as dynamic product grid, header slideshow, slideout cart, support for video on the homepage, and more. 

DEMO / TRY THE THEME

Daxone – Multipurpose Shopify Theme

Daxone – Multipurpose Shopify Theme

The Daxone theme is a great choice for any type of store since it has a versatile and modern design. The theme is packed with features to help you sell more, including: various page layouts, prebuilt sections, plenty of customization options, popup cart, built-in newsletter form, product quick view, and more. The theme is also responsive and optimized for SEO. 

DEMO / BUY THEME

Simple Free Shopify Theme

Simple Free Shopify Theme

As the name implies, the Simple theme has a clean and simple layout that makes it easy to showcase your products in a modern grid layout. The theme has a sidebar menu which offers easy navigation and you’ll also find features such as product image zoom, image animations, product recommendations, and customization options. The theme is also responsive. 

DEMO / TRY THEME

Ella Multipurpose Shopify Theme

Ella Multipurpose Shopify Theme

The Ella theme is a premium multipurpose Shopify theme that works well with any type of store. The theme looks stunning on both desktop and mobile devices thanks to its responsive design. It has plenty of customization options and includes important eCommerce features such as dynamic product filters, pre-built page sections, quick shop, quick edit cart, recommended products, product bundles, and more. 

DEMO / BUY THEME

Supply Free Shopify Theme

Supply Free Shopify Theme

The Supply theme is perfect for any store that has a large inventory. You can easily showcase products, feature best-sellers, and more. The theme is responsive, easy to customize, and comes with features such as collection filtering in the sidebar, product slideshow, featured collections, and more. In addition to that, the theme comes with two color schemes. 

DEMO / TRY THE THEME

Wookie Multipurpose Shopify Premium Theme

Wookie Multipurpose Shopify Premium Theme

If you’re looking for a theme that gives you plenty of control over the design of your store, the Wookie theme is a great choice. Not only does it have plenty of customization options but it also offers a number of premade sections to make it easy to design and build your store. You’ll also find features such as numerous layout variations, mega menu, dynamic checkout buttons, product filters, and sticky add to cart button. 

DEMO / BUY THEME

Boundless Free Shopify Theme

Boundless Free Shopify Theme

The Boundless theme has a minimal and lightweight design that puts your product photography front and center. The theme is easy to use and has a responsive design. It includes features such as slideshows with a fading effect, full width collection images, sticky navigation, homepage video, and more. The theme is also fully responsive and optimized for large images. 

DEMO / TRY THEME

Avone – Multipurpose Shopify Theme

Avone - Multipurpose Shopify Theme

The Avone theme has been optimized to load fast. It has a versatile design that works well for any type of store. The theme also includes features such as powerful customization options, mega menu, wishlist support, product countdown, quick view, product filters, product recommendations, and more. The theme is responsive and has several demo layouts to choose from. 

DEMO / BUY THEME

Venture Free Shopify Theme

Venture Free Shopify Theme

The Venture Shopify theme is another free theme designed with stores that have a large inventory in mind. The theme features a multi-column menu that makes it easy to browse your store. You’ll find features such as product filtering, product slideshow, single featured product, promotional banner, and more. The theme is also responsive, optimized to load fast, and has a clean design. 

DEMO / TRY THEME

August – Multipurpose Shopify Theme

August - Multipurpose Shopify Theme

The August theme comes with 8 different demos and it’s a great choice for a fashion, apparel or swimwear store. The theme has a modern design and comes with features such as product style variations, multiple header and footer layouts, product filters, built-in product compare and wishlist, countdown timers, product labels, and more. On top of that, the theme is also responsive. 

DEMO / BUY THEME

Express Free Shopify Theme

Express Free Shopify Theme

The Express theme was designed to get you online fast. It doesn’t have a lot of customization options but it makes up for it with its ease of use and quick setup. The theme has a modern design and comes with features such as quick buy, responsive design, slideout cart, featured collections, and more. This theme is a great choice for one page stores that have a small product catalog. 

DEMO / TRY THEME

Aero – Auto Parts, Car Accessories Shopify Theme

Aero - Auto Parts, Car Accessories Shopify Theme

If you sell car parts, the Aero theme is a perfect fit. It has a modern and bold design that’s fully responsive. The theme has 10+ premade layouts and a mega menu that makes it easy to browse your store. Notable features include product slider module, Ajax add to cart, Ajax layered navigation, product quick view, and more. 

DEMO / BUY THEME

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there is no shortage of amazing free and premium themes for Shopify. The only thing left to do now is to pick a theme that suits your style and get started with your Shopify store. Good luck! Be sure to check out our other Shopify articles while you’re at it.

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The Best States to Form an LLC

The best way to form an LLC for the majority of our readers is Incfile because of its low price and straightforward process. Register your LLC in any state starting at $0 plus state fees.

Limited liability companies (LLCs) are a popular option for entrepreneurs nationwide. Unlike other types of business structures, LLCs can be formed in any state, regardless of your company’s physical presence.

Some states offer significant financial advantages compared to others. This guide will take a closer look at the best states to form an LLC and ultimately help you determine the best state of formation for your business.

Foreign LLCs vs. Domestic LLCs

If you form an LLC in your state of residence (your home state), it’s known as a domestic LLC.

