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In terms of community management, choosing the right tools can greatly improve engagement and interaction. Sprout Social and Agorapulse are excellent for social media management, whereas Khoros and Bettermode offer extensive customization for enterprises. Platforms like Mighty Networks and Discourse create unique spaces for discussions and networking. Each of these tools has its strengths, and comprehending their features can help you select the best fit for your needs. Let’s explore these options further. Key Takeaways Sprout Social offers real-time notifications and analytics tools for enhanced audience engagement and strategic assessment of social media interactions. Agorapulse provides tailored community management features, including automated responses and detailed analytics, ideal for small to mid-market businesses. Khoros delivers an enterprise-level platform with extensive customization options, content moderation tools, and integration capabilities for community managers. Mighty Networks enables organizations to create branded community hubs, fostering multi-channel communication and driving member resource sharing. Discourse focuses on meaningful conversations in customizable forums, offering gamification elements and robust analytics to track user engagement. Sprout Social Sprout Social stands out as a thorough social media management platform that integrates community management features aimed at improving audience engagement. This community management system offers real-time notifications for comments, replies, and messages, allowing you to respond quickly to community interactions. Its robust social media analytics tools track engagement metrics, helping you assess the effectiveness of your community management strategies and optimize future content. Additionally, Sprout Social’s team collaboration tools streamline community management workflows, enabling efficient handling of conversations and reducing response times. The platform supports various social media management services, making it easier for your team to stay connected and engaged with your audience. Plus, you can take advantage of a free trial social media management to explore its features, such as Instagram integration, without immediate financial commitment. Agorapulse Agorapulse stands out as a thorough community management tool customized for small to mid-market businesses. It offers key features like social media monitoring, scheduled posts, and detailed analytics to help you engage effectively with your audience. With various pricing plans available, Agorapulse provides options that can fit different budgets, making it an attractive choice for those looking to improve their social media management strategies. Key Features Overview When managing a community, having the right tools can greatly increase your efficiency and effectiveness. Agorapulse stands out as a strong community management tool, offering crucial features for automated social media growth. With its robust social media listening features, you can gain insights into audience sentiment and engagement trends, enabling you to tailor your responses. It allows you to schedule posts and manage comments seamlessly, helping you streamline workflow. Moreover, Agorapulse provides performance metrics that measure engagement rates and track user interactions, ensuring you stay informed about your community’s health. Plus, its automated responses for frequently asked questions improve customer interactions, allowing your team to focus on more complex queries, eventually boosting overall engagement. Pricing and Plans Grasping the pricing and plans for Agorapulse is crucial for determining whether it aligns with your community management needs. Agorapulse offers several pricing plans, starting at $99 per month for the Pro plan, which includes key community management features suitable for small to mid-market businesses. The Premium plan, priced at $199 per month, adds advanced reporting and social listening tools. For larger organizations, the Enterprise plan features customized pricing and dedicated account management designed to your unique operational needs. Each Agorapulse pricing plan includes a 28-day free trial, allowing you to explore the platform’s capabilities. Flexible payment options, including monthly and annual subscriptions, improve cost-effectiveness, especially with discounts available for annual commitments, making it a practical choice among social media management tools. Khoros Khoros stands out as an enterprise-level platform that offers extensive customization options for managing branded community forums. Although it includes vital content moderation tools to facilitate peer-to-peer support, many users find its overall experience somewhat outdated and clunky. Comprehending these aspects can help you determine if Khoros aligns with your community management needs. Customization Options Available Many organizations find that Khoros offers extensive customization options for community forums, allowing them to tailor the appearance and functionality of their spaces to align with branding and user preferences. With Khoros, you can boost member engagement through various features: Customizable user profiles that let members showcase their interests. Unique discussion categories for organized and relevant conversations. Gamification elements, like badges and leaderboards, to motivate member participation. Custom reporting to track engagement metrics aligned with community goals. Tailored conversations based on specific interests and needs. These robust customization options serve as effective community management tools, helping you create a more engaging environment that encourages active member participation and achieves your community goals. Content Moderation Tools When managing an online community, effective content moderation is crucial for cultivating a positive and engaging environment. Khoros offers robust content moderation tools as part of its community management solutions, enabling you to oversee discussions and guarantee compliance with community guidelines. These tools facilitate peer-to-peer support, allowing members to share knowledge and resolve issues collaboratively. Khoros integrates seamlessly with major CRM and ITSM systems, enhancing workflow integration for community managers. Furthermore, its analytics capabilities provide valuable insights into member engagement and community health, helping you with performance tracking. By creating branded community forums, Khoros promotes a customized user experience, strengthening the sense of community among members during the maintenance of a safe and respectful space for discussions. User Experience Challenges User experience challenges in community management often arise from the intricacies of maneuvering various features and tools. With community management software like Khoros, you may encounter issues related to user engagement and satisfaction. To improve your experience, consider these factors: Peer-to-peer support promotes interaction among users. Knowledge sharing helps users find answers quickly. Social media analytics enable performance tracking. Customer interaction management streamlines communication. Community-driven engagement encourages authentic connections. Khoros offers robust analytics to monitor engagement and satisfaction, helping you identify areas for improvement. By integrating seamlessly with CRM systems, it augments the user experience, ensuring that your community remains lively and active. Utilizing effective engagement tools can greatly mitigate these challenges. Bettermode Bettermode stands out as a versatile community management platform designed to encourage engagement among members through a variety of robust features. This platform improves user engagement by offering customizable profiles, allowing individuals to tailor their experience and nurture personal connections. Bettermode supports both public and private channels, ensuring secure and organized conversations among community members. With its discussion forums, polls, and event calendars, users can engage in meaningful interactions and share valuable resources effectively. For community managers, Bettermode includes thorough analytics tools to track engagement metrics, helping to identify participation trends and optimize strategies accordingly. Furthermore, the platform’s integration capabilities allow organizations to streamline community management processes, improving overall functionality. By leveraging these community management tools, you can create an engaging environment that promotes collaboration and active participation among members, making it an effective choice for cultivating dynamic online communities. Hivebrite Hivebrite serves as an all-encompassing community management platform that empowers organizations to build branded online communities customized to their specific needs. This tool improves member engagement through various features that support event management, resource sharing, and professional networking. Key aspects of Hivebrite include: User moderation to maintain community standards. An analytics dashboard that provides insights into member interactions and engagement metrics. Tools for tracking community health and adapting strategies for improvement. Monetization options to generate revenue through membership fees and sponsorships. Promoting active participation among members, nurturing a lively community atmosphere. Hivebrite effectively caters to diverse sectors, including non-profits and associations, improving overall member experiences. Mighty Networks Mighty Networks allows organizations to create branded community hubs that promote engagement and collaboration among members. This platform excels in community management by providing customizable features customized to your specific needs, enhancing member interactions. With its multi-channel communication capabilities, members can engage via web, mobile, and social media, ensuring broad accessibility. Mighty Networks additionally includes robust analytics and reporting tools that help community leaders track engagement metrics, facilitating data-driven decision-making. The ease of use is a standout aspect, allowing both community managers and members to navigate the platform effortlessly. By nurturing a sense of belonging, Mighty Networks encourages members to share resources and participate in events, ultimately driving higher engagement. Whether you’re hosting courses or managing discussions, this tool is designed to optimize the community experience, making it a valuable asset for any organization aiming to strengthen member connections. Discourse When you’re looking to cultivate meaningful conversations within a community, Discourse stands out as an open-source platform designed for creating customizable discussion forums. This community engagement platform offers a wide range of features that improve user interaction and support community growth. Extensive moderation tools help maintain a healthy environment. Rich content creation capabilities allow embedding images, videos, and links. Gamification features, like badges and trust levels, incentivize participation. Robust analytics and reporting tools track user activity and engagement metrics. Customizable discussion forums cater to specific community needs. With Discourse, you can effectively manage posts and users, ensuring a productive atmosphere for discussions. The platform’s focus on user engagement through gamification and detailed analytics allows community leaders to encourage meaningful conversations and monitor progress over time, making it a valuable tool for any community manager. Frequently Asked Questions What Are the 7 Steps to Effective Community Engagement? To effectively engage your community, start by defining clear goals that outline your objectives. Next, nurture a sense of belonging by creating inclusive spaces for discussion. Utilize data analytics to track participation rates and sentiment, adjusting strategies as needed. Implement a multi-channel communication approach to reach members on their preferred platforms. Finally, encourage feedback through polls, ensuring continuous refinement of your engagement tactics based on community preferences and needs. What Are the 7 Approaches to Community Development? You can explore seven key approaches to community development: asset-based, participatory planning, sustainable development, social capital building, technology integration, collective impact, and place-based strategies. Each method emphasizes unique aspects, such as leveraging existing community strengths, involving residents in decision-making, and ensuring long-term viability. What Are Community Management Tools? Community management tools are platforms that help you build, manage, and engage with your community. They typically include features like discussion forums, member directories, event management, and analytics for tracking engagement. What Are the 5 C’s of Community? The five C’s of community are connection, collaboration, communication, content, and culture. Connection nurtures relationships among members, enhancing engagement. Collaboration encourages joint projects and events, strengthening ties within the community. Communication involves sharing information through various channels, ensuring members stay informed. Content refers to providing valuable, relevant materials that meet members’ interests, promoting trust and participation. Finally, culture establishes an inclusive atmosphere, making members feel valued and supported in their contributions. Conclusion To sum up, selecting the right community management tool can greatly improve engagement and communication within your organization. Tools like Sprout Social and Agorapulse offer robust social media management features, whereas Khoros and Bettermode cater to enterprise-level needs with customization. Platforms such as Hivebrite, Mighty Networks, and Discourse provide unique functionalities that promote interaction and community building. By leveraging these tools effectively, you can create a lively community that encourages active participation and strengthens member relationships. Image via Google Gemini and ArtSmart This article, "Top 7 Tools for Community Management to Boost Engagement" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

In terms of community management, choosing the right tools can greatly improve engagement and interaction. Sprout Social and Agorapulse are excellent for social media management, whereas Khoros and Bettermode offer extensive customization for enterprises. Platforms like Mighty Networks and Discourse create unique spaces for discussions and networking. Each of these tools has its strengths, and comprehending their features can help you select the best fit for your needs. Let’s explore these options further. Key Takeaways Sprout Social offers real-time notifications and analytics tools for enhanced audience engagement and strategic assessment of social media interactions. Agorapulse provides tailored community management features, including automated responses and detailed analytics, ideal for small to mid-market businesses. Khoros delivers an enterprise-level platform with extensive customization options, content moderation tools, and integration capabilities for community managers. Mighty Networks enables organizations to create branded community hubs, fostering multi-channel communication and driving member resource sharing. Discourse focuses on meaningful conversations in customizable forums, offering gamification elements and robust analytics to track user engagement. Sprout Social Sprout Social stands out as a thorough social media management platform that integrates community management features aimed at improving audience engagement. This community management system offers real-time notifications for comments, replies, and messages, allowing you to respond quickly to community interactions. Its robust social media analytics tools track engagement metrics, helping you assess the effectiveness of your community management strategies and optimize future content. Additionally, Sprout Social’s team collaboration tools streamline community management workflows, enabling efficient handling of conversations and reducing response times. The platform supports various social media management services, making it easier for your team to stay connected and engaged with your audience. Plus, you can take advantage of a free trial social media management to explore its features, such as Instagram integration, without immediate financial commitment. Agorapulse Agorapulse stands out as a thorough community management tool customized for small to mid-market businesses. It offers key features like social media monitoring, scheduled posts, and detailed analytics to help you engage effectively with your audience. With various pricing plans available, Agorapulse provides options that can fit different budgets, making it an attractive choice for those looking to improve their social media management strategies. Key Features Overview When managing a community, having the right tools can greatly increase your efficiency and effectiveness. Agorapulse stands out as a strong community management tool, offering crucial features for automated social media growth. With its robust social media listening features, you can gain insights into audience sentiment and engagement trends, enabling you to tailor your responses. It allows you to schedule posts and manage comments seamlessly, helping you streamline workflow. Moreover, Agorapulse provides performance metrics that measure engagement rates and track user interactions, ensuring you stay informed about your community’s health. Plus, its automated responses for frequently asked questions improve customer interactions, allowing your team to focus on more complex queries, eventually boosting overall engagement. Pricing and Plans Grasping the pricing and plans for Agorapulse is crucial for determining whether it aligns with your community management needs. Agorapulse offers several pricing plans, starting at $99 per month for the Pro plan, which includes key community management features suitable for small to mid-market businesses. The Premium plan, priced at $199 per month, adds advanced reporting and social listening tools. For larger organizations, the Enterprise plan features customized pricing and dedicated account management designed to your unique operational needs. Each Agorapulse pricing plan includes a 28-day free trial, allowing you to explore the platform’s capabilities. Flexible payment options, including monthly and annual subscriptions, improve cost-effectiveness, especially with discounts available for annual commitments, making it a practical choice among social media management tools. Khoros Khoros stands out as an enterprise-level platform that offers extensive customization options for managing branded community forums. Although it includes vital content moderation tools to facilitate peer-to-peer support, many users find its overall experience somewhat outdated and clunky. Comprehending these aspects can help you determine if Khoros aligns with your community management needs. Customization Options Available Many organizations find that Khoros offers extensive customization options for community forums, allowing them to tailor the appearance and functionality of their spaces to align with branding and user preferences. With Khoros, you can boost member engagement through various features: Customizable user profiles that let members showcase their interests. Unique discussion categories for organized and relevant conversations. Gamification elements, like badges and leaderboards, to motivate member participation. Custom reporting to track engagement metrics aligned with community goals. Tailored conversations based on specific interests and needs. These robust customization options serve as effective community management tools, helping you create a more engaging environment that encourages active member participation and achieves your community goals. Content Moderation Tools When managing an online community, effective content moderation is crucial for cultivating a positive and engaging environment. Khoros offers robust content moderation tools as part of its community management solutions, enabling you to oversee discussions and guarantee compliance with community guidelines. These tools facilitate peer-to-peer support, allowing members to share knowledge and resolve issues collaboratively. Khoros integrates seamlessly with major CRM and ITSM systems, enhancing workflow integration for community managers. Furthermore, its analytics capabilities provide valuable insights into member engagement and community health, helping you with performance tracking. By creating branded community forums, Khoros promotes a customized user experience, strengthening the sense of community among members during the maintenance of a safe and respectful space for discussions. User Experience Challenges User experience challenges in community management often arise from the intricacies of maneuvering various features and tools. With community management software like Khoros, you may encounter issues related to user engagement and satisfaction. To improve your experience, consider these factors: Peer-to-peer support promotes interaction among users. Knowledge sharing helps users find answers quickly. Social media analytics enable performance tracking. Customer interaction management streamlines communication. Community-driven engagement encourages authentic connections. Khoros offers robust analytics to monitor engagement and satisfaction, helping you identify areas for improvement. By integrating seamlessly with CRM systems, it augments the user experience, ensuring that your community remains lively and active. Utilizing effective engagement tools can greatly mitigate these challenges. Bettermode Bettermode stands out as a versatile community management platform designed to encourage engagement among members through a variety of robust features. This platform improves user engagement by offering customizable profiles, allowing individuals to tailor their experience and nurture personal connections. Bettermode supports both public and private channels, ensuring secure and organized conversations among community members. With its discussion forums, polls, and event calendars, users can engage in meaningful interactions and share valuable resources effectively. For community managers, Bettermode includes thorough analytics tools to track engagement metrics, helping to identify participation trends and optimize strategies accordingly. Furthermore, the platform’s integration capabilities allow organizations to streamline community management processes, improving overall functionality. By leveraging these community management tools, you can create an engaging environment that promotes collaboration and active participation among members, making it an effective choice for cultivating dynamic online communities. Hivebrite Hivebrite serves as an all-encompassing community management platform that empowers organizations to build branded online communities customized to their specific needs. This tool improves member engagement through various features that support event management, resource sharing, and professional networking. Key aspects of Hivebrite include: User moderation to maintain community standards. An analytics dashboard that provides insights into member interactions and engagement metrics. Tools for tracking community health and adapting strategies for improvement. Monetization options to generate revenue through membership fees and sponsorships. Promoting active participation among members, nurturing a lively community atmosphere. Hivebrite effectively caters to diverse sectors, including non-profits and associations, improving overall member experiences. Mighty Networks Mighty Networks allows organizations to create branded community hubs that promote engagement and collaboration among members. This platform excels in community management by providing customizable features customized to your specific needs, enhancing member interactions. With its multi-channel communication capabilities, members can engage via web, mobile, and social media, ensuring broad accessibility. Mighty Networks additionally includes robust analytics and reporting tools that help community leaders track engagement metrics, facilitating data-driven decision-making. The ease of use is a standout aspect, allowing both community managers and members to navigate the platform effortlessly. By nurturing a sense of belonging, Mighty Networks encourages members to share resources and participate in events, ultimately driving higher engagement. Whether you’re hosting courses or managing discussions, this tool is designed to optimize the community experience, making it a valuable asset for any organization aiming to strengthen member connections. Discourse When you’re looking to cultivate meaningful conversations within a community, Discourse stands out as an open-source platform designed for creating customizable discussion forums. This community engagement platform offers a wide range of features that improve user interaction and support community growth. Extensive moderation tools help maintain a healthy environment. Rich content creation capabilities allow embedding images, videos, and links. Gamification features, like badges and trust levels, incentivize participation. Robust analytics and reporting tools track user activity and engagement metrics. Customizable discussion forums cater to specific community needs. With Discourse, you can effectively manage posts and users, ensuring a productive atmosphere for discussions. The platform’s focus on user engagement through gamification and detailed analytics allows community leaders to encourage meaningful conversations and monitor progress over time, making it a valuable tool for any community manager. Frequently Asked Questions What Are the 7 Steps to Effective Community Engagement? To effectively engage your community, start by defining clear goals that outline your objectives. Next, nurture a sense of belonging by creating inclusive spaces for discussion. Utilize data analytics to track participation rates and sentiment, adjusting strategies as needed. Implement a multi-channel communication approach to reach members on their preferred platforms. Finally, encourage feedback through polls, ensuring continuous refinement of your engagement tactics based on community preferences and needs. What Are the 7 Approaches to Community Development? You can explore seven key approaches to community development: asset-based, participatory planning, sustainable development, social capital building, technology integration, collective impact, and place-based strategies. Each method emphasizes unique aspects, such as leveraging existing community strengths, involving residents in decision-making, and ensuring long-term viability. What Are Community Management Tools? Community management tools are platforms that help you build, manage, and engage with your community. They typically include features like discussion forums, member directories, event management, and analytics for tracking engagement. What Are the 5 C’s of Community? The five C’s of community are connection, collaboration, communication, content, and culture. Connection nurtures relationships among members, enhancing engagement. Collaboration encourages joint projects and events, strengthening ties within the community. Communication involves sharing information through various channels, ensuring members stay informed. Content refers to providing valuable, relevant materials that meet members’ interests, promoting trust and participation. Finally, culture establishes an inclusive atmosphere, making members feel valued and supported in their contributions. Conclusion To sum up, selecting the right community management tool can greatly improve engagement and communication within your organization. Tools like Sprout Social and Agorapulse offer robust social media management features, whereas Khoros and Bettermode cater to enterprise-level needs with customization. Platforms such as Hivebrite, Mighty Networks, and Discourse provide unique functionalities that promote interaction and community building. By leveraging these tools effectively, you can create a lively community that encourages active participation and strengthens member relationships. Image via Google Gemini and ArtSmart This article, "Top 7 Tools for Community Management to Boost Engagement" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Strong holiday season and boost from China leads to record revenueView the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. QLED TVs are, in my opinion, a perfect sweet spot between budget TVs and OLEDs—they're a huge improvement in video quality without having to pay the thousands required for an OLED. And honestly, most people can't tell the difference between an OLED and a QLED anyway, but most people see the difference between a budget TV and a solid QLED. If you're looking for a steal on one of the best QLED TVs of 2025, the Hisense 65" Class U8GQ is $898.32 (originally $1,498) after a 40% discount, bringing it down to its lowest price ever, according to price-tracking tools. The other, bigger sizes are also seeing great discounts right now. Amazon Hisense 65" Class U8 Mini-LED $898.32 at Amazon $1,498.00 Save $599.68 Get Deal Get Deal $898.32 at Amazon $1,498.00 Save $599.68 Amazon Hisense 75" Class U8 Mini-LED $1,297.99 at Amazon $1,698.00 Save $400.01 Get Deal Get Deal $1,297.99 at Amazon $1,698.00 Save $400.01 Amazon Hisense 85" Class U8 Mini-LED $1,697.99 at Amazon $2,297.99 Save $600.00 Get Deal Get Deal $1,697.99 at Amazon $2,297.99 Save $600.00 Amazon Hisense 100" Class U8 Mini-LED $2,997.99 at Amazon $4,999.99 Save $2,002.00 Get Deal Get Deal $2,997.99 at Amazon $4,999.99 Save $2,002.00 SEE 1 MORE The Hisense U8QG is a mid-tier QLED TV that was released in April of 2025, and it's in my list of the best budget QLEDs of that year. It's a solid, well-rounded TV that will work well in bright rooms and excels for watching sports, movies, and playing video games. The brightness, black levels, and colors are its most impressive specs, as PCMag noted in its "excellent" review. This TV also has a Hi-View AI Engine Pro processor, HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on all three ports, and a USB-C display port that PC gamers can use to play directly on the TV. It can handle 4K resolution at a 165Hz refresh rate and 1080p at 288Hz. It also has support for arguably the most important HDR formats: Dolby Vision and HDR10+. The TV OS, Google TV, is my personal favorite because it lets you seamlessly cast your phone or computer directly to the TV. It also supports voice controls. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 3 Noise Cancelling Heart Rate Wireless Earbuds — $199.00 (List Price $249.00) Apple Watch Series 11 [GPS 46mm] Smartwatch with Jet Black Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band - M/L. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant — $399.00 (List Price $429.00) Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Plus — (List Price $24.99 With Code "FTV4K25") Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ 64GB Wi-Fi 11" Tablet (Silver) — $159.99 (List Price $219.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

