3 Reasons Why Learning How to Use iCloud Could Benefit Your Small Business

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Apple’s iCloud has long been recognized as one of the easiest to use and most complete cloud services out there. The tool can be used for various applications and integrates Apple’s calendar function, email, and iWork’s document sharing features. While the tool is largely popular among everyday consumers, it can also be used in a business setting. As a matter of fact, if you’re a business owner and aren’t using iCloud to its full potential, you might be cheating yourself out of one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal. Let’s take a look at a few reasons why mastering iCloud’s functions could benefit your small business.

Increased Organization and Efficiency

iCloud allows you to access any of your documents from any of your Mac devices, whether it’s your tablet, PC, phone, or laptop. While it might be great to be able to watch a lecture or listen to videos you have stored on your laptop on your phone, businesses can unlock its power to access important documents and share them seamlessly.

Another great thing about iCloud is that it can be used with third-party tools like PieSync and allow you to transfer contacts between your iCloud and various other apps automatically in real-time. PieSync’s two-way sync feature also allows apps to communicate directly with your iCloud. That means that contacts added to your CRM or your mailing lists could be automatically imported to your iCloud, allowing you to contact them directly one on one. Being able to automate that process will save you a lot of time, and also allow you to build a list of critical contacts much more easily.

Reduce Risk

Being able to always have a backup option is another great feature to have. You just never know when malware will strike, and you don’t want to lose documents because you didn’t have a plan B. Even at its relatively high price, iCloud is a great investment in your document security.

Facilitates Remote Work

Remote work is the word of the day at the moment, and iCloud makes it that much easier. You could let specific members of your team access, share, and modify documents. You can check changes and make amendments on the fly. You can pass customers to salespeople on your team, or vice versa, and your employees won’t have to think about sending documents to their personal inbox for when they get home.

Another great thing about iCloud is its reading list sync option. This option allows you to save articles you may have consulted on any device and broadcast it to the cloud. This could be a great option if you want your marketing department to create content for instance, or if you want your employees to learn about recent changes in compliance standards.

iCloud can be a powerful application for any business, and if you aren’t using it yet, we strongly suggest that you learn how to implement it immediately, especially if you’re trying to run a leaner and more agile remote operation.

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4 Email Marketing Mistakes to Avoid in 2020

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Even in 2020, email marketing remains a gold mine for businesses of all sizes and industries, helping you convert new customers and keep them coming back. You’ve likely heard statistics such as the average ROI of email marketing and how it often serves as the primary method for customer retention.

But not all email marketing strategies are made equal. Make the wrong decisions and you could end up with an ineffective campaign that fails to realize the true potential of this method. This is why it’s important to know about the common mistakes you should avoid to ensure the best possible chances of success. Here are 4 to keep in mind.

Ignoring New Subscribers

Anyone who has taken the necessary steps to subscribe to your mailing list is clearly interested in your business. It’s at this point that they will be most engaged with you, so waiting until your next newsletter before getting in touch is a big mistake. Instead, each new subscriber should be greeted with a welcome email.

These have the highest open rates, generating an average of 320% more revenue than other marketing messages. Ensure that yours includes a warm and appropriate welcome, an introduction to your brand, and an explanation of what to expect moving forward.

Having an Unclear Call-to-Action

Without a clear call-to-action, you’re leaving it up to your audience to determine what to do next. Their decision may not be in-line with the purpose of your email, rendering it more or less useless. This is why your emails need a clear call-to-action that drives your goal home.

Your intended outcome can involve making a purchase, reading a new blog post, sharing to social media, or joining a loyalty program. In any case, be sure to use the content and design of your email to lean subscribers towards that outcome, with a clear and enticing call-to-action to seal the deal.

Doing it Yourself

You’re making far more than just one mistake by not leveraging the tools and resources available for email marketing today. This includes wasting countless hours manually performing tasks that can be completed with automation. It can also mean missing out on valuable insights by not making use of analytics tools.

Not using a professional tool with well-designed templates could result in you sending ineffective emails. This even applies to more specific actions. For instance, take a look at what happens when you send mass email in Gmail instead of a dedicated tool. Deliverability issues are just one of the problems you might end up dealing with.

Buying Email Lists

Finally, one of the biggest mistakes you can make that will break your chances of a successful campaign no matter how well-designed your emails and their content are, is paying for who receives them. It may be convenient, but rest assured you’ll either end up with a list of fake addresses or people who have no interest in your business to begin with.

Be sure to keep these mistakes in mind when putting together your campaigns. Avoiding them will go a long way in ensuring your success.

3-PRIME’s COVID-19 Repsonse

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As we all grapple with the challenges of the COVID-19 virus, please know that 3PRIME remains 100% committed to powering the continued success of your businesses and organizations. We deeply respect the trust you have placed in us, and you can count on us to do everything possible to ensure the continuity of your online performance and our service levels.

What We’ve Done

We have instituted a Work From Home policy. All 3PRIME personnel will be working from home through the end of March. We are lucky in that our whole team is well-versed in the tools and we anticipate no detriment to our productivity. We’re actively modifying our business dynamics to ensure the health and safety of our communities, especially concerning the most vulnerable among us.

Contacting your customers

If you need assistance drafting a COVID-19 announcement, let us know and we will be glad to assist you with drafting your announcement as well as posting it to your website(s) and social media profiles.

Need help with online meetings

If your team is not well-versed with remote work tech, we’ll do our best to help you! We can schedule a 20-minute training session and deliver a user guide to ensure that your business stays as productive as possible through this period. 

  1.   Call to schedule a 20-minute group training session
  2.   Whats the difference between Google Hangouts, Zoom and Uberconference?
  3.   Don’t need video? Use FreeConferenceCall.com

SBA Guidance & Assistance for Small Businesses

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has posted information regarding loan programs and guidance for businesses:

CDC Guidance & Prevention Protocols for Businesses

The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) has issued COVID-19 guidance for businesses and is updating them as new developments occur.

We also think that the advice on FlattenTheCurve.com is worth reviewing.

 

Let us know if you need assistance managing these unusual economic conditions!