When you form an LLC somewhere other than your home state, you’re required to register that business as a foreign LLC in your home state. To be clear, the term “foreign” has nothing to do with a business being owned by a non-US resident or outside the US. It just means that the company is doing business outside of its home state.

Why is this important?

Starting an LLC in another state might require you to form two LLCs—one in the state of formation and another in your home state.

For example, let’s say you live in Indiana but want to form an LLC in Wisconsin. You’d have to register that company as a foreign LLC in Indiana to do business in your home state.

With two LLCs, you’ll have double everything. That includes two state filing fees, registered agents in both states, two annual reporting fees, and more.

Maintaining two LLCs can quickly double your costs and double your headaches.

You can dive deeper into the differences between foreign and domestic LLCs, to determine which is right for you. And if you’re not sure whether an LLC is right for your business right now, we’ve outlined the differences between an LLC and sole proprietorship and DBA vs. LLC to explain things.

Forming an LLC in Your Home State

Are some states better to form an LLC than others? Absolutely.

But for the vast majority of people, registering an LLC in your home state will be the best option.

Most people hear or read something online that says, “Nevada has no corporate income taxes,” and assume it’s the right state to form a business. While the former may be true, the latter is not always the case—especially for anyone who lives outside of Nevada. (We’ll talk about Nevada in greater detail shortly).

Why? Remember, you’ll still be required to register a foreign LLC in your home state. So, you’ll still have to pay taxes in your home state, on top of the additional fees required for maintaining two LLCs.

The idea that you can form your LLC in a “no-tax” state, elect to be taxed as a corporation, and not pay income taxes in your home state is essentially misinformation. For most people, your home state will always be the best place to form your LLC. It’s unlikely you’ll be able to save money by registering an LLC elsewhere, and it will likely cost you more money in both the short-term and long-term.

Whether you choose to form an LLC in your home state or in one of the states on this list, we recommend using an LLC formation service to help you get started. You can read our full reviews of the best LLC services here.

5 Best States to Start an LLC

With all of that in mind, five states stand out amongst the rest as the best locations to form an LLC, so if you live in one of these states—great.

If you don’t live in one of these states, don’t automatically think it’s a good idea to form an LLC here (for the reasons discussed above). The type of business you’re starting will be a factor, as well. For example, an online-only consulting business with no physical facilities or storefronts could consider forming an LLC outside of their home state. But a retailer with a physical storefront in a shopping center probably wouldn’t have as much flexibility.

Below we’ll dive deep into the pros and cons of forming an LLC in the “best” states.

1. Delaware

Delaware has a longstanding reputation for being one of the most business-friendly states in the nation. According to the Delaware Division of Corporations, nearly 67% of Fortune 500 businesses are incorporated there.

While this doesn’t necessarily apply to LLCs, it definitely conveys a draw for organizations to form a business in Delaware. In 2021, 247,003 LLCs and 24,588 LPs/LLPs (limited liability partnership) formed in Delaware compared to 62,510 corporations.

Why?

For starters, the initial state filing fees and franchise taxes are lower than other states. Delaware doesn’t impose taxes on out-of-state income, either. The filing process is simple and allows LLCs to get up and running quickly. The state keeps it easy after that, too, with online filing of LLC taxes and reports.

Image from website of Delaware Division of Corporations.
Filing annual reports and taxes for your Delaware LLC can all be done online.

Another unique standout of Delaware is the Chancery Court. This is one of three constitutional courts in Delaware (alongside the Supreme Court and Superior Court).

The Chancery Court is only for business cases. This means that business-related cases are resolved much quicker than in courts that hear cases in all categories. Plus, the judges in the Chancey Court have much more experience in business hearings.

Delaware doesn’t require shareholders, directors, or officers to be residents of the state. Furthermore, one person can be named in all of these roles. It’s also one of the only states that allows you to exclude your personal identity from the formation documents.

Pros of Forming an LLC in Delaware:

  • Quick and simple formation process
  • Low filing fees and franchise taxes
  • No corporate income taxes (foreign LLCs that elect for corporation taxing)
  • More privacy for your business
  • Flexible business structure
  • Specialized business legal system (Chancery Court)

Cons of Forming an LLC in Delaware:

  • Dual-registration required for out-of-state LLCs
  • Two registered agents required (one for each state)
  • Multiple legal representatives (most lawyers are only licensed in one state)
  • No flat franchise taxes

If you live outside of Delaware and want to form an LLC there, it could ultimately be more expensive than starting an LLC in your home state. Aside from having to maintain two LLCs, your administrative costs may also be higher. An accountant in your home state may not be familiar with Delaware structures, so you’d likely have to retain two accountants.

Need help? Visit Incfile to form an LLC in Delaware today.

2. Nevada

Nevada is another state that draws a lot of attention from business owners who want to avoid paying high taxes. That’s because Nevada doesn’t impose taxes on personal income, corporate income, or franchise taxes.

With that said, Nevada does require business owners to pay annual license fees and annual filing fees.

In terms of privacy, Nevada is arguably second to none. They are one of the only states that allow for complete anonymity with public filings. In short, your LLC can remain anonymous in any public registration filing.

Furthermore, Nevada does not have an information-sharing agreement with the IRS. Since the state doesn’t have an income tax department, there’s no information to share.