If you and your friends have the same taste in music, you probably text each other what you're listening to. I know when I stumble upon a new discovery I love—or even something I think is trash—I fire it off to the group chat to talk about it. Of course, I just forward the song to the group chat in the Messages app, like any other thing I'd want to send to that group. If you have Spotify, however, you have a new group chat option to choose from: Spotify itself. Spotify heads might already know that the app has had a messaging feature since August. While the point of the feature is to send Spotify content to your friends, it's a basic messaging service, which means you can send any text you want—including emojis. It's available to any Spotify user, whether you have Premium or just a free account, so long as you're 16 or older. None of that is new today. What is new today is the amount of people you can text at once in Spotify. Since August, chats have been limited to one-on-one interactions. Now, you're able to add up to nine other people at once to a thread. That means 10-person group chats to talk about new music, podcasts, audiobooks, or, of course, anything at all—assuming you actually want to move your DMs to Spotify. How to start a group chat on SpotifyTo start, open Spotify on mobile (this isn't supported on desktop at this time) then tap your profile in the top right corner. Look for "Messages" at the bottom of this menu, then choose "New Message." If this is your first time interacting with people on Spotify, you'll need to invite others to chat before you can craft a new message. Here, you'll have the choice to share a link to invite a friend to join your message. You can also find this option from the share menu on any piece of Spotify content, and hitting the "Invite friends" option. Once you've initiated a message, you'll be able to start crafting new ones—including group chats. Head back to this Messages menu—or hit the share button on a song, podcast, or audiobook—then choose "Create group." Here, tap any friends from the suggestions you'd like to add, then choose "Create group" again to finalize the chat. Spotify says the people that appear in the list of suggestions are those you have shared content to before, created a playlist or Blend with previously, were in a "recent" Jam together, or are on an active Family or Duo plan. If they don't appear, you can always choose the invite option to reach out directly. Whoever creates the group is officially its admin. As the admin, you have the power to add or remove anyone from the group chat. If you're in the group chat, you're labeled as a "Participant." Invited members are labeled "Pending." The admin as well as any participants are allowed to block any group chat user for any reason. The issue is, do you really want to dedicate a group chat to Spotify itself? Maybe if this feature rolled out when the app launched way back when, it'd be different. But people are set in their ways: It's so hard to get people to move chat apps, especially when it's for one specific purpose. Rather than open yet another thread to keep track of, I think I'd rather just text links to my main group chat—and I'm guessing the other members of the chat would agree. How to turn off Spotify MessagesIf you don't want to use Spotify's messaging service at all, you can leave it behind, and save yourself from getting added to all future group and one-on-one chats. To do so, tap your profile, choose "Settings and privacy," then hit "Privacy and social." Here, scroll down to "Social features" and turn off "Messages." View the full article

Microsoft stock just suffered its biggest single day drop since 2020. Meanwhile, Meta stock popped by 10%. Both tech giants are spending billions on AI talent and infrastructure, but investors clearly feel skittish about Microsoft at the start of 2026 and bullish on Meta’s tale of near-term upside. For a company that famously whiffed on the metaverse, Meta is looking more reasonable these days. The company is still poised to invest eye-popping sums into artificial intelligence in the coming years, but so are all of its peers, Microsoft included. In an era of AI hype and sky-high expectations, Meta is following the crowd—not leading it—for better or worse. In 2026, the company is building a grounded narrative around its strong revenue growth. Meta is an advertising company through and through, and in 2026, it’s emphasizing that core competency while pointing to strong revenue growth to back up the story. Meta reported $59.89 billion in revenue in the last quarter, beating Wall Street’s estimate by over $1 billion. The company said more people are using its wide family of social apps, with 7% daily active user growth year over year across its products. Mark Zuckerberg took some time in Wednesday’s earnings call to declare that he can’t imagine a world “where most glasses that people wear aren’t AI glasses” within the next few years, but at least he didn’t lead with the company’s latest cash-burning consumer hardware bet. Meta’s AI spending green light The Menlo Park tech giant’s investment in AI is only growing. In 2026, Meta expects to splash out between $115 billion and $135 billion in capital expenditures, way up from the $72.22 billion it spent across 2025. Meta says the increase will largely be driven by upped investment into Meta Superintelligence Labs, its AI division. “We’re in this interesting period where we’ve been rebuilding our AI effort, and we’re six months into that, and I’m happy with how it’s going,” Zuckerberg said. Meta is bullish on its near-future revenue, too. The company is expecting to bring in between $53.5 and $56.5 billion next quarter. On its earnings call, executives highlighted how weaving AI into its existing products is explicitly boosting its ad business. “There are several major business opportunities that we’re focused on . . . one is just going to be improving the core products and accelerating the current business,” Zuckerberg said, noting that Meta’s products are already benefitting from AI integration into their recommendation engines. The company says that advertisers are responding to ad performance improvements already, and those successes are driving conversion growth—and revenue. Investors took note, the stock popped and the company’s narrative about where all that AI spend will go seems to make sense to the market, at least for now. Microsoft’s story is complicated Investors seem to appreciate that Meta is eating its vegetables and bolstering its ad business these days, but Microsoft is a different story. Microsoft, once the boring PC company, is on the cutting edge of the AI boom. The company handily beat expectations in its own earnings report this week, notching $81.3 billion in quarterly revenue – a 16% year over year increase. Its net income bested expectations too. So what went wrong? If investors are worried about being over indexed on Microsoft, Microsoft may be worried about being in too deep with OpenAI. The tech stalwart’s AI bets are complex due to being bound up with OpenAI, which the larger company has invested more than $11 billion into to date. Microsoft’s latest earnings were buoyed by OpenAI’s transformation into a more traditional for-profit company, which Microsoft will own a 27% stake in, valued at $135 billion. That investment delivered Microsoft $7.6 billion in net income in the last quarter. Microsoft increasingly competes with its longtime partner, but remains worryingly dependent on it at the same time. The company is holding onto an astronomical $625 billion backlog in pent up demand for its cloud computing business, but just disclosed that OpenAI accounts for 45% of those outstanding cloud contracts. If OpenAI stumbles, Microsoft does too. Microsoft may be powering the AI revolution, but, until solved, its capacity woes put an awkward cap on the revenue that business can bring in. To fix the problem, the company is feeding its voracious appetite for cloud computing capacity – but all of that spending may start to rattle investors. Microsoft shelled out $37.5 billion in capital expenditures in the last quarter, a figure that includes AI infrastructure investment like data centers. Meanwhile, its Azure cloud business grew 39% in the quarter, beating expectations but staying flat from last quarter’s growth. In the company’s earnings report, CEO Satya Nadella argued that Microsoft is well-positioned in the “beginning phases” of AI adoption. “We are pushing the frontier across our entire AI stack to drive new value for our customers and partners,” Nadella said. AI’s major players are set to sink more cash than ever into the technology this year. But after a few years of AI-driven sugar highs, the industry may finally be tempered by investors eager for an endgame. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Garmin smartwatches have been gaining popularity in recent years for health-conscious and sports enthusiasts alike. Their Garmin Venu 3S, which was released in late 2023, is one of their premium watches that works great for beginners and more advanced athletes thanks to their user-friendly fitness tracking. You can get the 41mm Venu 3S for $349.99 (originally $449.99), the lowest price it has been, according to price-tracking tools. Garmin Venu 3S Operating System: Android, Memory Storage Capacity: 8 GB $349.99 at Amazon $449.99 Save $100.00 Get Deal Get Deal $349.99 at Amazon $449.99 Save $100.00 The Venus 3S offers Android and Apple users a long battery life of up to 10 days (depending on your use and settings), 8GB of storage, a built-in GPS to track your activity, and a 1.2-inch AMOLED touchscreen. This 41mm size is perfect for people with smaller-sized wrists. The Venus 3S is user-friendly, with three buttons and a touchscreen to navigate its features and avoid accidentally stopping your workout. The smartwatch has a speaker and microphone so you can take your calls directly from your watch. You can also use it to listen to its guided meditation feature or your playlists from Spotify and Amazon music; just keep in mind there is no LTE support, so you'll need to be within Bluetooth or wifi range of your phone to use these features. If you're looking for a smartwatch to do trail runs, this smartwatch is not it, since there's no trail-run feature. However, you can get stats on your recovery time after workouts as well as the benefits of your training, a morning report of your health status, heart rate monitoring, stress tracking, on-screen workouts you can follow along, their Body Battery Energy Monitoring that shows you how much or little energy you might have, as well as a Sleep Coach feature that helps you improve your sleep. View the full article