Maintaining an LLC in Nevada is easy since they don’t require annual meetings or operating agreements.

Nevada business registration overview page.
NEvada’s llc registration checklist makes it easy to follow the required steps.

The registration process is simple and also requires fewer steps compared to other states nationwide.

Pros of Forming an LLC in Nevada:

  • No state personal income or corporate taxes
  • No franchise taxes
  • LLC owners can remain anonymous
  • No information-sharing agreement with IRS
  • No operating agreements or annual meetings required

Cons of Forming an LLC in Nevada:

  • Annual business license fees
  • Annual filing fees
  • List of officers and directors is public information
  • Gross earnings over $4 million may be subject to taxes

As you can see, forming an LLC in Nevada isn’t always ideal, especially if you’re in another state. You’ll still have to create a foreign LLC in your home state and maintain two registered agents for each LLC.

Need help? Visit Incfile to form an LLC in Nevada today.

3. Wyoming

Wyoming is another state with policies aiming to be as business-friendly as possible. For starters, they don’t impose strict reporting obligations for business owners.

Similar to other states on our list, Wyoming doesn’t tax personal income or corporate income. There aren’t any franchise taxes either.

Wyoming offers something really unique compared to other states—a lifetime proxy. With a lifetime proxy, you’re able to appoint another person to represent your shares or stock in a company on your behalf. This means that business owners in Wyoming can benefit from complete anonymity.

Aside from no individual or corporate taxes, the sales tax rates in Wyoming are very low.

Sales tax by state, displayed on a map of the US.
Wyoming has some of the lowest state sales tax rates in the country.

As you can see from this graph, Wyoming ranks 44th in the country for local tax rates. Of the 46 states that impose sales tax (four states don’t have any sales tax), Hawaii and Alaska are the only two with lower averages.

Pros of Forming an LLC in Wyoming:

  • No franchise taxes
  • No corporate or personal income taxes
  • Low sales tax rates
  • Minimal reporting requirements for LLC owners
  • Lifetime proxy (for owner anonymity)

Cons of Forming an LLC in Wyoming:

  • LLC dissolution (if a member dies or files for bankruptcy)
  • High administrative costs
  • Asset protection is not guaranteed for lawsuits outside of Wyoming

Wyoming is definitely a great state to form an LLC for entrepreneurs who live in the state. But do the pros outweigh the cons if you’re living elsewhere? Your home state will still require a foreign LLC registration, so you can’t avoid taxation altogether.

Need help? Visit Incfile to form an LLC in Wyoming today.

4. Alaska

Alaska—the last frontier. While Alaska is best known for its cold weather and thousands of miles of uninhabitable terrain, it’s also a top location to form a business.

The largest state in the Union (and one of the last to join), it is an appealing place to start an LLC.

For starters, there is no state income tax or sales tax in Alaska. However, it’s worth noting that cities can collect local sales taxes (although these are generally low).

Image from City of Wasilla website explaining the local business sales tax.
Wasilla is one Alaskan city that imposes a local sales tax on businesses. However, the rate is just 2.5%.

Depending on your new business’s industry, you might be entitled to certain tax credits as well. Examples include film production credits, frontier basin credits, new area development credits, qualified oil and gas service industry expenditure credits, minerals exploration incentives, and more. However, most of these require you to actually do business within the state.

Alaska also provides new business owners with great loan programs. In October 2022, the State of Alaska, alongside the University of Alaska and the Alaska Small Business Development Center, announced the launch of a new financing program with $59.9 million in funding. These funds will be available to Alaska small businesses over the next ten years.

But similar to the tax credits, they are intended for businesses operating with a physical presence in Alaska.

The state fees associated with forming an LLC in Alaska are fairly inexpensive compared to other states. Here’s a list of some common LLC fees from the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development website:

Alaska business document list with form number and fee infographic.
Registering an LLC in alaska is affordable compared to other states.

Pros of Forming an LLC in Alaska:

  • No state income taxes
  • No state sales taxes
  • Low local tax rates
  • Low LLC filing fees
  • A lot of tax credits and loan opportunities

Cons of Forming an LLC in Alaska:

  • Most credits are for businesses actually operating within Alaska
  • Local jurisdictions can collect sales tax
  • Physically distant from other states

If you live in Alaska and your business operates in Alaska, it’s definitely a great place to form an LLC. But it’s not always a practical solution for out-of-state LLC owners.

Need help? Visit Incfile to form an LLC in Alaska today.

5. South Dakota

Like other states on our list, South Dakota does not have any state income taxes (a common theme on our list).

Another advantage of starting a business in South Dakota is its 0% corporate tax rate. So, this is a great option for creating an LLC that gets taxed as a corporation. South Dakota has several other tax advantages as well, including no personal property taxes, no inheritance tax, and no business inventory tax.

The filing process is easy, affordable, and can be completed online without strict requirements.

South Dakota Secretary of State form or register a new business page.
You can file your LLC in south dakota directly from the secretary of state website.

Pros of Forming an LLC in South Dakota:

  • No state income taxes
  • 0% corporate tax rates (for LLCs taxed as corporations)
  • No business inventory tax
  • Other tax advantages (for people living in South Dakota)

Cons of Forming an LLC in South Dakota:

  • Limited life
  • Local registered agent required

Most of the advantages associated with forming an LLC in South Dakota are for state residents and companies operating within the state. Anyone else would still have to maintain a foreign LLC in their home state.

Need help? Visit Incfile to form an LLC in South Dakota today.

What to Expect When You File For an LLC

Regardless of your state of formation, there are certain expectations for LLC filing that remain constant across the board.

First, expect to pay some type of filing fee to the state. These typically range anywhere from $50 to $500, and payments are due upon filing your Articles of Organization.

Many states also require you to file an Operating Agreement. This is a legal document that explains how your LLC will be run and managed. Even if your state doesn’t require you to file an Operating Agreement during the formation process, it’s still in your best interest to do so, as it will help prevent internal conflicts amongst LLC members.

Be prepared to appoint a registered agent during the filing process as well. You could technically name yourself as the registered agent, but it will make your life much easier if you use a professional registered agent service.

Once everything has been filed, it’s just a matter of waiting until the state officially recognizes your LLC as a legal entity. The exact time varies by state, but the typical range is anywhere from three to ten business days. Most states let you expedite your filing for an additional fee, which can also be facilitated through your business formation service.

Best States to Form an LLC: Your Top Questions Answered

Conclusion

LLC formation is not universal from state to state. As you can see from this guide, some states have advantages compared to others for LLC owners.

With that said, it doesn’t mean that you should automatically form an LLC in one of these states.

So, while you may get tax breaks in one state, you’ll still have to pay them in your home state. Plus, maintaining two LLCs comes with its fair share of headaches, like extra fees, multiple accountants, multiple lawyers, and multiple registered agents.

In most cases, the pros won’t outweigh the cons when it comes to forming an LLC in a state other than your own. As always, consult with your accountant and attorney before deciding where to form an LLC.

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A Complete Guide To Accessibility Tooling

Learning to build accessible websites can be a daunting task for those who are just starting to implement accessible practices. We’ve pulled together a wide range of accessibility tooling, ranging from single-use bookmarklets to full-blown applications, in order to help you get started with building more accessible websites.

ARIA

The WebAIM Million survey found that home pages with ARIA present averaged 41% more detectable errors than those without ARIA. ARIA is an essential tool for creating complex web applications, but the specification is strict and can be tricky to debug by those who do not use assistive technology regularly. Tooling can help us ensure that we are using ARIA correctly and not introducing more errors to our applications.

The Paciello Group has created a WAI-ARIA bookmarklet which scans your page to make sure all elements and their given roles and ARIA attributes are valid. Upon activating the bookmarklet, the page is scanned for any errors, and a new tab will be opened with the results. The results include the total number of valid roles, any detected ARIA errors, and code snippets of where any errors were found so that you can easily debug your page.

One thing not explicitly tested in the above bookmarklet is the presence of duplicate ARIA roles. Certain landmark roles have names that sound like they might apply to several elements, but should only be used once per page, such as banner or contentinfo. Adrian Roselli has come up with a simple CSS-based bookmarklet to check if any of these ARIA roles have been duplicated. Activating the bookmarklet will add a red outline to any offending element.

NerdeRegion is a Chrome extension that logs all the output of any aria-live regions. Can’t figure out why your screen reader is announcing something unexpectedly? NerdeRegion can let you keep track of timestamped announcements and the source element they originate from, all within a panel in DevTools. Since there can be bugs and inconsistencies with how aria-live regions are announced with different screen readers, NerdeRegion can be a great tool to figure out if an issue is potentially caused by your code or by the device combination.

Automatic Testing Tools

This class of tools can be used by the developer or tester to run automated tests on the output of your code, catching errors that may not appear obvious in the source code. There are many high-quality paid services and other tools beyond what we’ve mentioned here, but we’ve focused on tools with comprehensive free offerings in order to reduce barriers to entry. All of the listed tools can be run on pages that are not on the public internet, allowing them to be more easily incorporated into a development flow. It is important to note that accessibility testing is complicated and always requires manual testing to understand the full context of the site, but these automated testing tools can give you a solid head start.

A lot of tools use axe-core under the hood, so it may be redundant to use a combination of tools. Ultimately, what kind of tool you choose is more about what kind of UI you prefer, and the level of comprehensiveness in the results. For example, Lighthouse, the tool built into Google Chrome, uses a partial selection of axe-core rules, so if you manage to get a clean scan with axe DevTools, you shouldn’t need to run a Lighthouse scan as well.

Axe DevTools is available as a Chrome or Firefox browser extension and shows up as a panel in the developer tools. You can test a whole page or just part of a page, and all detected issues are sorted by severity and come with code snippets for easier debugging. Axe also lets you catch more errors than other automated tools with its Intelligent Guided Tests feature. Intelligent Guided Tests identify areas to test and do as much heavy lifting as possible, before asking the tester questions in order to generate a result. Axe also allows you to save and export results, which is useful for working through fixing errors as part of a longer and more cooperative development process.

Accessibility Insights also runs on axe-core, but has several features that differentiate it from axe DevTools. It can be run on various platforms, including Android, Windows, or as a browser extension. All versions of Accessibility Insights feature an inspector-like tool for looking up individual element information, as well as a way of running automated checks. The web extension also contains an Assessment feature, which has a combination of automated, guided and manual tests in order to allow you to generate a full report.