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In terms of improving customer satisfaction, selecting the right survey company is crucial. The top companies specialize in scientifically sound methodologies and customizable options, which can provide you with actionable insights. You’ll find that firms like Interaction Metrics and Beyond Feedback stand out for their advanced analytics and real-time feedback capabilities. Exploring the benefits of these partnerships can lead to meaningful improvements in your customer experience strategy, setting the stage for long-term loyalty. Key Takeaways Interaction Metrics leads with scientific survey methodologies ensuring reliable results and real-time data access for timely strategy adjustments. Beyond Feedback offers customizable survey programs with options for real-time monitoring and national benchmarking across various deployment channels. Satrix Solutions specializes in personalized reports and unbiased market research tailored for B2B experiences, enhancing customer insights. Confero excels in mystery shopping and customer surveys, providing custom dashboard views for effective data interpretation. Amplitude Research employs Ph.D. statisticians for thorough analysis, delivering scientifically valid insights for informed decision-making. How We Picked the Best Companies When evaluating the best customer satisfaction survey companies, we focused on a thorough analysis of their service offerings to guarantee they meet industry standards for data integrity and validity. Our selection process prioritized firms that provide actionable customer feedback on companies, enabling businesses to improve their customer experiences. We examined each company’s ability to deliver scientifically valid insights, which is vital for making informed decisions. Additionally, we emphasized advanced analytics capabilities and customizable survey options, assuring these Qualtrics survey companies could cater to diverse needs. Customer reviews and satisfaction ratings played a significant role in our evaluations, highlighting the effectiveness and reliability of the services provided. The final list reflects a broad range of expertise and specialization in customer experience surveys across various industries, showcasing both top picks and honorable mentions. This careful selection assures that you have access to the best tools for comprehending and enhancing your business’s customer satisfaction. Winner: Interaction Metrics When it pertains to comprehending customer satisfaction, Interaction Metrics stands out with its scientific survey methodology that guarantees reliable results. You’ll appreciate the real-time data access, which allows you to track trends and make timely adjustments to your strategies. Plus, their commitment to bias mitigation techniques means you can trust the insights you receive, helping you improve the customer experience effectively. Scientific Survey Methodology Grasping scientific survey methodology is crucial for businesses aiming to gather reliable customer feedback, as it directly impacts the quality of insights derived from surveys. Interaction Metrics, a leader among customer satisfaction research companies, employs a rigorous approach by screening survey questions for over 20 types of bias. This not only improves the reliability of results but likewise guarantees data integrity. As one of the top survey companies, they offer full-service survey design and implementation starting at $850, allowing businesses to focus on actionable insights. Real-Time Data Access Accessing real-time data is increasingly vital for businesses seeking to improve customer satisfaction. Interaction Metrics stands out among companies that conduct surveys because of its instant access to survey results. Here’s how their service can benefit your business: Real-Time Dashboards: Get actionable insights immediately after collecting feedback, allowing you to optimize customer experiences quickly. Timely Interventions: Respond swiftly to customer feedback, enhancing satisfaction and loyalty. Comprehensive Services: With full-service survey design starting at $850, you’ll receive data collection, text analysis, and real-time reporting, ensuring reliability and validity. Bias Mitigation Techniques To guarantee that customer feedback accurately reflects true sentiments, businesses must prioritize bias mitigation techniques in their survey designs. Interaction Metrics shines in this area by screening survey questions for over 20 types of bias, ensuring data integrity. They use scientifically valid methodologies that minimize response bias, providing trustworthy insights. Their transparent pricing and full-service survey design make it easier for businesses to access reliable information. With real-time dashboards, you can quickly track survey results and identify potential biases. This thorough approach allows for action-oriented feedback, leading to better decision-making. Bias Type Mitigation Technique Social Desirability Anonymity in responses Acquiescence Balanced question phrasing Order Effects Randomized answer options Sampling Bias Diverse participant selection Confirmation Bias Neutral question framing Runner Up: Beyond Feedback In terms of gathering customer insights, Beyond Feedback offers customized survey programs that meet your specific business needs. With options for real-time monitoring and national benchmarking, you can easily compare your performance against competitors as you adapt your approach based on immediate feedback. This level of customization and flexibility guarantees that you gain valuable insights to improve customer experiences. Custom Survey Programs Custom survey programs play a crucial role in helping businesses gather meaningful customer feedback customized to their specific needs. Beyond Feedback stands out by offering customized customer experience survey programs that guarantee relevant insights. Here are three key features that can benefit your business: Multiple Deployment Channels: You can collect feedback via email, SMS, or phone, allowing for diverse responses. National Benchmarking Services: Compare your results against competitors to improve your market comprehension. Expert Guidance: Receive assistance with survey design and program development, confirming your surveys resonate with your target audience. Real-time Insight Monitoring Real-time insight monitoring has become essential for businesses aiming to stay responsive to customer feedback. With Beyond Feedback’s platform, you can access fully customized customer experience surveys deployed through email, SMS, or phone, ensuring you reach customers on their preferred channels. This flexibility improves the likelihood of receiving valuable feedback. The real-time reporting features allow you to monitor insights as they come in, enabling timely adjustments based on customer responses. Additionally, the platform supports both online and offline reporting, so you can access insights anytime and anywhere. National Benchmarking Comparison National benchmarking comparison is a critical tool for businesses looking to gauge their customer satisfaction levels against industry standards and competitors. With Beyond Feedback, you can access customized survey programs that fit your specific needs. Here are three key features of their national benchmarking services: Custom Surveys: Design your surveys to target particular aspects of customer experience, ensuring relevance to your goals. Flexible Deployment: Reach your customers effectively through various channels, including email, SMS, and phone, based on their preferences. Comprehensive Reporting: Utilize both online and offline reporting capabilities for real-time insights, enabling informed decision-making. Honorable Mentions In the domain of customer satisfaction surveys, several companies stand out for their exceptional services and commitment to enhancing the customer experience. Satrix Solutions, for instance, offers personalized reports and unbiased market research, focusing on B2B customer experiences to provide customized solutions that meet specific business needs. Meanwhile, Confero thrives in mystery shopping and customer surveys, providing unlimited custom dashboard views that facilitate detailed performance analysis and business intelligence. Amplitude Research employs Ph.D. statisticians to guarantee thorough analysis across diverse survey types, enhancing the validity and reliability of customer feedback insights. Even though Drive Research collaborates with major brands to deliver actionable insights, it does face criticism for its lack of transparent pricing, which may complicate decision-making for potential clients. Each of these J.D. Power companies prioritizes actionable insights, making them worthy of honorable mentions in the customer satisfaction survey sector. Benefits of Partnering With Survey Companies Partnering with SurveyMonkey can considerably improve your business’s decision-making processes by providing actionable insights directly from your customers. These insights allow you to identify trends and understand specific customer needs, paving the way for informed strategies that drive growth. Additionally, the ability to customize surveys guarantees that you gather relevant data, finally enhancing your overall customer satisfaction. Actionable Insights Generation When businesses collaborate with customer survey companies, they gain access to a wealth of actionable insights that can markedly influence product development and service improvements. These insights can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. Here are three key benefits: Reliable Data: Survey companies use scientifically valid methodologies to minimize bias, ensuring the data you receive is trustworthy. Trend Analysis: Advanced analytics capabilities can uncover patterns in customer behavior, helping you align your offerings with consumer needs. Real-Time Feedback: Collecting feedback through web, mobile, and SMS allows you to respond quickly to customer sentiments and make continuous improvements. Enhanced Decision-Making Processes Effective decision-making in business hinges on having access to accurate and relevant information, and working with customer survey companies can greatly improve this process. These companies provide scientifically valid insights, ensuring data integrity and actionable feedback that drives informed decisions. With real-time dashboards and analytics, you can track customer satisfaction trends and quickly adapt to changing consumer preferences. Advanced analytics capabilities reveal deep trends within customer feedback, enabling you to refine your products and services effectively. By automating feedback collection through multiple channels, you can reach a broader audience, enhancing your comprehension of customer needs. In addition, access to national benchmarking helps you compare your performance against competitors, facilitating strategic planning and targeted improvement efforts for your business. Criteria for Selecting Survey Companies Selecting the right survey company requires careful consideration of several key criteria to guarantee you gather meaningful insights from your customers. Here are three crucial factors to keep in mind: Diverse Feedback Channels: Choose a company that offers multiple ways to collect responses, such as web, mobile, SMS, email, and in-app formats. This variety helps you reach more customers. Advanced Analytics: Look for a platform that provides robust analytics capabilities. It’s important that they go beyond basic statistics to uncover actionable insights and trends, allowing you to make informed decisions. Customization and Integration: Confirm the platform allows you to tailor surveys to fit your audience and business objectives. Furthermore, consider how well the survey data can integrate with your existing systems for better collaboration. Range of Feedback Channels How can businesses effectively gather insights from their customers? Utilizing a range of feedback channels is crucial. Effective customer survey companies employ various platforms, including web, mobile, SMS, email, and in-app surveys, guaranteeing you connect with customers in their preferred environments. These platforms often support offline feedback options, capturing insights from customers without internet access. By offering diverse channels, you can maximize engagement and response rates, leading to a more thorough comprehension of customer sentiment. Advanced survey tools allow smooth integration of feedback collection across these platforms, enabling you to consolidate data for better analysis. The flexibility in feedback channels not only broadens your audience reach but likewise provides richer qualitative insights into customer experiences and preferences. This multi-channel approach guarantees you receive valuable feedback that can drive improvements and improve customer satisfaction, eventually benefiting your business. Analytics Capabilities With a solid foundation in gathering feedback through various channels, businesses can leverage analytics capabilities to turn that data into actionable insights. Advanced analytics allow you to identify trends and improve decision-making processes. Here are some key features to evaluate: Multi-dimensional analysis: Dissect customer feedback into various segments for targeted improvements. AI-powered tools: Automate the processing of large volumes of survey data, greatly reducing the time needed to glean insights. Real-time dashboards: Access immediate survey results, facilitating quick adjustments in strategy based on customer feedback. Additionally, integrating survey data with other analytical tools provides a more all-encompassing grasp of customer experiences across multiple touchpoints. This integration enriches the insights you gain, enabling your business to adapt effectively to customer needs and expectations. Embracing these analytics capabilities can greatly improve your company’s performance and customer satisfaction. Customization Options Customization options in customer satisfaction surveys play a crucial role in improving the relevance and effectiveness of the feedback collected. By customizing questions and formats, you can align surveys with your specific objectives and audience needs. Companies like Interaction Metrics and Beyond Feedback provide fully personalized survey programs, allowing you to design unique questions and reports based on your goals. Advanced platforms often include pre-built templates that can be adjusted quickly, making survey creation easier. Additionally, adaptive questioning enables follow-up questions based on previous responses, offering deeper insights into customer satisfaction. Segmenting survey responses by demographics or behavior patterns further improves effectiveness, revealing targeted insights that can inform your business strategies. Customization Feature Benefit Customized Questions Aligns with specific objectives Pre-built Templates Speeds up survey creation Adaptive Questioning Provides deeper insights Response Segmentation Delivers targeted insights Pricing Considerations When evaluating customer satisfaction survey services, it’s crucial to take into account pricing alongside the value offered. Grasping pricing can help you choose the right service without overspending. Here are three key considerations: Service Type: Full-service survey design and implementation can start at around $850, as seen with companies like Interaction Metrics, whereas platforms like Zonka Feedback offer competitive rates at $20 per user per month. Customization: Many companies, such as Beyond Feedback, provide flexible pricing options that allow for personalized reporting and multi-channel deployment, which can add value to your investment. Quality of Features: More advanced platforms, like SurveyMonkey, may have higher costs but often justify them with superior analytics and support, making them more suitable for startups and small businesses seeking extensive insights. Assess these factors carefully to guarantee you get the best value for your investment. Frequently Asked Questions What Company Has the Best Customer Satisfaction? When determining which company has the best customer satisfaction, Chick-fil-A often stands out, consistently achieving high scores, like their ACSI score of 83 in 2024. Publix Super Markets likewise ranks highly in grocery service, reflecting their commitment to customer value. Companies like Costco and Zappos excel by offering exceptional service and strong return policies, nurturing loyalty. These businesses prioritize customer experience, leading to high satisfaction ratings across various surveys. What Are the Top Survey Companies? When looking for top survey companies, consider options like Interaction Metrics, known for scientifically valid surveys and transparent pricing. Beyond Feedback offers customized programs and national benchmarking. Satrix Solutions specializes in B2B research, providing personalized insights. Confero focuses on mystery shopping and customer surveys, enabling detailed analysis through custom dashboards. Finally, Amplitude Research employs Ph.D. statisticians for rigorous survey administration and personalized insights, ensuring you get thorough data to inform your decisions. What Are the 3 C’s of Customer Satisfaction? The 3 C’s of customer satisfaction are Communication, Consistency, and Customer Service. Effective Communication means you listen to feedback and respond quickly, improving customer experience. Consistency guarantees customers receive the same quality service every time, which builds trust. High-quality Customer Service involves knowledgeable staff who resolve issues efficiently, leading to greater customer retention. Companies excelling in these areas often enjoy higher loyalty and sales growth, reflecting their commitment to satisfying their customers. What Are the Best Customer Satisfaction Survey Questions? To create effective customer satisfaction surveys, include a mix of quantitative and qualitative questions. Use metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) to measure overall satisfaction. Incorporate open-ended questions, such as “What can we do to improve your experience?” for specific feedback. Moreover, implement a scale for ratings on service aspects and demographic questions to identify trends. Regularly review your questions to guarantee they capture customer expectations accurately. Conclusion Choosing the right company for customer satisfaction surveys can greatly impact your business’s success. By partnering with leaders like Interaction Metrics and Beyond Feedback, you gain access to advanced methodologies, customizable options, and real-time analytics. These tools provide you with actionable insights that help you understand customer needs and improve satisfaction. As you explore your options, consider factors like feedback channels, analytics capabilities, and pricing to make certain you select a partner that aligns with your goals. Image via Google Gemini and ArtSmart This article, "Top 10 Companies for Customer Satisfaction Surveys to Boost Your Business" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