WAVE by WebAIM has been an integral part of my tool kit. Available in extension form as well as a mass testing service and an API, I find this tool best for checking my work as I develop due to its simplicity and speed. Everything is loaded as a panel on the side of your page, and you can get a holistic view of errors by scrolling through the page. If an error is displayed in the side panel but you aren’t sure where in the DOM it is, you can turn off styles to locate it within the markup. WAVE’s heading and landmark feature is one of my favorite things about it as it ensures that my document semantics are correct as I build.

SiteImprove has a free Chrome extension in addition to their paid service offerings. Like WAVE, you run the extension on a page and it lists errors in a panel on the side of the page, including filters for things like conformance level, severity and responsibility. The severity filter is especially useful as automatic testing always tends to produce some false positives.

Colors

Low contrast text errors were found on a whopping 86.4% of homepages last year. Developers often have limited control over a color palette, so it is important to try to establish an accessible color palette as early on in the process as possible.

When you’re starting to design a color palette, an in-browser color picking tool may be helpful. Are My Colors Accessible is a tool that can help you figure out an accessible color palette. The basic mode calculates the contrast ratio between any two colors. The font size and font weight of your text can affect the contrast ratio required based on the level of conformance, and this tool helpfully lays out all the different standards it meets. It also features HSL range sliders so that you can tweak any of the colors, with the results automatically updating as you make adjustments. Palette mode lets you compare every color in a palette against each other and displays the contrast ratio and standards met, which is helpful for determining how you can combine different colors together. Making any color adjustments also updates the permalink, allowing you to easily share color combinations with your team. If you prefer a different interface for selecting colors, Atul Varma has built a similar tool that uses a color picker instead of HSL range sliders.

Geenes attempts to do it all by building out full tint/shade ranges for each color group you add, allowing you to design a full-color system instead of a limited palette. In addition to providing contrast ratios, Geenes also allows you to apply your palette to various mockups, and emulate different forms of color blindness. You can trial most features for free, and unlock multiple palettes with a donation.

Certain tools can help you solve specific color-related accessibility issues. Buttons in particular can be tricky, as not only do you have to worry about the text color with the background color, you also need to consider the button background with the page background, and the focus outline color with both backgrounds. Stephanie Eckles’s project ButtonBuddy explains these requirements in simple language and helps you pick colors for these individual parts.

Some color combinations may technically meet contrast requirements when viewed by people without color blindness but could pose problems for specific kinds of color blindness and low vision. Who Can Use applies a visual filter to emulate different types of color blindness and then calculates an approximate color contrast ratio.

If you would like to test your color combinations in the context of an existing site, Stark is a color picker extension for Chrome that lets you simulate certain kinds of color blindness. Additionally, Anna Monus has created a helpful writeup of color blindness tools already built into Chrome. While this kind of emulation can never fully replace testing with real users, it can help us make better initial choices.

Sometimes as developers, we start working on a project where we may need to design as we go and begin writing code without a full, pre-established brand palette. Once development has started, it can be tedious to keep importing color palettes back and forth into external tooling. There are many options for checking color contrast within a code environment. Alex Clapperton has developed a CLI tool where you pass in two colors and it outputs the contrast ratio and passing standards right in the terminal. The BBC has published a JavaScript color contrast checker that takes two colors and determines whether or not it meets your desired standard. A tool like this can live in your codebase with your tests, or be implemented in your design system library like Storybook, PatternLab, and so on.

A11y Color Tokens takes it a step further and lets you automatically generate complementary color tokens in CSS or SASS. You pass in a color and desired ratio to generate a shade or tint of that color that meets requirements. If you need to quickly check the contrast ratio of something, Chrome and Firefox now show the color contrast information within their respective developer tools color selectors as well. If none of these tools suit your fancy, Stephanie Walter has covered many other color-related tool options in her blog post on color accessibility.

Compatibility

Building for assistive technology can often add another level of complexity when it comes to debugging. Because assistive technology is essentially another layer of an interface on top of the browser, we now need to concern ourselves with combinations of browser and assistive technology. A bug may be present in either the browser or the assistive technology, or it may be present only in a particular combination. It’s a good idea to keep this list of bug trackers on hand when trying to fix a specific issue. Some of these are public so that you can see if others experience the bug you are having, but others only offer a means to report bugs in private.

Not all browsers and screen reader combinations work well together, and not all accessibility features are equally supported across browsers. These tools can help you check if you are experiencing a bug on a specific combination of devices. HTML5 Accessibility is a list of newer HTML features and whether or not the default browser implementation is accessibly supported. In a similar vein, Accessibility Support provides a list of ARIA roles and their support in the most popular browser and screen reader combinations.

Focus Management

Managing focus is a necessary but often difficult part of making complex applications accessible. We need to consider that the focus order is logical, that focus is moved around correctly on any custom components, and that each interactable element has a clear focus style.

This bookmarklet by Level Access labels every focusable element on the page, so that you can check that the focus order matches the reading order. For the Firefox users out there, Firefox’s Accessibility Inspector has added this feature since version 84.

In complex codebases, where different components or third-party code might be moving focus around unexpectedly, this little snippet by Scott Vinkle can help you see what element currently has focus. If I’m struggling with the focus being moved around by other parts of my application, sometimes I also like to replace console.log with console.trace to determine exactly what function is moving the focus around.

In order to test all focus styles on a web page, we can use Scott O’Hara’s script as a starting point. Tabbing through every element can get cumbersome after a while, so a script to rotate through each element can help us make sure our focus styles look consistent and work within the context of the page.

Setting a positive tabindex to try and fix the focus order is a common accessibility gotcha. Elements that have a positive tabindex will force the browser to tab to them first. While this may not technically be an error, this is often unexpected and can cause more problems than it solves. Paul J. Adam’s tabindex bookmarklet allows you to highlight all elements that have the tabindex attribute applied.

Layout Usability

The document reading order can sometimes fall out of sync with what a viewer might expect if a layout relies too heavily on the CSS Grid or Flexbox order property. Adrian Roselli has coded up a bookmarklet for keeping track of the reading order to help you make sure your site passes the meaningful sequence guideline.

The WCAG contains a text spacing criterion where all content should still work when certain text settings are applied. To test for this, Steve Faulkner has created a bookmarklet that automatically applies the required text spacing settings to all the text on a page. Avoiding things like fixed heights and allowing for overflow not only makes your site more accessible, it ensures that whatever content you put into your site won’t break the layout, something your content editors will thank you for.

Jared Smith built a bookmarklet to turn your cursor into a 44×44 pixel box so that you can hover it over your controls to make sure that they meet the recommended target size criterion.

Linters

Linters are a class of tools that catch errors by scanning the source code before the application is run or built. By using linters, we can fix smaller bugs before we even run or build the code, saving valuable QA time later.

Many developers already know and use ESLint in some capacity. Instead of learning new tooling, it’s possible to get a head start on your accessibility testing by including a new plugin into your existing workflow. Eslint-plugin-jsx-a11y is an ESLint plugin for your JSX elements, where any errors will be shown as you write your code. Scott Vinkle has written up a helpful guide on setting it up.

Deque has come out with axe Linter, available as a Github app or VS Code Extension. Axe Linter checks React, Vue, HTML and Markdown files against core rules without any configuration so it is easy to get up and running, although you are welcome to pass in your own options. One helpful feature is that it distinguishes between WCAG 2 and WCAG 2.1 which is useful if you are trying to meet a specific standard.

Markup

The web is built to be resilient. If you have broken markup, the browser will try its best to patch over any mistake. However, this can have unintended side effects, both from a styling perspective and an accessibility standpoint. Running your output through the W3C HTML validator can help catch things like broken tags, attributes being applied to elements that shouldn’t have them, and other HTML errors. Deque has created a W3C HTML Validator bookmarklet based on the same engine which lets you check the markup on localhost or password-protected pages that the regular validator cannot reach.

If you’re more of a visual person, Gaël Poupard’s project a11y.css is a stylesheet that checks for possible risks within your markup. Available in both extension or bookmarklet format, you can customize the language as well as the level of advice displayed. In a similar vein, sa11y is a tool that can be installed as a bookmarklet or integrated into your codebase. Sa11y is specifically designed for looking at the output of CMS content. It displays any warnings in non-technical language so that content editors can understand and make the necessary corrections.

Reading Level

An accessible site starts with accessible content. Cognitive accessibility has been a major focus of the ongoing WCAG 3 draft and is currently mentioned in Success Criterion 3.1.5, which suggests that authors aim for content to be understandable by a lower secondary (7-9th grade) reading level.

The Hemingway Editor calculates the reading level of your content as you write it, so that you can edit to make sure it is easily understandable. The panel on the side offers suggestions for how you can improve your content to make it more readable. If your site has already been published, Juicy Studio has produced a readability tool where you pass in a URL to the provided form and your site’s content is analyzed and graded using three different reading level algorithms. There is also a helpful explanation as to what each of these scores entails. However, one limitation of this particular tool is that it takes into account all the text rendered on the page, including things like navigation and footer text, which may skew the results.

Test Suites And Continuous Integration

The downside of most automated testing tools is that they require people to run them in the browser. If you are working on a single large codebase, you can incorporate accessibility testing into your existing testing process or as part of your continuous integration flow. When you write custom tests, you have an awareness of your application that automated testing tools don’t have, allowing you to perform customized, comprehensive testing in a more scalable way.

Once again, axe-core pops up as an open-source library that frequently underpins most of these tools, so whether or not a tool works for you will likely be based on how well it integrates with your code rather than any differences in testing results. Marcy Sutton has published a framework-agnostic guide for getting started writing automated tests for accessibility. She covers the difference between unit tests and integration tests and why you might want to choose one over the other in different scenarios.

If you already have a test framework that you enjoy, there’s a high chance that there is already a library that incorporates axe-core into it. For example, Josh McClure has written up a guide that uses cypress-axe, and Nick Colley has produced a Jest flavored version in jest-axe.

Pa11y is a tool that provides a configurable interface around testing that is also available in a CI version as well. Its many configuration options can let you solve complex issues that can come up with testing. For example, the actions feature lets you pass an array of actions before running the tests and can be useful for testing screens that require authentication before accessing the page.