In terms of improving customer satisfaction, selecting the right survey company is crucial. The top companies specialize in scientifically sound methodologies and customizable options, which can provide you with actionable insights. You’ll find that firms like Interaction Metrics and Beyond Feedback stand out for their advanced analytics and real-time feedback capabilities. Exploring the benefits of these partnerships can lead to meaningful improvements in your customer experience strategy, setting the stage for long-term loyalty. Key Takeaways Interaction Metrics leads with scientific survey methodologies ensuring reliable results and real-time data access for timely strategy adjustments. Beyond Feedback offers customizable survey programs with options for real-time monitoring and national benchmarking across various deployment channels. Satrix Solutions specializes in personalized reports and unbiased market research tailored for B2B experiences, enhancing customer insights. Confero excels in mystery shopping and customer surveys, providing custom dashboard views for effective data interpretation. Amplitude Research employs Ph.D. statisticians for thorough analysis, delivering scientifically valid insights for informed decision-making. How We Picked the Best Companies When evaluating the best customer satisfaction survey companies, we focused on a thorough analysis of their service offerings to guarantee they meet industry standards for data integrity and validity. Our selection process prioritized firms that provide actionable customer feedback on companies, enabling businesses to improve their customer experiences. We examined each company’s ability to deliver scientifically valid insights, which is vital for making informed decisions. Additionally, we emphasized advanced analytics capabilities and customizable survey options, assuring these Qualtrics survey companies could cater to diverse needs. Customer reviews and satisfaction ratings played a significant role in our evaluations, highlighting the effectiveness and reliability of the services provided. The final list reflects a broad range of expertise and specialization in customer experience surveys across various industries, showcasing both top picks and honorable mentions. This careful selection assures that you have access to the best tools for comprehending and enhancing your business’s customer satisfaction. Winner: Interaction Metrics When it pertains to comprehending customer satisfaction, Interaction Metrics stands out with its scientific survey methodology that guarantees reliable results. You’ll appreciate the real-time data access, which allows you to track trends and make timely adjustments to your strategies. Plus, their commitment to bias mitigation techniques means you can trust the insights you receive, helping you improve the customer experience effectively. Scientific Survey Methodology Grasping scientific survey methodology is crucial for businesses aiming to gather reliable customer feedback, as it directly impacts the quality of insights derived from surveys. Interaction Metrics, a leader among customer satisfaction research companies, employs a rigorous approach by screening survey questions for over 20 types of bias. This not only improves the reliability of results but likewise guarantees data integrity. As one of the top survey companies, they offer full-service survey design and implementation starting at $850, allowing businesses to focus on actionable insights. Real-Time Data Access Accessing real-time data is increasingly vital for businesses seeking to improve customer satisfaction. Interaction Metrics stands out among companies that conduct surveys because of its instant access to survey results. Here’s how their service can benefit your business: Real-Time Dashboards: Get actionable insights immediately after collecting feedback, allowing you to optimize customer experiences quickly. Timely Interventions: Respond swiftly to customer feedback, enhancing satisfaction and loyalty. Comprehensive Services: With full-service survey design starting at $850, you’ll receive data collection, text analysis, and real-time reporting, ensuring reliability and validity. Bias Mitigation Techniques To guarantee that customer feedback accurately reflects true sentiments, businesses must prioritize bias mitigation techniques in their survey designs. Interaction Metrics shines in this area by screening survey questions for over 20 types of bias, ensuring data integrity. They use scientifically valid methodologies that minimize response bias, providing trustworthy insights. Their transparent pricing and full-service survey design make it easier for businesses to access reliable information. With real-time dashboards, you can quickly track survey results and identify potential biases. This thorough approach allows for action-oriented feedback, leading to better decision-making. Bias Type Mitigation Technique Social Desirability Anonymity in responses Acquiescence Balanced question phrasing Order Effects Randomized answer options Sampling Bias Diverse participant selection Confirmation Bias Neutral question framing Runner Up: Beyond Feedback In terms of gathering customer insights, Beyond Feedback offers customized survey programs that meet your specific business needs. With options for real-time monitoring and national benchmarking, you can easily compare your performance against competitors as you adapt your approach based on immediate feedback. This level of customization and flexibility guarantees that you gain valuable insights to improve customer experiences. Custom Survey Programs Custom survey programs play a crucial role in helping businesses gather meaningful customer feedback customized to their specific needs. Beyond Feedback stands out by offering customized customer experience survey programs that guarantee relevant insights. Here are three key features that can benefit your business: Multiple Deployment Channels: You can collect feedback via email, SMS, or phone, allowing for diverse responses. National Benchmarking Services: Compare your results against competitors to improve your market comprehension. Expert Guidance: Receive assistance with survey design and program development, confirming your surveys resonate with your target audience. Real-time Insight Monitoring Real-time insight monitoring has become essential for businesses aiming to stay responsive to customer feedback. With Beyond Feedback’s platform, you can access fully customized customer experience surveys deployed through email, SMS, or phone, ensuring you reach customers on their preferred channels. This flexibility improves the likelihood of receiving valuable feedback. The real-time reporting features allow you to monitor insights as they come in, enabling timely adjustments based on customer responses. Additionally, the platform supports both online and offline reporting, so you can access insights anytime and anywhere. National Benchmarking Comparison National benchmarking comparison is a critical tool for businesses looking to gauge their customer satisfaction levels against industry standards and competitors. With Beyond Feedback, you can access customized survey programs that fit your specific needs. Here are three key features of their national benchmarking services: Custom Surveys: Design your surveys to target particular aspects of customer experience, ensuring relevance to your goals. Flexible Deployment: Reach your customers effectively through various channels, including email, SMS, and phone, based on their preferences. Comprehensive Reporting: Utilize both online and offline reporting capabilities for real-time insights, enabling informed decision-making. Honorable Mentions In the domain of customer satisfaction surveys, several companies stand out for their exceptional services and commitment to enhancing the customer experience. Satrix Solutions, for instance, offers personalized reports and unbiased market research, focusing on B2B customer experiences to provide customized solutions that meet specific business needs. Meanwhile, Confero thrives in mystery shopping and customer surveys, providing unlimited custom dashboard views that facilitate detailed performance analysis and business intelligence. Amplitude Research employs Ph.D. statisticians to guarantee thorough analysis across diverse survey types, enhancing the validity and reliability of customer feedback insights. Even though Drive Research collaborates with major brands to deliver actionable insights, it does face criticism for its lack of transparent pricing, which may complicate decision-making for potential clients. Each of these J.D. Power companies prioritizes actionable insights, making them worthy of honorable mentions in the customer satisfaction survey sector. Benefits of Partnering With Survey Companies Partnering with SurveyMonkey can considerably improve your business’s decision-making processes by providing actionable insights directly from your customers. These insights allow you to identify trends and understand specific customer needs, paving the way for informed strategies that drive growth. Additionally, the ability to customize surveys guarantees that you gather relevant data, finally enhancing your overall customer satisfaction. Actionable Insights Generation When businesses collaborate with customer survey companies, they gain access to a wealth of actionable insights that can markedly influence product development and service improvements. These insights can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. Here are three key benefits: Reliable Data: Survey companies use scientifically valid methodologies to minimize bias, ensuring the data you receive is trustworthy. Trend Analysis: Advanced analytics capabilities can uncover patterns in customer behavior, helping you align your offerings with consumer needs. Real-Time Feedback: Collecting feedback through web, mobile, and SMS allows you to respond quickly to customer sentiments and make continuous improvements. Enhanced Decision-Making Processes Effective decision-making in business hinges on having access to accurate and relevant information, and working with customer survey companies can greatly improve this process. These companies provide scientifically valid insights, ensuring data integrity and actionable feedback that drives informed decisions. With real-time dashboards and analytics, you can track customer satisfaction trends and quickly adapt to changing consumer preferences. Advanced analytics capabilities reveal deep trends within customer feedback, enabling you to refine your products and services effectively. By automating feedback collection through multiple channels, you can reach a broader audience, enhancing your comprehension of customer needs. In addition, access to national benchmarking helps you compare your performance against competitors, facilitating strategic planning and targeted improvement efforts for your business. Criteria for Selecting Survey Companies Selecting the right survey company requires careful consideration of several key criteria to guarantee you gather meaningful insights from your customers. Here are three crucial factors to keep in mind: Diverse Feedback Channels: Choose a company that offers multiple ways to collect responses, such as web, mobile, SMS, email, and in-app formats. This variety helps you reach more customers. Advanced Analytics: Look for a platform that provides robust analytics capabilities. It’s important that they go beyond basic statistics to uncover actionable insights and trends, allowing you to make informed decisions. Customization and Integration: Confirm the platform allows you to tailor surveys to fit your audience and business objectives. Furthermore, consider how well the survey data can integrate with your existing systems for better collaboration. Range of Feedback Channels How can businesses effectively gather insights from their customers? Utilizing a range of feedback channels is crucial. Effective customer survey companies employ various platforms, including web, mobile, SMS, email, and in-app surveys, guaranteeing you connect with customers in their preferred environments. These platforms often support offline feedback options, capturing insights from customers without internet access. By offering diverse channels, you can maximize engagement and response rates, leading to a more thorough comprehension of customer sentiment. Advanced survey tools allow smooth integration of feedback collection across these platforms, enabling you to consolidate data for better analysis. The flexibility in feedback channels not only broadens your audience reach but likewise provides richer qualitative insights into customer experiences and preferences. This multi-channel approach guarantees you receive valuable feedback that can drive improvements and improve customer satisfaction, eventually benefiting your business. Analytics Capabilities With a solid foundation in gathering feedback through various channels, businesses can leverage analytics capabilities to turn that data into actionable insights. Advanced analytics allow you to identify trends and improve decision-making processes. Here are some key features to evaluate: Multi-dimensional analysis: Dissect customer feedback into various segments for targeted improvements. AI-powered tools: Automate the processing of large volumes of survey data, greatly reducing the time needed to glean insights. Real-time dashboards: Access immediate survey results, facilitating quick adjustments in strategy based on customer feedback. Additionally, integrating survey data with other analytical tools provides a more all-encompassing grasp of customer experiences across multiple touchpoints. This integration enriches the insights you gain, enabling your business to adapt effectively to customer needs and expectations. Embracing these analytics capabilities can greatly improve your company’s performance and customer satisfaction. Customization Options Customization options in customer satisfaction surveys play a crucial role in improving the relevance and effectiveness of the feedback collected. By customizing questions and formats, you can align surveys with your specific objectives and audience needs. Companies like Interaction Metrics and Beyond Feedback provide fully personalized survey programs, allowing you to design unique questions and reports based on your goals. Advanced platforms often include pre-built templates that can be adjusted quickly, making survey creation easier. Additionally, adaptive questioning enables follow-up questions based on previous responses, offering deeper insights into customer satisfaction. Segmenting survey responses by demographics or behavior patterns further improves effectiveness, revealing targeted insights that can inform your business strategies. Customization Feature Benefit Customized Questions Aligns with specific objectives Pre-built Templates Speeds up survey creation Adaptive Questioning Provides deeper insights Response Segmentation Delivers targeted insights Pricing Considerations When evaluating customer satisfaction survey services, it’s crucial to take into account pricing alongside the value offered. Grasping pricing can help you choose the right service without overspending. Here are three key considerations: Service Type: Full-service survey design and implementation can start at around $850, as seen with companies like Interaction Metrics, whereas platforms like Zonka Feedback offer competitive rates at $20 per user per month. Customization: Many companies, such as Beyond Feedback, provide flexible pricing options that allow for personalized reporting and multi-channel deployment, which can add value to your investment. Quality of Features: More advanced platforms, like SurveyMonkey, may have higher costs but often justify them with superior analytics and support, making them more suitable for startups and small businesses seeking extensive insights. Assess these factors carefully to guarantee you get the best value for your investment. Frequently Asked Questions What Company Has the Best Customer Satisfaction? When determining which company has the best customer satisfaction, Chick-fil-A often stands out, consistently achieving high scores, like their ACSI score of 83 in 2024. Publix Super Markets likewise ranks highly in grocery service, reflecting their commitment to customer value. Companies like Costco and Zappos excel by offering exceptional service and strong return policies, nurturing loyalty. These businesses prioritize customer experience, leading to high satisfaction ratings across various surveys. What Are the Top Survey Companies? When looking for top survey companies, consider options like Interaction Metrics, known for scientifically valid surveys and transparent pricing. Beyond Feedback offers customized programs and national benchmarking. Satrix Solutions specializes in B2B research, providing personalized insights. Confero focuses on mystery shopping and customer surveys, enabling detailed analysis through custom dashboards. Finally, Amplitude Research employs Ph.D. statisticians for rigorous survey administration and personalized insights, ensuring you get thorough data to inform your decisions. What Are the 3 C’s of Customer Satisfaction? The 3 C’s of customer satisfaction are Communication, Consistency, and Customer Service. Effective Communication means you listen to feedback and respond quickly, improving customer experience. Consistency guarantees customers receive the same quality service every time, which builds trust. High-quality Customer Service involves knowledgeable staff who resolve issues efficiently, leading to greater customer retention. Companies excelling in these areas often enjoy higher loyalty and sales growth, reflecting their commitment to satisfying their customers. What Are the Best Customer Satisfaction Survey Questions? To create effective customer satisfaction surveys, include a mix of quantitative and qualitative questions. Use metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) to measure overall satisfaction. Incorporate open-ended questions, such as “What can we do to improve your experience?” for specific feedback. Moreover, implement a scale for ratings on service aspects and demographic questions to identify trends. Regularly review your questions to guarantee they capture customer expectations accurately. Conclusion Choosing the right company for customer satisfaction surveys can greatly impact your business’s success. By partnering with leaders like Interaction Metrics and Beyond Feedback, you gain access to advanced methodologies, customizable options, and real-time analytics. These tools provide you with actionable insights that help you understand customer needs and improve satisfaction. As you explore your options, consider factors like feedback channels, analytics capabilities, and pricing to make certain you select a partner that aligns with your goals. Image via Google Gemini and ArtSmart This article, "Top 10 Companies for Customer Satisfaction Surveys to Boost Your Business" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

In relation to managing payroll for your small business, choosing the right solution is essential for efficiency and compliance. Various providers like Gusto, ADP, and OnPay offer features that can simplify your payroll process, such as automated tax calculations and seamless integrations with accounting software. Comprehending these options will help you select a service that aligns with your business needs, but what specific features should you prioritize for peak performance? Key Takeaways Gusto is highly rated for its integrated payroll and HR solutions, featuring unlimited payroll runs and automatic tax management. ADP RUN is recognized for its robust reporting and compliance management, ideal for businesses of all sizes. QuickBooks Payroll seamlessly combines accounting and payroll functions, offering automated tax calculations and unlimited payroll runs. OnPay provides a cost-effective solution with a flat monthly rate and user-friendly features, including free initial data entry assistance. Payroll software can save businesses an average of four hours each month through automation and streamlined processes. Top Payroll Services for Small Businesses in 2025 In 2025, numerous payroll services are available to help small businesses manage their payroll needs efficiently. Gusto stands out as the best payroll software for small business, rated 4.6 by over 4,139 users, thanks to features like unlimited payroll runs and automatic tax filing. If you’re looking for detailed financial insights, ADP RUN, rated 4.2, offers robust reporting and compliance management, making it a strong choice. QuickBooks Payroll, in addition rated 4.2, integrates seamlessly with existing accounting software, appealing to those already using QuickBooks. OnPay, rated 4.5, proves to be a cost-effective option at a flat rate of $36 plus $4 per employee, perfect for small businesses on a budget. Finally, Justworks combines payroll outsourcing with HR analytics, rated 4.2, and starts at $50 plus $6 per person, making it ideal for businesses seeking extensive services. ADP Review: Best Overall Payroll Provider When considering payroll solutions, ADP stands out as the best overall provider due to its thorough full-service payroll offerings that cater to businesses of all sizes. Known as one of the best payroll services, ADP provides automated payroll processing and tax calculations, ensuring accuracy and compliance with federal, state, and local regulations. Its RUN service utilizes AI-powered error detection to reduce payroll mistakes, whereas one-on-one support from HR professionals improves your experience. ADP’s platform includes advanced HR tools and is scalable, making it the best payroll company for small business in addition to larger enterprises. The mobile app allows you and your employees to manage payroll tasks conveniently from your devices, adding to its accessibility. Moreover, ADP’s commitment to compliance management helps you avoid IRS and state tax agency penalties, reducing the inherent risks associated with payroll processing. Gusto Review: Integrated Payroll and HR Solutions Gusto shines as a top choice for integrated payroll and HR solutions, particularly for small to medium-sized businesses. With a 4.5 rating, it’s recognized as the best payroll for small business, processing millions in payroll monthly for over 400,000 clients. Gusto offers unlimited payroll runs and next-day direct deposit, ensuring timely employee payments. Feature Details Benefits Pricing Starts at $49/month + $6/employee Affordable with no hidden fees Payroll Tax Management Automatic calculation and filing Minimizes compliance risks Integration Seamless with 20+ accounting platforms Saves an average of 4 hours/month As one of the top rated payroll services, Gusto’s transparent pricing and flexible subscriptions make it one of the best payroll solutions available. It streamlines payroll data management, making it easier for you to focus on your business. QuickBooks Review: Accounting and Payroll Integration For businesses seeking a robust solution that combines accounting and payroll functions, QuickBooks Payroll stands out as an efficient choice. This software integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks Online, allowing you to manage payroll alongside your accounting needs. Here are some key features that make it one of the best payroll solutions: Automated tax calculations and compliance support minimize penalties from payroll errors. Unlimited payroll runs let you process payroll as often as needed without extra charges. Time tracking integrations streamline payroll preparation by importing hours worked directly into payroll calculations. Customer support is available via phone during business hours. You furthermore get 24/7 chat support from payroll experts for any inquiries. OnPay Review: Affordable and User-Friendly Payroll If you’re looking for an affordable payroll solution, OnPay stands out with its flat rate of $36 per month plus $4 per employee. The platform’s user-friendly features, like automated tax calculations and employee self-service options, simplify the payroll process for small businesses. Plus, with excellent customer support available during weekdays, you’ll have the assistance you need to manage your payroll effectively. Pricing and Plans OnPay stands out with its simple pricing model, charging a flat rate of $36 per month plus $4 for each employee, making it an affordable choice for small businesses. This transparent structure helps you manage payroll costs effectively without surprises. Here are some key aspects of OnPay‘s pricing: No hidden fees: You won’t encounter unexpected charges. Unlimited payroll runs: Process payroll as often as you need without extra costs. User-friendly setup: Experts handle the setup at no additional charge. Automated tax calculations: Stay compliant with ease. Multi-state payroll support: Manage payroll across different states seamlessly. With no long-term contracts required, you can adjust your plan monthly as your business needs change. User-Friendly Features Managing payroll doesn’t have to be a complicated process, especially with the user-friendly features OnPay offers. You’ll appreciate the intuitive dashboard that gives you a clear overview of your payroll status, making management straightforward. With electronic storage for employee documents, record-keeping becomes hassle-free, allowing easy access for both you and your employees. OnPay’s pricing structure is similarly appealing, featuring a flat rate of just $36 per month plus $4 for each employee. Additionally, their experts handle the initial data entry at no extra cost, simplifying your setup. Should you need assistance, customer support is available via phone and chat during weekdays, ensuring you can resolve any issues quickly and efficiently. SurePayroll Review: Customizable Payroll Solutions SurePayroll stands out in the domain of payroll solutions by offering customizable payroll reports that cater to the unique needs of businesses. This flexibility allows you to tailor your payroll data particularly for your organization, making it easier to manage. Key features of SurePayroll include: Support for various employee types, including full-time, part-time, and contractors Integrated benefits management, allowing seamless handling of employee benefits alongside payroll Access to customer support via phone, email, and chat during weekdays Affordable payroll processing and tax handling, designed particularly for small businesses User-friendly interface that simplifies payroll management With SurePayroll, you can efficiently adapt your payroll processes to fit your company’s structure and needs. This service, a part of Paychex, guarantees that even small businesses can manage payroll effectively without overspending. Importance of Payroll Services for Small Businesses For small businesses, grasping the importance of payroll services is crucial, especially since accurate and timely employee payments directly impact employee satisfaction. Miscalculating payroll can lead to costly penalties from tax agencies, making it imperative to manage this complex process correctly. Payroll services offer a cost-effective solution, often costing less than $100 per month for businesses with five employees, allowing you to streamline operations. By utilizing these services, you can reduce the risk of human error, guarantee timely tax payments and filings, and avoid potential legal issues. Highly rated options like Gusto and ADP Run automate tax calculations, markedly cutting down the time spent on payroll tasks. On average, the right payroll solution can save you about four hours each month, freeing you to focus on growth and enhancing operational efficiency instead of getting bogged down by administrative burdens. Pricing Structure of Payroll Services Comprehending the pricing structure of payroll services is crucial for small businesses looking to manage their finances effectively. Each service has its unique pricing model, which can impact your budget. Here’s a breakdown of some popular options: OnPay: $36 per month plus $4 per employee, with free initial data entry assistance. Gusto: Starts at $55 per month with no hidden fees, plus $6 per employee for unlimited payroll runs. QuickBooks Payroll: Base price of $50 per month, plus $6 per employee, with extra costs for bundled services. Square Payroll: Affordable at $35 per month plus $6 per employee, including unlimited payroll runs and next-day direct deposit. Remote: Charges $29 per employee per month, with costs increasing for multinational operations. User Experience and Support Features When selecting a payroll service, user experience and support features play an essential role in ensuring smooth operations for your business. Gusto stands out with its intuitive tools and flexibility, making it easy for both novice and experienced payroll managers. OnPay offers a user-friendly dashboard that provides a clear overview of payroll status, plus electronic storage for employee documents and comprehensive support for insurance benefits. ADP Run features a simple interface that excels in pay type management and integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks Online. Patriot Software emphasizes custom report generation and outstanding scheduling tools, supported by a helpful setup guide for new users. Finally, Square Payroll simplifies the process with automatic payroll runs and employee self-onboarding, which is particularly beneficial for businesses managing multistate tax filings. Selecting a service with strong user experience and support features can greatly improve your payroll management efficiency. Key Features to Look for in Payroll Software When choosing payroll software, you should focus on features that improve automation and accuracy, such as automated tax calculations and unlimited payroll runs. Integration with HR tools can further simplify your processes by managing benefits and time tracking in one platform. Moreover, robust customer support is essential, as it guarantees you have help available whenever payroll issues arise. Automation and Accuracy Effective payroll software is vital for any business aiming to streamline its payroll process, as automation and accuracy play pivotal roles in this function. By eliminating manual calculations, automated systems considerably reduce human error, ensuring timely payments to employees. Many platforms integrate AI-powered error detection to catch discrepancies before payroll is finalized, enhancing compliance with tax regulations. Key features to look for include: Automated tax calculations and filings to avoid penalties Unlimited payroll runs for flexible scheduling without extra costs Advanced reporting capabilities for tracking payroll liabilities Support for compliance requirements in real-time Integration with other financial tools for streamlined operations Choosing software with these features can greatly improve your payroll management and overall financial health. Integration and Support Integrating payroll software with existing accounting platforms can greatly streamline your payroll process, reducing manual entry and the potential for errors. Look for solutions that seamlessly connect with tools like QuickBooks or Xero. Automated tax calculations and filings are crucial, helping you stay compliant with federal and state regulations. A user-friendly dashboard improves your experience, giving you a clear view of payroll status and employee documents. Evaluate customer support options, including phone, email, and chat, along with dedicated onboarding assistance for new users. Finally, consider the level of automation in tasks like tax rate updates and compliance changes, which saves time and mitigates the risk of human error in payroll calculations. Setting Up Payroll Services: What to Expect Setting up payroll services can seem intimidating, but grasping the process makes it much more manageable. Typically, you’ll follow a streamlined five-step wizard that helps you input company information, set pay schedules, and create employee profiles. Many payroll services, like Gusto and OnPay, offer free initial data entry assistance to guarantee a smooth onboarding experience. Here’s what to expect during the setup: Easy access to a user-friendly interface. Transparent pricing, often starting below $100/month for small businesses. Features like automated tax calculations and compliance management. Options for direct deposit to streamline payments. Ongoing support through phone, chat, or email. Once your payroll setup is complete, you’ll have the tools you need to manage employee payments effectively. Comprehending these steps will help you navigate the process with confidence. Benefits of Using Payroll Software Using payroll software can greatly improve your business operations by saving you time and increasing accuracy. With automated calculations and compliance features, you’ll reduce the risk of costly errors and legal issues. Plus, at under $100 a month for small businesses, it’s a cost-effective solution that allows you to focus on what really matters—growing your business. Time Savings and Efficiency Payroll software can save small businesses an average of four hours each month by automating essential payroll tasks such as calculations, tax filings, and data entries. By streamlining these processes, you can focus on more important business activities. Here are some key benefits of using payroll software: Automatic tax updates keep you compliant and help avoid costly penalties. Unlimited payroll runs let you manage payroll without incurring extra costs. Integrated time tracking simplifies administrative duties for your HR team. Benefits management allows for smoother employee onboarding and tracking. Dedicated customer support guarantees you can quickly resolve any issues. Enhanced Accuracy and Compliance Accurate payroll processing is crucial for any business, as even minor mistakes can lead to significant financial repercussions. By using payroll software, you minimize human error in calculations, which helps you avoid costly corrections and potential lawsuits. Many services, like Gusto and ADP, automatically update tax rates and compliance information, reducing the risk of underpayment penalties. Automated tax calculations guarantee timely payments and accurate filings, critical for compliance with federal and state laws. Furthermore, payroll solutions often track minimum wage, pay date schedules, and tax withholding rates, helping you stay aligned with changing regulations. Implementing payroll software can save you an average of four hours per month, allowing you to focus on core operations as you maintain accuracy and compliance. Cost-Effective Payroll Management Businesses often find that effective payroll management isn’t just a necessity but likewise a pathway to significant cost savings. By using payroll software, you can streamline processes and reduce costs associated with manual payroll handling. Here are some key benefits: Typically costs less than $100 per month for small businesses with five employees. Automated tax calculations help avoid IRS penalties, minimizing financial liabilities. Saves an average of 4 hours per month on payroll tasks, allowing you to focus on growth. Offers unlimited payroll runs at no extra charge, giving you flexibility. Features like AI error detection reduce human mistakes, ensuring accurate payments and compliance. Adopting payroll software can transform your payroll management into a more efficient and cost-effective solution. Comparing the Best Payroll Providers for Your Business Choosing the right payroll provider can greatly impact how efficiently you manage employee compensation and compliance. Each option has unique features customized to various business needs. Here’s a comparison to help you decide: Payroll Provider Key Features ADP RUN Rated 4.2; detailed reports, compliance Gusto Rated 4.5; integrated HR, next-day deposits QuickBooks Payroll Rated 4.2; integrates with payment systems OnPay Rated 4.5; flat rate, multi-state payroll Square Payroll Most affordable; unlimited runs, self-onboarding ADP RUN is ideal for growth-focused companies, whereas Gusto shines in payroll and HR integration. QuickBooks Payroll is best for existing QuickBooks users, and OnPay offers great value with automated tax calculations. Square Payroll is perfect for budget-conscious businesses looking for crucial features. Frequently Asked Questions Which Payroll System Is the Best? Choosing the best payroll system depends on your specific business needs. If you prioritize ease of use and HR integration, Gusto might be your best bet. For extensive reporting and compliance, consider ADP RUN. If you need strong expense management, QuickBooks Payroll is a solid choice. OnPay offers competitive flat-rate pricing, whereas Remote surpasses in global payroll capabilities. Evaluate features, pricing, and your business size to determine which system aligns best with your requirements. Who Is Better Than Paychex? When comparing payroll services, several options surpass Paychex. ADP RUN excels with its extensive HR tools and compliance management, ideal for growing businesses. Gusto offers a user-friendly experience, integrating seamlessly with over 100 apps, making it appealing for small to medium-sized enterprises. OnPay provides competitive pricing with multi-state payroll support, whereas QuickBooks Payroll integrates effectively with QuickBooks Online, enhancing convenience for existing users. Each of these alternatives presents distinct advantages over Paychex. How Much Is ADP per Month? ADP’s monthly pricing usually starts around $80, plus about $4 for each employee under their Full Service Payroll plan. The total cost varies based on the number of employees and any additional services you might need, such as HR tools or benefits management. Since ADP offers customizable options, it’s wise to request a personalized quote to guarantee you get an accurate estimate customized to your specific payroll requirements. Who Is Adp’s Biggest Competitor? ADP’s biggest competitor is Gusto, which offers an integrated payroll and HR platform customized for small and medium-sized businesses. With a strong rating of 4.5, Gusto provides transparent pricing starting at $49 per month, plus $6 per employee. Other notable competitors include QuickBooks Payroll and Paychex, both of which likewise deliver extensive payroll solutions with various features and pricing structures, catering to the diverse needs of businesses in the market. Conclusion Choosing the right payroll solution is essential for small businesses aiming to streamline operations and guarantee compliance. In 2025, platforms like ADP, Gusto, QuickBooks, and OnPay offer a range of features customized to different needs and budgets. By comprehending the unique offerings of each provider and considering key factors such as integration and cost, you can make an informed decision. In the end, investing in efficient payroll software can save you time and reduce administrative burdens, allowing you to focus on growth. Image via Google Gemini This article, "The Best Payroll Solutions" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