User Preferences

There are many new media queries to help detect the user’s operating system and browser preferences. These days, developers are often detecting these settings in order to set the default for things like motion preferences and dark mode, but this may also lead to bugs that are difficult to reproduce if you do not have the same settings.

Magica11y is a set of functions that lets you determine your users’ preferences. Send the documentation page to non-technical testers or incorporate these into your app so that you can reproduce your user’s environments more accurately.

Wrapping Up

It’s estimated that automated accessibility testing can only catch 30% of all accessibility errors. Even as tooling continues to improve, it will never replace including disabled people in your design and development process. A sustainable and holistic accessibility process might involve having the whole team use tooling to catch as many of these errors as possible early on in the process, instead of leaving it all for testers and disabled users to find and report these issues later.

Need even more tooling? The A11y Project and Stark have curated lists of additional accessibility tools for both developers and users! Or feel free to leave any suggestions in the comments below, we’d love to hear what tools you incorporate into your workflow.

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The Complete Guide to PMI’s Project Management Professional – 2021

Project manager is much more than just a job title. Like many other careers, the path to becoming a project manager requires specific skills, experience, and credentials.

Before an organization trusts you to lead a team and manage a budget that’s potentially millions of dollars, they must know that you’re qualified to do the job successfully.

To fast-track your career as a project manager, you should get a PMP (Project Management Professional) Certification. According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), roughly 2.2 million project-oriented positions need to be filled every year through 2027—project managers are in high demand.

Becoming a project management professional will give you an edge over others competing for the same jobs. We created this guide to explain everything you need to know about getting your PMP certification.

What is Project Management Professional?

The Project Management Professional Certification, also known as the PMP Certification, is issued by the Project Management Institute (PMI) to project managers who meet certain criteria.

There are several different requirements that must be obtained before someone can apply for the PMP certification.

Once a candidate’s application has been approved by the PMI, they must pass a comprehensive exam to officially get certified as a project management professional.

While a PMP is not necessarily a requirement for project management positions, it certainly helps people stand out when applying for jobs in this field.

Think of the PMP certification like any other or degree. For example, you might not need a master’s degree to do certain jobs, but if employers are comparing two resumes, candidates with a master’s definitely stand out from those with a bachelor’s or associate’s degree.

4 Tools to Prepare For The Project Management Professional Certification

To make sure that you pass your PMP exam on the first try, you should take advantage of any tools and training resources at your disposal. These are the top ones that we recommend:

#1 — The PMP Handbook

The PMP Handbook is a 40-page PDF document offered by the Project Management Institute. Any time the organization that’s issuing a certification offers you a resource like this, you should make an effort to go through it. It contains everything and anything you could possibly need to know about the certification.

You’ll learn more about the timeline of getting certified, the application and payment process, the PMI audit process, exam policies and procedures, and more. This free resource even contains information about your CCR (continued certification requirements), ethics and professional conduct, scheduling, reexamination, and legal restrictions on taking the exam. In short, if you have a question or need clarification on becoming a Project Management Professional, this handbook has the answer.

#2 — PMI Authorized On-Demand PMP Exam Prep

This self-guided tool is the official online preparation course offered by the PMI. It’s specifically designed to help project managers prepare for the PMP exam. The tool has been developed by the PMI and validated by PMP certificate holders. It contains five modules that cover every aspect of project management. From building a team to executing a project and supporting business changes, the course has it all. It’s perfect for PMP candidates and mid-level project managers alike.

The best part about this course is that it satisfies the 35 training hours required to fill out the PMP application. So in addition to preparing for the test, you’ll simultaneously be crossing prerequisites off of your list. The $699 fee is well worth the preparation and guidance you’ll get from completing this course.

#3 — PMBOK Guide

I strongly recommend that you read the PMBOK Guide—A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. This is the flagship publication offered by the Project Management Institute. It covers fundamental project management resources that can be applied to any industry.

In addition to helping you prepare for the PMP exam, it’s also an excellent resource to have at your disposal as a project manager. It’s something that you can always refer back to throughout your career for quick tips and refresher points. When you order the book, you’ll also get a free copy of the Agile Practice Guide. The paperback versions of these books retail for $99 and $49, respectively. Alternatively, you can get free downloadable access to the PMBOK Guide with your PMI membership. Memberships start at $129 per year.

#4 — PMTraining

In addition to resources directly from the PMI, you can also prepare for the PMP exam with third-party tools. There are dozens of options out there, but PMTraining is my favorite. I like this resource because they provide so many different learning tools. They have live in-person classes, live online classes, on-demand courses, and more.

You can even take PMP practice Exams on this website. These exams mimic the real testing environment that you’ll experience when you officially apply for your PMP. The practice exam from PMTraining starts at $68. The on-demand PMP course costs $198 for 90 days of access. You can get this for free when you register for any online class.

The Basics of Project Management Professional (PMP)

Let’s take a closer look at the core components of getting certified as a PMP (Project Management Professional). Here’s what you need to know:

PMP Certification

As previously mentioned, PMP is the official certification issued to project managers who qualify, apply, and pass the PMP exam. Anyone who earns this certification issued by the Project Management Institute (PMI) is recognized as an individual who meets project management standards worldwide.

With a Project Management Professional Certification, project managers can bring formalized training into the workplace. This helps employers rest easy knowing that their projects are being led by someone who has passed the PMI’s strict standards.