In relation to managing payroll for your small business, choosing the right solution is essential for efficiency and compliance. Various providers like Gusto, ADP, and OnPay offer features that can simplify your payroll process, such as automated tax calculations and seamless integrations with accounting software. Comprehending these options will help you select a service that aligns with your business needs, but what specific features should you prioritize for peak performance? Key Takeaways Gusto is highly rated for its integrated payroll and HR solutions, featuring unlimited payroll runs and automatic tax management. ADP RUN is recognized for its robust reporting and compliance management, ideal for businesses of all sizes. QuickBooks Payroll seamlessly combines accounting and payroll functions, offering automated tax calculations and unlimited payroll runs. OnPay provides a cost-effective solution with a flat monthly rate and user-friendly features, including free initial data entry assistance. Payroll software can save businesses an average of four hours each month through automation and streamlined processes. Top Payroll Services for Small Businesses in 2025 In 2025, numerous payroll services are available to help small businesses manage their payroll needs efficiently. Gusto stands out as the best payroll software for small business, rated 4.6 by over 4,139 users, thanks to features like unlimited payroll runs and automatic tax filing. If you’re looking for detailed financial insights, ADP RUN, rated 4.2, offers robust reporting and compliance management, making it a strong choice. QuickBooks Payroll, in addition rated 4.2, integrates seamlessly with existing accounting software, appealing to those already using QuickBooks. OnPay, rated 4.5, proves to be a cost-effective option at a flat rate of $36 plus $4 per employee, perfect for small businesses on a budget. Finally, Justworks combines payroll outsourcing with HR analytics, rated 4.2, and starts at $50 plus $6 per person, making it ideal for businesses seeking extensive services. ADP Review: Best Overall Payroll Provider When considering payroll solutions, ADP stands out as the best overall provider due to its thorough full-service payroll offerings that cater to businesses of all sizes. Known as one of the best payroll services, ADP provides automated payroll processing and tax calculations, ensuring accuracy and compliance with federal, state, and local regulations. Its RUN service utilizes AI-powered error detection to reduce payroll mistakes, whereas one-on-one support from HR professionals improves your experience. ADP’s platform includes advanced HR tools and is scalable, making it the best payroll company for small business in addition to larger enterprises. The mobile app allows you and your employees to manage payroll tasks conveniently from your devices, adding to its accessibility. Moreover, ADP’s commitment to compliance management helps you avoid IRS and state tax agency penalties, reducing the inherent risks associated with payroll processing. Gusto Review: Integrated Payroll and HR Solutions Gusto shines as a top choice for integrated payroll and HR solutions, particularly for small to medium-sized businesses. With a 4.5 rating, it’s recognized as the best payroll for small business, processing millions in payroll monthly for over 400,000 clients. Gusto offers unlimited payroll runs and next-day direct deposit, ensuring timely employee payments. Feature Details Benefits Pricing Starts at $49/month + $6/employee Affordable with no hidden fees Payroll Tax Management Automatic calculation and filing Minimizes compliance risks Integration Seamless with 20+ accounting platforms Saves an average of 4 hours/month As one of the top rated payroll services, Gusto’s transparent pricing and flexible subscriptions make it one of the best payroll solutions available. It streamlines payroll data management, making it easier for you to focus on your business. QuickBooks Review: Accounting and Payroll Integration For businesses seeking a robust solution that combines accounting and payroll functions, QuickBooks Payroll stands out as an efficient choice. This software integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks Online, allowing you to manage payroll alongside your accounting needs. Here are some key features that make it one of the best payroll solutions: Automated tax calculations and compliance support minimize penalties from payroll errors. Unlimited payroll runs let you process payroll as often as needed without extra charges. Time tracking integrations streamline payroll preparation by importing hours worked directly into payroll calculations. Customer support is available via phone during business hours. You furthermore get 24/7 chat support from payroll experts for any inquiries. OnPay Review: Affordable and User-Friendly Payroll If you’re looking for an affordable payroll solution, OnPay stands out with its flat rate of $36 per month plus $4 per employee. The platform’s user-friendly features, like automated tax calculations and employee self-service options, simplify the payroll process for small businesses. Plus, with excellent customer support available during weekdays, you’ll have the assistance you need to manage your payroll effectively. Pricing and Plans OnPay stands out with its simple pricing model, charging a flat rate of $36 per month plus $4 for each employee, making it an affordable choice for small businesses. This transparent structure helps you manage payroll costs effectively without surprises. Here are some key aspects of OnPay‘s pricing: No hidden fees: You won’t encounter unexpected charges. Unlimited payroll runs: Process payroll as often as you need without extra costs. User-friendly setup: Experts handle the setup at no additional charge. Automated tax calculations: Stay compliant with ease. Multi-state payroll support: Manage payroll across different states seamlessly. With no long-term contracts required, you can adjust your plan monthly as your business needs change. User-Friendly Features Managing payroll doesn’t have to be a complicated process, especially with the user-friendly features OnPay offers. You’ll appreciate the intuitive dashboard that gives you a clear overview of your payroll status, making management straightforward. With electronic storage for employee documents, record-keeping becomes hassle-free, allowing easy access for both you and your employees. OnPay’s pricing structure is similarly appealing, featuring a flat rate of just $36 per month plus $4 for each employee. Additionally, their experts handle the initial data entry at no extra cost, simplifying your setup. Should you need assistance, customer support is available via phone and chat during weekdays, ensuring you can resolve any issues quickly and efficiently. SurePayroll Review: Customizable Payroll Solutions SurePayroll stands out in the domain of payroll solutions by offering customizable payroll reports that cater to the unique needs of businesses. This flexibility allows you to tailor your payroll data particularly for your organization, making it easier to manage. Key features of SurePayroll include: Support for various employee types, including full-time, part-time, and contractors Integrated benefits management, allowing seamless handling of employee benefits alongside payroll Access to customer support via phone, email, and chat during weekdays Affordable payroll processing and tax handling, designed particularly for small businesses User-friendly interface that simplifies payroll management With SurePayroll, you can efficiently adapt your payroll processes to fit your company’s structure and needs. This service, a part of Paychex, guarantees that even small businesses can manage payroll effectively without overspending. Importance of Payroll Services for Small Businesses For small businesses, grasping the importance of payroll services is crucial, especially since accurate and timely employee payments directly impact employee satisfaction. Miscalculating payroll can lead to costly penalties from tax agencies, making it imperative to manage this complex process correctly. Payroll services offer a cost-effective solution, often costing less than $100 per month for businesses with five employees, allowing you to streamline operations. By utilizing these services, you can reduce the risk of human error, guarantee timely tax payments and filings, and avoid potential legal issues. Highly rated options like Gusto and ADP Run automate tax calculations, markedly cutting down the time spent on payroll tasks. On average, the right payroll solution can save you about four hours each month, freeing you to focus on growth and enhancing operational efficiency instead of getting bogged down by administrative burdens. Pricing Structure of Payroll Services Comprehending the pricing structure of payroll services is crucial for small businesses looking to manage their finances effectively. Each service has its unique pricing model, which can impact your budget. Here’s a breakdown of some popular options: OnPay: $36 per month plus $4 per employee, with free initial data entry assistance. Gusto: Starts at $55 per month with no hidden fees, plus $6 per employee for unlimited payroll runs. QuickBooks Payroll: Base price of $50 per month, plus $6 per employee, with extra costs for bundled services. Square Payroll: Affordable at $35 per month plus $6 per employee, including unlimited payroll runs and next-day direct deposit. Remote: Charges $29 per employee per month, with costs increasing for multinational operations. User Experience and Support Features When selecting a payroll service, user experience and support features play an essential role in ensuring smooth operations for your business. Gusto stands out with its intuitive tools and flexibility, making it easy for both novice and experienced payroll managers. OnPay offers a user-friendly dashboard that provides a clear overview of payroll status, plus electronic storage for employee documents and comprehensive support for insurance benefits. ADP Run features a simple interface that excels in pay type management and integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks Online. Patriot Software emphasizes custom report generation and outstanding scheduling tools, supported by a helpful setup guide for new users. Finally, Square Payroll simplifies the process with automatic payroll runs and employee self-onboarding, which is particularly beneficial for businesses managing multistate tax filings. Selecting a service with strong user experience and support features can greatly improve your payroll management efficiency. Key Features to Look for in Payroll Software When choosing payroll software, you should focus on features that improve automation and accuracy, such as automated tax calculations and unlimited payroll runs. Integration with HR tools can further simplify your processes by managing benefits and time tracking in one platform. Moreover, robust customer support is essential, as it guarantees you have help available whenever payroll issues arise. Automation and Accuracy Effective payroll software is vital for any business aiming to streamline its payroll process, as automation and accuracy play pivotal roles in this function. By eliminating manual calculations, automated systems considerably reduce human error, ensuring timely payments to employees. Many platforms integrate AI-powered error detection to catch discrepancies before payroll is finalized, enhancing compliance with tax regulations. Key features to look for include: Automated tax calculations and filings to avoid penalties Unlimited payroll runs for flexible scheduling without extra costs Advanced reporting capabilities for tracking payroll liabilities Support for compliance requirements in real-time Integration with other financial tools for streamlined operations Choosing software with these features can greatly improve your payroll management and overall financial health. Integration and Support Integrating payroll software with existing accounting platforms can greatly streamline your payroll process, reducing manual entry and the potential for errors. Look for solutions that seamlessly connect with tools like QuickBooks or Xero. Automated tax calculations and filings are crucial, helping you stay compliant with federal and state regulations. A user-friendly dashboard improves your experience, giving you a clear view of payroll status and employee documents. Evaluate customer support options, including phone, email, and chat, along with dedicated onboarding assistance for new users. Finally, consider the level of automation in tasks like tax rate updates and compliance changes, which saves time and mitigates the risk of human error in payroll calculations. Setting Up Payroll Services: What to Expect Setting up payroll services can seem intimidating, but grasping the process makes it much more manageable. Typically, you’ll follow a streamlined five-step wizard that helps you input company information, set pay schedules, and create employee profiles. Many payroll services, like Gusto and OnPay, offer free initial data entry assistance to guarantee a smooth onboarding experience. Here’s what to expect during the setup: Easy access to a user-friendly interface. Transparent pricing, often starting below $100/month for small businesses. Features like automated tax calculations and compliance management. Options for direct deposit to streamline payments. Ongoing support through phone, chat, or email. Once your payroll setup is complete, you’ll have the tools you need to manage employee payments effectively. Comprehending these steps will help you navigate the process with confidence. Benefits of Using Payroll Software Using payroll software can greatly improve your business operations by saving you time and increasing accuracy. With automated calculations and compliance features, you’ll reduce the risk of costly errors and legal issues. Plus, at under $100 a month for small businesses, it’s a cost-effective solution that allows you to focus on what really matters—growing your business. Time Savings and Efficiency Payroll software can save small businesses an average of four hours each month by automating essential payroll tasks such as calculations, tax filings, and data entries. By streamlining these processes, you can focus on more important business activities. Here are some key benefits of using payroll software: Automatic tax updates keep you compliant and help avoid costly penalties. Unlimited payroll runs let you manage payroll without incurring extra costs. Integrated time tracking simplifies administrative duties for your HR team. Benefits management allows for smoother employee onboarding and tracking. Dedicated customer support guarantees you can quickly resolve any issues. Enhanced Accuracy and Compliance Accurate payroll processing is crucial for any business, as even minor mistakes can lead to significant financial repercussions. By using payroll software, you minimize human error in calculations, which helps you avoid costly corrections and potential lawsuits. Many services, like Gusto and ADP, automatically update tax rates and compliance information, reducing the risk of underpayment penalties. Automated tax calculations guarantee timely payments and accurate filings, critical for compliance with federal and state laws. Furthermore, payroll solutions often track minimum wage, pay date schedules, and tax withholding rates, helping you stay aligned with changing regulations. Implementing payroll software can save you an average of four hours per month, allowing you to focus on core operations as you maintain accuracy and compliance. Cost-Effective Payroll Management Businesses often find that effective payroll management isn’t just a necessity but likewise a pathway to significant cost savings. By using payroll software, you can streamline processes and reduce costs associated with manual payroll handling. Here are some key benefits: Typically costs less than $100 per month for small businesses with five employees. Automated tax calculations help avoid IRS penalties, minimizing financial liabilities. Saves an average of 4 hours per month on payroll tasks, allowing you to focus on growth. Offers unlimited payroll runs at no extra charge, giving you flexibility. Features like AI error detection reduce human mistakes, ensuring accurate payments and compliance. Adopting payroll software can transform your payroll management into a more efficient and cost-effective solution. Comparing the Best Payroll Providers for Your Business Choosing the right payroll provider can greatly impact how efficiently you manage employee compensation and compliance. Each option has unique features customized to various business needs. Here’s a comparison to help you decide: Payroll Provider Key Features ADP RUN Rated 4.2; detailed reports, compliance Gusto Rated 4.5; integrated HR, next-day deposits QuickBooks Payroll Rated 4.2; integrates with payment systems OnPay Rated 4.5; flat rate, multi-state payroll Square Payroll Most affordable; unlimited runs, self-onboarding ADP RUN is ideal for growth-focused companies, whereas Gusto shines in payroll and HR integration. QuickBooks Payroll is best for existing QuickBooks users, and OnPay offers great value with automated tax calculations. Square Payroll is perfect for budget-conscious businesses looking for crucial features. Frequently Asked Questions Which Payroll System Is the Best? Choosing the best payroll system depends on your specific business needs. If you prioritize ease of use and HR integration, Gusto might be your best bet. For extensive reporting and compliance, consider ADP RUN. If you need strong expense management, QuickBooks Payroll is a solid choice. OnPay offers competitive flat-rate pricing, whereas Remote surpasses in global payroll capabilities. Evaluate features, pricing, and your business size to determine which system aligns best with your requirements. Who Is Better Than Paychex? When comparing payroll services, several options surpass Paychex. ADP RUN excels with its extensive HR tools and compliance management, ideal for growing businesses. Gusto offers a user-friendly experience, integrating seamlessly with over 100 apps, making it appealing for small to medium-sized enterprises. OnPay provides competitive pricing with multi-state payroll support, whereas QuickBooks Payroll integrates effectively with QuickBooks Online, enhancing convenience for existing users. Each of these alternatives presents distinct advantages over Paychex. How Much Is ADP per Month? ADP’s monthly pricing usually starts around $80, plus about $4 for each employee under their Full Service Payroll plan. The total cost varies based on the number of employees and any additional services you might need, such as HR tools or benefits management. Since ADP offers customizable options, it’s wise to request a personalized quote to guarantee you get an accurate estimate customized to your specific payroll requirements. Who Is Adp’s Biggest Competitor? ADP’s biggest competitor is Gusto, which offers an integrated payroll and HR platform customized for small and medium-sized businesses. With a strong rating of 4.5, Gusto provides transparent pricing starting at $49 per month, plus $6 per employee. Other notable competitors include QuickBooks Payroll and Paychex, both of which likewise deliver extensive payroll solutions with various features and pricing structures, catering to the diverse needs of businesses in the market. Conclusion Choosing the right payroll solution is essential for small businesses aiming to streamline operations and guarantee compliance. In 2025, platforms like ADP, Gusto, QuickBooks, and OnPay offer a range of features customized to different needs and budgets. By comprehending the unique offerings of each provider and considering key factors such as integration and cost, you can make an informed decision. In the end, investing in efficient payroll software can save you time and reduce administrative burdens, allowing you to focus on growth. Image via Google Gemini This article, "The Best Payroll Solutions" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