Compared to other project management certifications, the PMP is considered to be the gold standard in this industry. If you’re a PMP, it tells people that you’re qualified to be a successful project manager.

PMP Certification Cost and PMI Membership

The cost to become a project management professional is actually fairly low compared to other certifications.

It costs $405 for PMI members to take the PMP exam. Non-members will have to pay $555.

In addition to saving you $150 on the PMP certification exam, there are plenty of other benefits of becoming a Project Management Institute member. For starters, you’ll join a network of 600,000 project managers across the world. You’ll also have the ability to join one of the 300+ local PMI chapters in your area. Both of these are excellent ways to network and gain knowledge from your peers in this industry.

The PMI also provides members with 1,000+ free tools, project management templates, and checklists to set you up for success. You’ll even have access to an exclusive project management job board to learn about new opportunities that you qualify for.

Memberships from the PMI cost $129 per year, plus a $10 application fee. This membership pays for itself the second you apply to take your PMP exam. Full-time students can become PMI members for just $32 per year.

Project Management Professional (PMP) Eligibility Requirements

Not anyone can apply to become a project management professional. The PMI imposes strict eligibility requirements before accepting an application.

There are two different sets of requirements, depending on your education level. You must meet all of the prerequisites in one of the two groups below:

  • Four-year degree
  • Minimum 36 months of experience as a project manager
  • Minimum 35 hours of project management education/training or CAPM Certification

OR

  • High school diploma or an associate’s degree (or a global equivalent)
  • Minimum 60 months of experience as a project manager
  • Minimum 35 hours of project management education/training or CAPM Certification

As you can see, the biggest difference between these requirement sets is the education level. Those of you with a four-year degree only need 36 months of project management experience to qualify, while high school graduates and people with an associate’s degree need 60 months of experience.

If you haven’t gone through any formal project management education or training, getting the CAPM (Certificated Associate in Project Management) is the fastest way to qualify for the third bullet point in both lists. You only need to have 23 hours of project management education to apply for this 150-question exam, as opposed to the 35 hours needed to qualify for the PMP.

There are a few noteworthy components that you must be aware of to ensure you’re eligible for the PMP. For example, your experience must represent professional projects only (no personal projects like planning your own wedding, personal home improvement projects, etc.). Projects must be listed individually and include a description of the project purpose—not your role in the project. The complete PMP Application Checklist can be found here.

If you’re audited by the PMI, you must be able to obtain proper verification for all project experience listed on your application. Once you’ve verified that you meet the PMP eligibility requirements, you can apply to take the exam.

Project Management Professional (PMP) Exam

After your application has been approved, you have one year from the approval date to take the PMP exam. During this eligibility period, you can take the test up to three times.

The exam isn’t easy. According to the PMI, candidates typically spend 35+ hours preparing for the test. So just having some basic project management experience won’t be enough, and you’ll actually need to spend time preparing.

In total, the exam is 180 questions. The new version of the test went live on January 2, 2021. Previously, the test was 200 questions.

You’ll have 230 minutes to complete the exam. If you’re taking the exam on a computer, you can take two 10-minute breaks. For paper-based exams, there are no scheduled breaks. Questions are a combination of multiple-choice, matching, multiple responses, hotspot, and fill-in-the-blank.

The PMI offers 24/7 online testing options to accommodate your busy schedule. These exams are facilitated by a live proctor and require a computer with a working webcam.

The updated version of the PMP exam focuses on three new principles—people, process, and business environment. It covers the skills needed to effectively manage a team, the technical aspects of leading a project, and the connection between projects and an organizational strategy.

Maintaining PMP Credentials

Once you’ve passed the PMP exam, you’re not certified for life. You’ll need to go through the PMI’s Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR) Program.

Maintaining your credentials is not as rigorous as taking the initial exam. But it does require some work and effort on your end.

To maintain the PMP Certification, you need to earn 60 PDUs (professional development units) every three years. Each unit is measured by a one-hour block of eligible time that you spend learning, teaching, or volunteering. To renew your certification, you need to report your PDUs online.

2 Tricks For The Project Management Professional Exam

These two quick tricks will make your life much easier as you prepare for your PMP certification.

Trick #1: Get a PMI Membership

It’s definitely in your best interest to get a PMI membership. At just $129 per year, this gives you access to useful resources that you’ll need to prepare for your exam. You’ll get a free digital copy of the PMBOK Guide and save $150 on your PMP exam.

Aside from the cost savings, the network that you’ll build by joining this community is intangible. You could potentially connect with other members to help you study for the PMP exam. The PMI membership also comes with 1,000+ free tools and templates. This information will make your life much easier when you start using project management software to lead actual projects. You could take a free template from the PMI and duplicate it in your PM software to get started.

Trick #2: Take the CAPM Exam

The Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) is another certification that you should have under your belt. Preparing for this test will provide you with the foundation required to go through the PMP certification process.

If you’ve never taken a PMI exam before, jumping straight to the PMP could be overwhelming. But the CAPM is a great place to start. Furthermore, a CAPM certification helps you meet the requirements needed to apply for your PMP. Without it, you’d need to have 35 hours of project management education or training. But a CAPM certification bypasses that requirement.