SurveyMonkey has recently unveiled significant enhancements to its survey platform, aiming to streamline the survey experience for users. This overhaul arrives at a pivotal time when small businesses seek efficient tools to gather customer feedback and adjust strategies rapidly. By refining the survey launch process and workflow, SurveyMonkey is positioning itself as an essential tool for small business owners who rely on customer insights to drive their operations. The new features cater to the need for speed, focus, and minimal hindrances, allowing users to prioritize what truly matters: effective data collection. Business owners can expect faster survey setup and deployment, which reduces wait times and increases the likelihood of obtaining timely feedback. This immediacy can lead to quicker decision-making—a crucial advantage for small businesses that may not have the resources to waste on lengthy survey processes. The updated platform introduces an intuitive interface that allows users to create surveys efficiently. According to SurveyMonkey’s Chief Product Officer, “Our goal is to eliminate friction in the survey process, making it easier for businesses to gather the insights they need when they need them.” This feature can be particularly beneficial for small businesses that may struggle with limited staff and time constraints. Furthermore, the enhancements also focus on targeted questions that stay relevant to the business context. Small business owners can customize their surveys to fit their specific needs, asking questions that deliver actionable insights tailored to their particular customer base. In practical terms, these improvements allow small businesses to develop customized surveys that can inform marketing strategies, product development, and customer service enhancements. Imagine a local café using the updated platform to survey customer preferences on new menu items or a boutique shop gauging customer satisfaction. The ability to launch surveys quickly and adapt to the feedback can create a more responsive business model. However, while the benefits are apparent, small business owners should also consider some potential challenges associated with the transition to this new system. For example, business owners will need to invest a bit of time training staff on the updated platform. Although the new interface is user-friendly, ensuring that employees are familiar with it will maximize its effectiveness. Furthermore, while quick feedback can be instrumental, relying solely on fast responses may lead to overlooking long-term trends. SurveyMonkey emphasizes the importance of balancing rapid insights with deeper analysis. Small business owners should consider how to interpret and act on survey results in a way that aligns with their long-term objectives. As technology continues to evolve, small business owners must also remain vigilant about adapting to new tools and workflows. While automation and streamlined processes can save time, they also require a level of diligence to ensure customer interactions remain personal and engaging. The enhancements to SurveyMonkey’s platform reflect a broader trend in the industry where data-driven decision-making is becoming more accessible to small businesses. The ongoing need for customer feedback in an increasingly competitive landscape underlines the necessity of agile survey platforms. As small business owners explore the possibilities of these new features, they can look forward to not just improved workflows, but also a renewed capacity to engage with their customers on a deeper level. Effective use of these capabilities could lead to enhanced customer satisfaction and loyalty, ultimately driving business growth. For more insights on the updates and how they can benefit your business, visit the original post at SurveyMonkey. Image via Google Gemini This article, "SurveyMonkey Unveils Enhanced, Streamlined Survey Experience for Users" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

SurveyMonkey has recently unveiled significant enhancements to its survey platform, aiming to streamline the survey experience for users. This overhaul arrives at a pivotal time when small businesses seek efficient tools to gather customer feedback and adjust strategies rapidly. By refining the survey launch process and workflow, SurveyMonkey is positioning itself as an essential tool for small business owners who rely on customer insights to drive their operations. The new features cater to the need for speed, focus, and minimal hindrances, allowing users to prioritize what truly matters: effective data collection. Business owners can expect faster survey setup and deployment, which reduces wait times and increases the likelihood of obtaining timely feedback. This immediacy can lead to quicker decision-making—a crucial advantage for small businesses that may not have the resources to waste on lengthy survey processes. The updated platform introduces an intuitive interface that allows users to create surveys efficiently. According to SurveyMonkey’s Chief Product Officer, “Our goal is to eliminate friction in the survey process, making it easier for businesses to gather the insights they need when they need them.” This feature can be particularly beneficial for small businesses that may struggle with limited staff and time constraints. Furthermore, the enhancements also focus on targeted questions that stay relevant to the business context. Small business owners can customize their surveys to fit their specific needs, asking questions that deliver actionable insights tailored to their particular customer base. In practical terms, these improvements allow small businesses to develop customized surveys that can inform marketing strategies, product development, and customer service enhancements. Imagine a local café using the updated platform to survey customer preferences on new menu items or a boutique shop gauging customer satisfaction. The ability to launch surveys quickly and adapt to the feedback can create a more responsive business model. However, while the benefits are apparent, small business owners should also consider some potential challenges associated with the transition to this new system. For example, business owners will need to invest a bit of time training staff on the updated platform. Although the new interface is user-friendly, ensuring that employees are familiar with it will maximize its effectiveness. Furthermore, while quick feedback can be instrumental, relying solely on fast responses may lead to overlooking long-term trends. SurveyMonkey emphasizes the importance of balancing rapid insights with deeper analysis. Small business owners should consider how to interpret and act on survey results in a way that aligns with their long-term objectives. As technology continues to evolve, small business owners must also remain vigilant about adapting to new tools and workflows. While automation and streamlined processes can save time, they also require a level of diligence to ensure customer interactions remain personal and engaging. The enhancements to SurveyMonkey’s platform reflect a broader trend in the industry where data-driven decision-making is becoming more accessible to small businesses. The ongoing need for customer feedback in an increasingly competitive landscape underlines the necessity of agile survey platforms. As small business owners explore the possibilities of these new features, they can look forward to not just improved workflows, but also a renewed capacity to engage with their customers on a deeper level. Effective use of these capabilities could lead to enhanced customer satisfaction and loyalty, ultimately driving business growth. For more insights on the updates and how they can benefit your business, visit the original post at SurveyMonkey. Image via Google Gemini This article, "SurveyMonkey Unveils Enhanced, Streamlined Survey Experience for Users" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. When the cold weather arrives, there’s a tendency among homeowners to focus on the interior—namely, our personal comfort and the utility bills. That’s perfectly sensible—no one wants to shiver in their own house, and no one wants to be slammed with an enormous utility bill, either. But the exterior of your house is just as important. Heavy snow and icy buildup during extended periods of severe cold can really take a toll on your house. Snow and ice combined with melt/freeze cycles during sunny periods can do some serious (and often completely silent) damage to your home in a variety of ways, from water intrusion through your roof to ice-heavy tree branches crashing into the house. If you live somewhere where you can expect to be buried in snow and ice at some point this winter, here are the products you need to protect your house. Clear snow with a roof rakeSnow is heavy, and your roof is designed to handle only so much of it. The chances that your roof is going to collapse are probably pretty minimal, but that doesn’t mean letting a ton of snow and ice sit on it for weeks at a time is good for your roof or the structure under it. At the same time, climbing up onto your roof to shovel or sweep snow off is not the safest thing to do. Instead, keep a snow rake on hand. Designed to be used from the ground, a snow rake is a simple tool that lets you scrape a lot of snow off your roof safely, easing the snow load and minimizing the chances that water will infiltrate the house. Just keep in mind that if you install roof cable to prevent ice dams (see below), you’ll need to be super careful using a roof rake, as you can easily snag the cable and yank it loose. Use a sewer skewer to melt snow and ice in ventsOne often-overlooked problem caused by cold, snowy weather is ice buildup in roof and furnace vents. Sewer vents on the roof and furnace vents that draw in clean air and expel exhaust from your heating system can get clogged with ice, which can cause your heat to malfunction and pose a severe health hazard if fumes build up inside the home. A sewer skewer is a simple solution. It’s just a hunk of copper, really, but copper is an excellent conductor, so it absorbs heat from the sun (and your home’s own gases as they rise up) and radiates that heat back out, melting any snow and ice that form in the vent. It’s shaped to move the melting water away from the vent so it doesn’t just drip down and re-freeze. It’s incredibly simple to install (be careful on your roof, though) and can save you from disaster. Install heated roof cablesIce dams are layers of ice that form at the edge of your roof, preventing proper drainage. Unchecked, ice dams can really do a number on your roof and even the structure of your house. Preventing ice dams can be relatively easy, however—just install some heated roof cables. Attached to the edge of your roof in a zig-zag pattern, roof cables ensure that ice dams can’t form, and melting snow and ice can drain properly into your gutters. RADIANT SOLUTIONS HeatTapePro - Intelligent Commercial Grade Self-Regulating Heat Cable with GlowCap™ - 10 YR warranty - Ice Dam & Pipe Freeze Protection - 112 ft cable + 10 Ft Cord, 120V, 6 watts/Ft $428.95 at Amazon Learn More Learn More $428.95 at Amazon Use covers on exterior faucetsA common way ice and freezing temperatures can damage your house is through exterior faucets and spigots. Because they extend outside the insulated interior of the house, they’re very susceptible to freezing, and that ice can make its way into the pipe behind it, leading to a burst pipe and a very expensive problem. The solution, though, is not expensive—for about $11, a faucet cover will keep your exterior faucets ice-free and water safely inside your pipes where it belongs. Affix one to every exposed faucet or spigot around the house and you’ll have one less thing to worry about. Cut back problem tree branches with a mini chainsawIf you have trees near your home, heavy ice and snow can snap off branches, which then smack into your roof or walls—and those ice-laden branches will be heavy when they hit your house. Being a little proactive and trimming back branches—especially old, dead ones—is the best way to prevent that from happening. If you don’t want to call a professional to trim back a few branches, pick up a mini-chainsaw to get the job done. If your branches are a little more than a mini can handle, a full-size chainsaw might be needed—but be sure you know how to handle it, especially if you’re going to be climbing a ladder to use it. Prevent ice clogs with gutter heatersLike ice dams on your roof, your gutters can become clogged with snow and ice, preventing proper drainage and leading to rot and water intrusion. Gutter heaters are an easy solution that prevents ice and snow buildup, ensuring everything drains away from your roof and your house as intended. H&G lifestyles 24ft Electric Gutter Heater for Roof,Prevent Ice Dams for Roofs and Gutters, Aluminum Panels with Self-Regulating Heating Cable, Freeze Protection for Gutter Valley,12pcs $119.99 at Amazon Learn More Learn More $119.99 at Amazon Use a filler sealer on hardscapesThe freeze/melt cycle can be particularly hard on your hardscapes, including driveways and patios. Meltwater gets into small cracks and then freezes, expanding and widening those cracks. After a while, your pavement or asphalt is chewed up and needs replacing. You can do a few things to prevent (or at least slow down) this destruction. Filling cracks in asphalt or concrete as they form with a filler sealer means water can’t get into them in the first place. And sealing your asphalt or concrete surfaces will protect them during those weeks when ice is sitting there, melting and freezing over and over again as temperatures fluctuate. View the full article

Sunday’s Grammys mark a return to normalcy after the 2025 show was altered to focus on Los Angeles-area wildfire relief efforts. “I think we will see some history-making moments,” Recording Academy CEO and President Harvey Mason jr. told The Associated Press. “With artists being nominated in categories they haven’t been previously nominated in, and a new crop of talent coming through the system this year — I think we’re going to see some really exciting results.” Here’s what you need to know about the 2026 Grammys, including how to stream and where you can see music’s biggest stars walking the red carpet. How do I watch the Grammys? The main show will air live from LA’s Crypto.com Arena on CBS beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern. Paramount+ premium plan subscribers will be able to stream the telecast live, too. (Paramount+ essential subscribers will have on-demand access the next day.) The Grammys can also be watched through live TV streaming services that include CBS in their lineup, like Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, and FuboTV. The Premiere Ceremony will take place ahead of the Grammys telecast, at 3:30 p.m. Eastern from the Peacock Theater. It can be streamed at the Recording Academy’s YouTube channel and on live.GRAMMY.com. Who is performing at the Grammys? The show will feature a special segment in which all eight of this year’s best new artist nominees will perform. That means Leon Thomas, Olivia Dean, global girl group Katseye, The Marías, Addison Rae, sombr, Alex Warren, and Lola Young will all share the stage before going head-to-head for one of the night’s biggest prizes. Lady Gaga, Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, Clipse, and Pharrell Williams will also perform. Reba McEntire, Brandy Clark and Lukas Nelson will take the stage for the in memoriam. Ms. Lauryn Hill will pay tribute to D’Angelo and Roberta Flack. Post Malone, Andrew Watt, Chad Smith, Duff McKagan and Slash will honor Ozzy Osbourne. Who is presenting at the Grammys? Doechii and Harry Styles are the first confirmed presenters. Who is hosting the Grammys? Comedian Trevor Noah will host the show for the sixth consecutive time — and it will be his last. “I am beyond thrilled to welcome Trevor Noah back to host the Grammys for his sixth, and sadly, final time,” Grammys’ executive producer Ben Winston said in a statement. “He’s been the most phenomenal host of the show. He’s so smart, so funny, and such a true fan of the artists and music. His impact on the show has been truly spectacular, and we can’t wait to do it together one last time.” The only other people to host six or more Grammy telecasts were musical artists: Andy Williams hosted seven shows, followed by John Denver with six. Noah previously tied LL Cool J, with five. Noah himself is a four-time Grammy nominee and is up this year in the audio book, narration, and storytelling recording category for “Into The Uncut Grass,” a children’s story. “He’s a special host. He really finds the right balance between being funny and smart and knowledgeable but also being a fan of music. And I love that. It’s so hard to find that combination,” Mason jr. said. As for his departure? “Every person at some point in their career, they decide they want to do something else,” Mason jr. said. “And we’re so appreciative of the years that we got from Trevor. He’s really helped define the show and make the show what it’s become over the last six years.” How can I watch the red carpet? The Associated Press will stream a four-hour red carpet show with interviews and fashion footage. It will be streamed on YouTube and APNews.com. Who is nominated for the Grammys? Kendrick Lamar leads the nominations with nine total. He’s up for record, song and album of the year — marking the third time he’s had simultaneous nominations in those big categories — as well as pop duo/group performance, melodic rap performance, rap song and rap album. He’s also nominated twice in the rap performance category. Lady Gaga, Jack Antonoff and Canadian record producer/songwriter Cirkut follow Lamar with seven nominations each. Thomas, Bad Bunny, Serban Ghenea and the aforementioned Carpenter all boast six nominations. Andrew Watt, Clipse, Doechii, Sounwave, SZA, Turnstile and Tyler, the Creator have five each. There are a number of first-time nominees as well this year, including Tate McRae, Zara Larsson, PinkPantheress, JID and … Timothée Chalamet. You read that correctly. ___ For more coverage of this year’s Grammy Awards, visit: www.apnews.com/hub/grammy-awards —Maria Sherman, AP music writer View the full article

A reader writes: I’m a (decently) new manager, and I’m struggling with one of my employees. They come from a freelance background but wanted stability so they applied for this job, which is a salaried role. Let’s say the hours are 9-5. We can be flexible with start times as long as it’s reasonable and we’re communicated with, but employees must work their full hours. For some reason, this employee seems to think that when their immediate work is done, it is done and they can go home. That’s not the case, and especially not so because in this line of work, work is really never done. They have many colleagues who could use a hand, and there are other things they could proactively be working on. They also seem to think it’s okay to just up and leave mid-workday without saying anything, as well as lying on timesheets. Somehow, they think it’s the done thing across the team (it is not). I brought this up with them, but they were very defensive and basically said, “Well, my output is good, so I don’t know why you have a problem.” I reiterated the importance of communication and fairness, but I really wasn’t convinced they understood and I will be having a follow-up meeting with them. I think a big problem is that they are still very much in a freelance mindset when this job is very much far from that. What do you think I should do? It sounds like you’re falling into a common new manager trap where you feel like you have to convince this employee to see things your way, but you actually don’t. You just need to be very clear about what the requirements of the job are. It’s preferable if they end up understanding your perspective and you can reach a shared understanding, but ultimately it doesn’t matter if they agree with you that these policies are reasonable because they still need to follow them. So, for example, your next conversation with them about this should sound similar to this: You: This job requires you to work a full eight hours per day. Even when your most pressing tasks for the day are done, you’re expected to stay and continue working on other projects. If you’re finished with your most urgent items, you should work on things like X, Y, or Z, or check with me for additional things you can help with. Employee: My output is good so I don’t see why this is a problem. You: This is the expectation for everyone on our team and company-wide. It’s a requirement of the job that isn’t going to change, and I do need you to adhere to it. Employee: I just don’t see why this matters. You: The role requires working full-time hours. If that’s not something you want to do, this job won’t be a good match. Do you want to think about it and let me know if the job still makes sense for you, knowing this is a requirement that isn’t going to change? That framing — think about whether it makes sense for you to stay — can make this less adversarial and push the situation toward whatever the resolution is going to end up being. You’re saying, essentially, “Here’s what the job requires, it’s absolutely fine if you decide that’s not for you, but let’s figure out if our needs are compatible or not because they may not be.” And then, after that conversation, the person person continues not to work full days, you reiterate that it’s a job requirement, explain that you won’t be able to keep them on if they don’t follow it, and tell them this is their final warning. (Before this point, you should be coordinating with your own boss or HR so that they’re looped in and you’re following whatever policies your company has about firing people.) But also, they’re lying on timesheets? That’s a fireable offense on its own, and you need to make it very clear that there’s zero tolerance for that. As in, “It’s a non-negotiable requirement of your job that your timesheets truthfully reflect the actual hours you worked each day; you cannot misrepresent them. If this happens again, I would need to let you go. Are we in agreement that you will accurately report your hours going forward?” There are many, many times — most times, really — where as a manager where it makes sense to be collaborative with people, rather than taking a top-down “this is the way it will be” approach … but this is not one of those times. This is a black and white situation that calls for you clearly stating the requirements of the job and the consequences for not meeting them, and then sticking to that. The post my employee isn’t working full-time hours, leaves mid-day, and is lying on their timesheets appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

The legendary $4.99 rotisserie chickens from Costco are under fire this week as a proposed class action lawsuit claims the big box retailer has been misleading customers. Two California shoppers noticed something that might seem obvious in retrospect: To sell an entire, slow-roasted chicken in a plastic bag, Costco added two preservatives. Problem is, the Issaquah, Washington-based company had promised on the packaging, in-store displays, and online that the chicken contained “no preservatives.” The lawsuit filed last week with the Southern District claims that Costco’s promise that its rotisserie chickens contain no preservatives signals to “reasonable consumers“—like the two women who are plaintiffs in the case—that nothing was added to preserve the taste, flavor, texture, or shelflife of the product. But two preservatives—sodium phosphate and carrageenan—are listed on the ingredient list. “Costco Wholesale Corporation has systemically cheated customers out of tens—if not hundreds—of millions of dollars by falsely advertising its Kirkland Signature Seasoned Rotisserie Chicken as containing ‘no preservatives,’” the lawsuit reads, in part. “Consumers reasonably rely on clear, prominent claims like ‘No Preservatives,’ especially when deciding what they and their families will eat,” Wesley M. Griffith, the California managing partner with Almeida Law Group, which represents the plaintiffs in this lawsuit, said in a statement. “Costco’s own ingredient list contradicts its marketing. That’s unlawful, and it’s unfair.” INGREDIENTS IN FOCUS Costco has already taken steps to address the main concern of the lawsuit. “To maintain consistency among the labeling on our rotisserie chickens and the signs in our warehouses/on‑line presentations, we have removed statements concerning preservatives,” a company representative said in a statement to KTLA 5 News. “We use carrageenan and sodium phosphate to support moisture retention, texture, and product consistency during cooking. Both ingredients are approved by food safety authorities.” These ingredients have landed other big companies in hot water in the past: In late 2024, a judge ruled that Kraft Heinz must face a proposed nationwide class action lawsuit that similarly focused on the company’s use of sodium phosphate in its macaroni and cheese products. And the addition of carrageenan in products labeled as “natural” or organic has been the subject of several lawsuits in recent years. What’s more, Costco has faced criticism of its use of carrageenan in the past. The Cornucopia Institute, an organic food watchdog group, sent a letter to Costco in 2023 urging it to remove carrageenan from organic products. And the ingredient is one of many targeted by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. SUIT SEEKS MONETARY DAMAGES In the latest lawsuit filed against Costco, the plaintiffs are seeking unspecified monetary damages, and if a judge approves a class action lawsuit, that might mean the retailer has to pay out anyone else who bought the chicken during a specified time period. Interestingly, the plaintiffs said they might have still opted to purchase the rotisserie chicken had they known about the two ingredients, but “would have paid significantly less” for it. It might be hard for some people to imagine paying even less, as Costco’s rotisserie chicken is considered a “loss leader,” meaning the company realizes very little or no profit selling it. Costco shares fell nearly 1% in mid-day trading on Thursday, extending a selloff of more than 3% in the past week. View the full article

Tax season is officially here, and as a freelancer, beware that this year brings meaningful changes that will affect how you file your 2025 tax return. With new IRS updates, inflation adjustments, and shifting deduction rules, it’s more important than ever to understand what applies to you as you prepare your 2025 return. Remember, the earlier you complete your return, the better, especially if you are expecting a refund. The IRS has announced Monday, January 26, 2026, as the opening of the federal tax filing season, with Tax Day (the day your personal 2025 return is due) slated for April 15, 2026. If you operate your freelance business as a limited liability company (LLC) multi-member LLC, or C-Corporation entity, your business return is due on the same day. If you file your freelance business taxes as an S-Corporation your business return filings due March 15, 2026. As you start collecting your freelance tax documentation, it’s important to keep the federal and state-level deductions you may be entitled to in mind. Here’s a checklist of the key federal tax deductions you may be entitled to on your 2025 tax return. Be sure to check your state tax regulations for further tax deductions and obligations you and your freelance business may be subject to. Increased Standard Deduction One of the biggest changes for tax year 2025 is the increase in the standard deduction. If you typically itemize, it’s worth checking whether the higher standard deduction is more advantageous from a tax perspective. Here are the standard deduction amounts you can claim on your 2025 tax return: Single Filers: $15,750Married Couples Filing Jointly: $31,500Head of Household: $23,625In addition, taxpayers aged 65 and older can now claim an additional $6,000 deduction per person through 2028. This senior deduction begins to phase out when MAGI (Modified Adjusted Gross Income) exceeds $75,000 ($150,000 in the case of a joint return). It will be in effect for the years 2025 through 2028. Tip Income Deduction If you work in a tipped profession (hospitality, beauty, wellness, etc.), you may deduct up to $25,000 in tip income from your federal income tax bill — due to the newly enacted “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA). This deduction begins to phase out with a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) of $150,000 (for single filers) & of $300,000 (for filing jointly). It is completely phased out at $400,000 (for single filers) & $550,000 (for filing jointly). Please note that 2025 is considered as a transition year for these deductions, where employers are not required to report tips separately on tax forms until 2026, so employees/workers need to use reasonable methods to calculate their allowable deductions for 2025. For the first time, qualifying freelancers can deduct up to $25,000 in tips from their taxable income starting in tax year 2025, but as of right now, this deduction only qualifies until 2028. Key point on tip income: While you can deduct tips from your taxable income, they still count toward your self-employment tax—the 15.3% you pay for Social Security and Medicare (for the self-employed or half of this if you are employed). The 15.3% tax rate is consisting of the 12.4% for social security and the 2.9% for Medicare (hospital insurance).There might be an additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% for Medicare Tax if your wages, compensation, or self-employment income (together with that of your spouse if filing a joint return) exceed the threshold amounts as follows: $250,000 (Married Filing Jointly), $125,000 (Married Filing Separately), $200,000 (Single, Head of Household with qualifying person, or Qualifying surviving spouse with dependent child). Here’s the breakdown: Maximum Deduction: Up to $25,000 in qualified tips, but not more than your net income from the business where the tips were earned.Income Limits: The deduction phases out if your modified adjusted gross income exceeds $150,000 ($300,000 for joint filers).Qualifying Occupations: The Treasury Department’s preliminary list includes over 80 occupations across industries such as food service, personal care, entertainment, hospitality, home services, and transportation that qualify for the new tip income deduction. Some highlighted industries are:Food & Beverage: Bartenders, wait staff, cooks, dishwashers, and host staff.Personal Care & Wellness: Massage therapists, barbers, hairstylists, aestheticians, tattoo artists, and fitness instructors.Entertainment & Events: Musicians, dancers, DJs, ushers, and digital content creators (including streamers and podcasters).Home Services: Electricians, plumbers, HVAC installers, landscapers, and cleaners.Transportation & Delivery: Rideshare drivers, shuttle operators, valet attendants, and goods delivery workers.Currently, the law excludes certain trades and businesses—such as health care, performing arts, and athletics—from claiming the deduction. You must keep meticulous records of your tip income including when it was received, from which client and for what services. The SALT Deduction Cap is temporarily increased. The new “One Big Beautiful Bill” tax law temporarily raises the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction cap. Here is a brief breakdown: Higher Deduction Limits (2025–2029): The maximum state and local tax (SALT) deduction is $40,000 for single filers, heads of household, and married couples filing jointly. This is a significant increase from previous year’s limit of $10,000. For married individuals filing separately, the new limit is $20,000.Phase-Out for High Earners: The benefit begins to phase out for taxpayers with Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGIof $500,000. The phaseout for those filing married filing separately starts at MAGI of $250,000. For every dollar over this threshold, the deduction is reduced by 30% of the excess MAGI. However, the cap cannot go below $10,000, no matter how high your income. So, taxpayers who fully phase out will still be able to deduct up to $10,000 for most tax payers, just like in previous year. Please note that just like the SALT cap, the MAGI phaseout threshold increases by 1% annually through tax year 2029. Thus, the phaseout will begin at $505,000 MAGI in 2026, $510,050 MAGI in 2027, and so on.Reversion in 2030: Unless further legislation is passed, the cap will return to $10,000 for joint filers and $5,000 for single filers.It is recommended to review whether itemizing deductions provides greater value than taking the standard deduction, especially if your SALT payments will approach the new cap in 2026. Eligible Taxes: The deduction applies to a combination of state and local property taxes, and either state and local income taxes or general sales taxes. Itemization Required: To claim the SALT deduction, you must itemize your deductions on IRS Schedule A instead of taking the standard deduction. For 2025, the standard deduction is $15,750 (single/married filing separately), $23,625 (head of household), and $31,500 (married filing jointly).Income Phaseouts: The benefit of the increased cap is reduced for higher-income earners. The $40,000 cap begins to phase out once your Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) exceeds $500,000 for all filers (or $250,000 for married filing separately). If your MAGI reaches $600,000, the deduction is capped at the original $10,000 limit.Temporary Provision: This increased cap is temporary and is scheduled to last from tax years 2025 through 2029. The cap amount will see a 1% annual increase from 2026 to 2029 and is set to revert to $10,000 in 2030 unless Congress takes further action. New Personal Car Loan Interest Deduction for individuals is a new deduction that makes the interest on personal car loans a tax write-off ($10,000 maximum annual deduction limit under the Big Beautiful Bill’s No tax on car loan interest under Section 70203). To qualify for personal use car interest deduction, both the buyer and the vehicle must meet these specific criteria: Your Vehicle Must Be New: The deduction applies only to new (US assembled) vehicles, with the original use beginning with the taxpayer. Used vehicles and leases do not qualify.U.S. Assembly Required: The vehicle's final assembly must have occurred in the United States. You can verify this using the vehicle's window sticker, VIN, or the NHTSA VIN Decoder.Vehicle Type/Weight Limits: The vehicle must be a car, minivan, van, SUV, pickup truck, or motorcycle with a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 14,000 pounds.Personal Use: The vehicle must be purchased for personal, non-commercial use.Loan Requirements: The loan must be originated after December 31, 2024, secured by a lien on the vehicle, and the interest must be paid during the tax year.Income Limits: The full deduction is available for taxpayers with a Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) of up to $100,000 (single filers) or $200,000 (married couples filing jointly). The deduction phases out gradually above these thresholds and disappears completely at $150,000 (single) and $250,000 (joint). Other Freelance Business Tax Deductions In addition to the key new or modified deductions above, the following items in 2025 for are deductible for your freelance business (make sure you have appropriate documentation): SoftwareMarketing expensesAttorney and other qualified professional servicesEquipment such as computers, printers and other hard goodsTravel for legitimate business purposes Business travel expenses such as airfare, lodging, etc., are 100% deductibleBusiness meals are generally 50% deductibleBusiness related Vehicle expenses can be done through either of the two methods: (1) Actual Expenses method by deducting the business – use portion of costs such as gas, oil, insurance, car repairs, & lease payments; or (2) Standard Mileage Rate method that allows a deduction of business related tolls and parking fees, and a 2025 standard mileage rate of 70 cents per business mile.Subcontractor servicesSelf-Employment Tax Deduction – you can deduct the employer-equivalent portion of 50% of your self-employment taxQualified Business Income (QBI) Deduction – eligible freelancers can deduct up to 20% of their qualified business income, plus 20% of their qualified real estate investment trust (REIT) dividends and qualified publicly traded partnership (PTP) income. Please note that income earned through a C corporation or through services as an employee is not eligible for the deduction. Determination on what qualifies as a trade or business is in the instructions of Form 8995-A or Form 8995. Please note that eligible taxpayers can use the QBI deduction regardless of whether they itemize on Schedule A or take the standard deduction. The deduction is limited to the lesser of the QBI component plus the REIT/PTP component or 20% of the taxpayer’s taxable income minus net capital gain. More details on the two components are: QBI component – equals 20% of QBI from a domestic business operating as a sole proprietorship or through S corporation, partnership, trust or estate. It is subject to limitations, depending on taxpayer’s taxable income that may include trade or business, W-2 wages paid by qualified trade or business, and unadjusted basis immediately after acquisition (UBIA) of qualified property held by trade or business. This may also be reduced by the patron reduction if the taxpayer is a patron of an agricultural/horticultural cooperative.REIT/PTP component – equals 20% of qualified REIT dividends and qualified PTP income. It is not limited by W-2 wages or the UBIA of qualified property. Based on the taxpayer’s taxable income, the amount of PTP income may however be limited depending on the type of the PTP’s trade or business.Health insurance premiums Health insurance premiums can be deducted up to 100% of the premiums paid for medical, dental, and qualifying long-term care insurance for yourself, your spouse and dependents, provided you are not eligible for an employer-sponsored plan such as through a spouse’s job), copays, and expenses. Retirement contributions Retirement contributions to qualifies retirement accounts are also tax deductible. If you have not already maximized your retirement contribution’s for 2025 in SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA or other tax-advantaged retirement account, you can still make a contribution. Home office contributions The IRS also allows for a home office space deduction at $5 per square foot of your office space, up to a maximum of $1,500 using the IRS simplified home office deduction. To qualify, your office space must be used regularly and exclusively for work, meaning it cannot double as a personal area. This doesn’t have to be an entire room—it can be a defined section of a room—but it must be dedicated solely to business activities. In addition to exclusive use, the home office must serve as your principal place of business. The IRS offers the following two ways to calculate the deduction: The simplified method allows you to deduct $5 per square foot of office space, up to three hundred square feet, for a maximum deduction of $1,500.The actual expense method lets you deduct the business percentage of real home expenses such as rent or mortgage interest, utilities, insurance, repairs, and depreciation. This percentage is typically based on the square footage of your office relative to your home. The calculation is done on IRS Form 8829.It’s Time to Organize Your 2025 Freelance Tax Information The filing window for taxes is almost open so now is the time to make sure your freelance accounting and tax information is up to date. If you plan to work with a tax professional, reach out and make sure you have a relationship established to ensure your taxes can be filed in a timely manner. Spending a little time now to get your freelance tax information in order will allow you to file early and expedite any potential refund while giving you a head start on any additional tax moves you need to make in 2026 to reduce your tax burden. View the full article

Tax season is officially here, and as a freelancer, beware that this year brings meaningful changes that will affect how you file your 2025 tax return. With new IRS updates, inflation adjustments, and shifting deduction rules, it’s more important than ever to understand what applies to you as you prepare your 2025 return. Remember, the earlier you complete your return, the better, especially if you are expecting a refund. The IRS has announced Monday, January 26, 2026, as the opening of the federal tax filing season, with Tax Day (the day your personal 2025 return is due) slated for April 15, 2026. If you operate your freelance business as a limited liability company (LLC) multi-member LLC, or C-Corporation entity, your business return is due on the same day. If you file your freelance business taxes as an S-Corporation your business return filings due March 15, 2026. As you start collecting your freelance tax documentation, it’s important to keep the federal and state-level deductions you may be entitled to in mind. Here’s a checklist of the key federal tax deductions you may be entitled to on your 2025 tax return. Be sure to check your state tax regulations for further tax deductions and obligations you and your freelance business may be subject to. Increased Standard Deduction One of the biggest changes for tax year 2025 is the increase in the standard deduction. If you typically itemize, it’s worth checking whether the higher standard deduction is more advantageous from a tax perspective. Here are the standard deduction amounts you can claim on your 2025 tax return: Single Filers: $15,750Married Couples Filing Jointly: $31,500Head of Household: $23,625In addition, taxpayers aged 65 and older can now claim an additional $6,000 deduction per person through 2028. This senior deduction begins to phase out when MAGI (Modified Adjusted Gross Income) exceeds $75,000 ($150,000 in the case of a joint return). It will be in effect for the years 2025 through 2028. Tip Income Deduction If you work in a tipped profession (hospitality, beauty, wellness, etc.), you may deduct up to $25,000 in tip income from your federal income tax bill — due to the newly enacted “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA). This deduction begins to phase out with a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) of $150,000 (for single filers) & of $300,000 (for filing jointly). It is completely phased out at $400,000 (for single filers) & $550,000 (for filing jointly). Please note that 2025 is considered as a transition year for these deductions, where employers are not required to report tips separately on tax forms until 2026, so employees/workers need to use reasonable methods to calculate their allowable deductions for 2025. For the first time, qualifying freelancers can deduct up to $25,000 in tips from their taxable income starting in tax year 2025, but as of right now, this deduction only qualifies until 2028. Key point on tip income: While you can deduct tips from your taxable income, they still count toward your self-employment tax—the 15.3% you pay for Social Security and Medicare (for the self-employed or half of this if you are employed). The 15.3% tax rate is consisting of the 12.4% for social security and the 2.9% for Medicare (hospital insurance).There might be an additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% for Medicare Tax if your wages, compensation, or self-employment income (together with that of your spouse if filing a joint return) exceed the threshold amounts as follows: $250,000 (Married Filing Jointly), $125,000 (Married Filing Separately), $200,000 (Single, Head of Household with qualifying person, or Qualifying surviving spouse with dependent child). Here’s the breakdown: Maximum Deduction: Up to $25,000 in qualified tips, but not more than your net income from the business where the tips were earned.Income Limits: The deduction phases out if your modified adjusted gross income exceeds $150,000 ($300,000 for joint filers).Qualifying Occupations: The Treasury Department’s preliminary list includes over 80 occupations across industries such as food service, personal care, entertainment, hospitality, home services, and transportation that qualify for the new tip income deduction. Some highlighted industries are:Food & Beverage: Bartenders, wait staff, cooks, dishwashers, and host staff.Personal Care & Wellness: Massage therapists, barbers, hairstylists, aestheticians, tattoo artists, and fitness instructors.Entertainment & Events: Musicians, dancers, DJs, ushers, and digital content creators (including streamers and podcasters).Home Services: Electricians, plumbers, HVAC installers, landscapers, and cleaners.Transportation & Delivery: Rideshare drivers, shuttle operators, valet attendants, and goods delivery workers.Currently, the law excludes certain trades and businesses—such as health care, performing arts, and athletics—from claiming the deduction. You must keep meticulous records of your tip income including when it was received, from which client and for what services. The SALT Deduction Cap is temporarily increased. The new “One Big Beautiful Bill” tax law temporarily raises the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction cap. Here is a brief breakdown: Higher Deduction Limits (2025–2029): The maximum state and local tax (SALT) deduction is $40,000 for single filers, heads of household, and married couples filing jointly. This is a significant increase from previous year’s limit of $10,000. For married individuals filing separately, the new limit is $20,000.Phase-Out for High Earners: The benefit begins to phase out for taxpayers with Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGIof $500,000. The phaseout for those filing married filing separately starts at MAGI of $250,000. For every dollar over this threshold, the deduction is reduced by 30% of the excess MAGI. However, the cap cannot go below $10,000, no matter how high your income. So, taxpayers who fully phase out will still be able to deduct up to $10,000 for most tax payers, just like in previous year. Please note that just like the SALT cap, the MAGI phaseout threshold increases by 1% annually through tax year 2029. Thus, the phaseout will begin at $505,000 MAGI in 2026, $510,050 MAGI in 2027, and so on.Reversion in 2030: Unless further legislation is passed, the cap will return to $10,000 for joint filers and $5,000 for single filers.It is recommended to review whether itemizing deductions provides greater value than taking the standard deduction, especially if your SALT payments will approach the new cap in 2026. Eligible Taxes: The deduction applies to a combination of state and local property taxes, and either state and local income taxes or general sales taxes. Itemization Required: To claim the SALT deduction, you must itemize your deductions on IRS Schedule A instead of taking the standard deduction. For 2025, the standard deduction is $15,750 (single/married filing separately), $23,625 (head of household), and $31,500 (married filing jointly).Income Phaseouts: The benefit of the increased cap is reduced for higher-income earners. The $40,000 cap begins to phase out once your Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) exceeds $500,000 for all filers (or $250,000 for married filing separately). If your MAGI reaches $600,000, the deduction is capped at the original $10,000 limit.Temporary Provision: This increased cap is temporary and is scheduled to last from tax years 2025 through 2029. The cap amount will see a 1% annual increase from 2026 to 2029 and is set to revert to $10,000 in 2030 unless Congress takes further action. New Personal Car Loan Interest Deduction for individuals is a new deduction that makes the interest on personal car loans a tax write-off ($10,000 maximum annual deduction limit under the Big Beautiful Bill’s No tax on car loan interest under Section 70203). To qualify for personal use car interest deduction, both the buyer and the vehicle must meet these specific criteria: Your Vehicle Must Be New: The deduction applies only to new (US assembled) vehicles, with the original use beginning with the taxpayer. Used vehicles and leases do not qualify.U.S. Assembly Required: The vehicle's final assembly must have occurred in the United States. You can verify this using the vehicle's window sticker, VIN, or the NHTSA VIN Decoder.Vehicle Type/Weight Limits: The vehicle must be a car, minivan, van, SUV, pickup truck, or motorcycle with a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 14,000 pounds.Personal Use: The vehicle must be purchased for personal, non-commercial use.Loan Requirements: The loan must be originated after December 31, 2024, secured by a lien on the vehicle, and the interest must be paid during the tax year.Income Limits: The full deduction is available for taxpayers with a Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) of up to $100,000 (single filers) or $200,000 (married couples filing jointly). The deduction phases out gradually above these thresholds and disappears completely at $150,000 (single) and $250,000 (joint). Other Freelance Business Tax Deductions In addition to the key new or modified deductions above, the following items in 2025 for are deductible for your freelance business (make sure you have appropriate documentation): SoftwareMarketing expensesAttorney and other qualified professional servicesEquipment such as computers, printers and other hard goodsTravel for legitimate business purposes Business travel expenses such as airfare, lodging, etc., are 100% deductibleBusiness meals are generally 50% deductibleBusiness related Vehicle expenses can be done through either of the two methods: (1) Actual Expenses method by deducting the business – use portion of costs such as gas, oil, insurance, car repairs, & lease payments; or (2) Standard Mileage Rate method that allows a deduction of business related tolls and parking fees, and a 2025 standard mileage rate of 70 cents per business mile.Subcontractor servicesSelf-Employment Tax Deduction – you can deduct the employer-equivalent portion of 50% of your self-employment taxQualified Business Income (QBI) Deduction – eligible freelancers can deduct up to 20% of their qualified business income, plus 20% of their qualified real estate investment trust (REIT) dividends and qualified publicly traded partnership (PTP) income. Please note that income earned through a C corporation or through services as an employee is not eligible for the deduction. Determination on what qualifies as a trade or business is in the instructions of Form 8995-A or Form 8995. Please note that eligible taxpayers can use the QBI deduction regardless of whether they itemize on Schedule A or take the standard deduction. The deduction is limited to the lesser of the QBI component plus the REIT/PTP component or 20% of the taxpayer’s taxable income minus net capital gain. More details on the two components are: QBI component – equals 20% of QBI from a domestic business operating as a sole proprietorship or through S corporation, partnership, trust or estate. It is subject to limitations, depending on taxpayer’s taxable income that may include trade or business, W-2 wages paid by qualified trade or business, and unadjusted basis immediately after acquisition (UBIA) of qualified property held by trade or business. This may also be reduced by the patron reduction if the taxpayer is a patron of an agricultural/horticultural cooperative.REIT/PTP component – equals 20% of qualified REIT dividends and qualified PTP income. It is not limited by W-2 wages or the UBIA of qualified property. Based on the taxpayer’s taxable income, the amount of PTP income may however be limited depending on the type of the PTP’s trade or business.Health insurance premiums Health insurance premiums can be deducted up to 100% of the premiums paid for medical, dental, and qualifying long-term care insurance for yourself, your spouse and dependents, provided you are not eligible for an employer-sponsored plan such as through a spouse’s job), copays, and expenses. Retirement contributions Retirement contributions to qualifies retirement accounts are also tax deductible. If you have not already maximized your retirement contribution’s for 2025 in SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA or other tax-advantaged retirement account, you can still make a contribution. Home office contributions The IRS also allows for a home office space deduction at $5 per square foot of your office space, up to a maximum of $1,500 using the IRS simplified home office deduction. To qualify, your office space must be used regularly and exclusively for work, meaning it cannot double as a personal area. This doesn’t have to be an entire room—it can be a defined section of a room—but it must be dedicated solely to business activities. In addition to exclusive use, the home office must serve as your principal place of business. The IRS offers the following two ways to calculate the deduction: The simplified method allows you to deduct $5 per square foot of office space, up to three hundred square feet, for a maximum deduction of $1,500.The actual expense method lets you deduct the business percentage of real home expenses such as rent or mortgage interest, utilities, insurance, repairs, and depreciation. This percentage is typically based on the square footage of your office relative to your home. The calculation is done on IRS Form 8829.It’s Time to Organize Your 2025 Freelance Tax Information The filing window for taxes is almost open so now is the time to make sure your freelance accounting and tax information is up to date. If you plan to work with a tax professional, reach out and make sure you have a relationship established to ensure your taxes can be filed in a timely manner. Spending a little time now to get your freelance tax information in order will allow you to file early and expedite any potential refund while giving you a head start on any additional tax moves you need to make in 2026 to reduce your tax burden. View the full article

One of the biggest SEO challenges right now isn’t AI. It’s the irresponsible misinformation surrounding it. SEO isn’t dying — it’s evolving. That means it’s on us to understand how the industry is changing, and to be careful about who we listen to. I’m not easily shocked, but some of the AEO (or GEO) talks I’ve seen over the past year have been genuinely eyebrow-raising — even for someone with Botox. I still remember one speaker telling a room full of marketers they were “sorry for anyone still working in SEO,” then immediately recommending outdated tactics as the “secret sauce” for LLM visibility. It’s been… painful. Thankfully, the adults have entered the room. This week, four of the industry’s most trusted voices — Lily Ray, Kevin Indig, Steve Toth, and Ross Hudgens — came together for a roundtable on the future of search. It was easily the most useful AEO session I’ve attended. Each shared specific tactics they’ve personally used to achieve LLM visibility. Here’s what they had to say. 1. Advertorials work LLMs don’t currently distinguish between paid and organic editorial. That means well-placed advertorials on reputable publishers can help brands show up in AI search, much like earned coverage. As with traditional PR, the publication’s credibility still matters most. 2. Syndication can scale visibility Paid syndication can increase reach, but quality matters more than quantity. Focus on reputable, relevant publications and use this tactic carefully. 3. Map pages to every audience and use case you serve Brands that create clearly defined pages for each audience, industry, and use case are better positioned as AI search becomes more personalized. This structure helps LLMs understand relevance and remains a strong SEO practice, with or without AI. 4. Homepage clarity Your homepage should clearly communicate who you serve and what you do. LLMs parse homepage content far more easily than navigation menus, so relying on your nav to explain your offering is a missed opportunity. 5. Optimize your footer Don’t overlook your footer. Brand and service signals placed here are being picked up by LLMs. Wil Reynolds shared a great case study showing how footer content can directly influence AI visibility. 6. Don’t prioritize llm.txt Despite the speculation, no major LLM has confirmed using llm.txt files, and Google has explicitly said it does not. Your time and effort are better spent elsewhere. 7. Go multimodal Repurpose your core content across text, video, audio, and imagery. The goal is to build brand recognition across the full range of sources an LLM may pull from. 8. Actively shape your brand narrative Actively shape your brand narrative. It’s estimated that 250 documents are needed to meaningfully influence how an LLM perceives a brand. Brands that don’t publish and promote content consistently risk letting others define that narrative for them. 9. Freshness carries disproportionate weight Recent content tends to perform especially well in AI search, reflecting LLMs’ preference for up-to-date information. That said, artificial “refreshing” without meaningful updates is a bad idea. 10. Social works fast Posts on platforms like LinkedIn—including Pulse articles—can appear in AI search within hours, sometimes minutes, especially for accounts with strong followings. Reddit, YouTube, and other high-trust platforms show similar behavior. 11. Authority accelerates inclusion Publishing on respected, niche industry sites can lead to rapid inclusion in LLM responses — sometimes within hours. 12. Don’t hide FAQs FAQs should be visible and substantial, not hidden behind accordions. Don’t hold back on content either— eight to 10 well-answered questions can clearly signal expertise, intent, and relevance to both users and LLMs. Is AEO the same as SEO? This much-debated question was addressed directly by John Mueller at Google Search Live in December. Putting the AEO cowboys in their place, he made it clear that good AEO still relies on good SEO: “AI systems rely on search. and there is no such thing as GEO or AEO without doing SEO fundamentals. Tricks will come out and they will work for a short time, companies that want to be around for the long term should focus on something that is proven with long term stability and not tricks.” The overlap makes sense when you look at how modern LLMs like GPT-5 actually work. They use Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). Rather than relying only on frozen training data, RAG lets an LLM query search engines and trusted sources in real time before answering. Put simply: if you want LLM visibility, you need to show up in search first. Lily Ray has an excellent video explaining this process in more detail, which is well worth watching. So yes, good AEO is good SEO — but there’s nuance. The tactics above work right now, but they will inevitably evolve as LLMs continue to advance. The best AI search strategy for 2026 Forget the magic button. Keep testing. Stay skeptical of the hype. And be selective about who you let into your ear — or your LinkedIn feed. Thanks to Bernard Huang and Clearscope for hosting this excellent panel. View the full article