ResidentialBusiness

Yields gravitated back toward session lows — down three to four basis points on the day — after the December ISM manufacturing gauge unexpectedly dropped. View the full article

CHAPTER 3 Digital Nomad Nation: Rise of a Borderless Generation The Digital Nomad Lifecycle . “Not till we are lost… do we begin to find ourselves.” — Henry David Thoreau “There are many paths to the top of the mountain, but the view is always the same.” — Chinese Proverb Every digital nomad starts ... Read moreView the full article

Google has unveiled its latest advancement in artificial intelligence, the Gemini 3 Flash, a tool that promises to revolutionize how small businesses approach coding and development. With a focus on affordability and efficiency, Gemini 3 Flash is set to provide vital resources for the fast-paced world of small business operations. Small business owners are constantly seeking innovative solutions that streamline processes and bolster productivity. Gemini 3 Flash, integrated into Google’s Gemini API and Vertex AI, is priced competitively at $0.50 for every 1 million input tokens, and $3 for every 1 million output tokens. The tool is tailored for both cost efficiency and effectiveness, with additional options for audio inputs priced at $1 per million tokens. One of the standout features of Gemini 3 Flash is its context caching capability, enabling businesses to reduce costs by up to 90% in instances of repeated token use. This feature is particularly beneficial for companies that engage with high volumes of data or require repetitive tasks, such as generating reports or handling customer inquiries. By significantly lowering operational costs, small business owners can redirect resources towards growth initiatives. The tool is also accessible through the Batch API, which offers 50% cost savings and increased rate limits for asynchronous processing. This allows small business owners to scale their operations without the burden of excessive spending. For those who need immediate results, paid API customers benefit from production-ready rate limits, ensuring that even high-demand situations can be handled seamlessly. Early adopters of Gemini 3 Flash have expressed excitement about its potential. Its enhanced coding and agent capabilities outshine previous iterations, making rapid, iterative development a reality. For small businesses, this means faster project timelines and improved responsiveness to market demands. According to reports, Gemini 3 Flash achieves a remarkable performance rating, rapidly surpassing its predecessor, the 3 Pro, while maintaining quicker iteration speeds. In practice, Gemini 3 Flash has already begun to integrate across various Google products, pointing to a multitude of potential applications. For instance, small business owners can leverage its intelligent coding assistance to streamline their software development processes. The tool enables coders to maintain their workflow, allowing for continuous creativity without disruption. However, small business owners should also be mindful of potential challenges that come with adopting such advanced technology. While Gemini 3 Flash shows immense promise, businesses may face a learning curve when incorporating AI tools into their existing workflows. It is crucial for owners to consider training for their teams to maximize the benefits this tool offers. Additionally, maintaining data security and compliance with industry standards when using AI technologies is necessary to avoid potential pitfalls. For those contemplating the transition to AI-driven operations, Gemini 3 Flash can serve as a transformative solution. It enables businesses to not only enhance coding efficiency but also foster innovation in product development and customer engagement. As they strive to keep pace with larger competitors, small business owners have a unique opportunity to harness the power of this cutting-edge technology. In a landscape where adaptability is key to survival, Gemini 3 Flash stands out as an instrumental tool for small businesses looking to enhance their operational capabilities. As the demand for rapid digital transformation continues, the practical applications of AI tools like Gemini 3 Flash offer a glimpse into the future of business development. For further details, visit the original announcement on Google’s blog here. Image via Google Gemini This article, "Google’s Gemini 3 Flash Launches, Promises Major Cost Savings for Developers" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Google has unveiled its latest advancement in artificial intelligence, the Gemini 3 Flash, a tool that promises to revolutionize how small businesses approach coding and development. With a focus on affordability and efficiency, Gemini 3 Flash is set to provide vital resources for the fast-paced world of small business operations. Small business owners are constantly seeking innovative solutions that streamline processes and bolster productivity. Gemini 3 Flash, integrated into Google’s Gemini API and Vertex AI, is priced competitively at $0.50 for every 1 million input tokens, and $3 for every 1 million output tokens. The tool is tailored for both cost efficiency and effectiveness, with additional options for audio inputs priced at $1 per million tokens. One of the standout features of Gemini 3 Flash is its context caching capability, enabling businesses to reduce costs by up to 90% in instances of repeated token use. This feature is particularly beneficial for companies that engage with high volumes of data or require repetitive tasks, such as generating reports or handling customer inquiries. By significantly lowering operational costs, small business owners can redirect resources towards growth initiatives. The tool is also accessible through the Batch API, which offers 50% cost savings and increased rate limits for asynchronous processing. This allows small business owners to scale their operations without the burden of excessive spending. For those who need immediate results, paid API customers benefit from production-ready rate limits, ensuring that even high-demand situations can be handled seamlessly. Early adopters of Gemini 3 Flash have expressed excitement about its potential. Its enhanced coding and agent capabilities outshine previous iterations, making rapid, iterative development a reality. For small businesses, this means faster project timelines and improved responsiveness to market demands. According to reports, Gemini 3 Flash achieves a remarkable performance rating, rapidly surpassing its predecessor, the 3 Pro, while maintaining quicker iteration speeds. In practice, Gemini 3 Flash has already begun to integrate across various Google products, pointing to a multitude of potential applications. For instance, small business owners can leverage its intelligent coding assistance to streamline their software development processes. The tool enables coders to maintain their workflow, allowing for continuous creativity without disruption. However, small business owners should also be mindful of potential challenges that come with adopting such advanced technology. While Gemini 3 Flash shows immense promise, businesses may face a learning curve when incorporating AI tools into their existing workflows. It is crucial for owners to consider training for their teams to maximize the benefits this tool offers. Additionally, maintaining data security and compliance with industry standards when using AI technologies is necessary to avoid potential pitfalls. For those contemplating the transition to AI-driven operations, Gemini 3 Flash can serve as a transformative solution. It enables businesses to not only enhance coding efficiency but also foster innovation in product development and customer engagement. As they strive to keep pace with larger competitors, small business owners have a unique opportunity to harness the power of this cutting-edge technology. In a landscape where adaptability is key to survival, Gemini 3 Flash stands out as an instrumental tool for small businesses looking to enhance their operational capabilities. As the demand for rapid digital transformation continues, the practical applications of AI tools like Gemini 3 Flash offer a glimpse into the future of business development. For further details, visit the original announcement on Google’s blog here. Image via Google Gemini This article, "Google’s Gemini 3 Flash Launches, Promises Major Cost Savings for Developers" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

CHAPTER 2 Digital Nomad Nation: Rise of a Borderless Generation What Is a Digital Nomad? . “We are torn between a nostalgia for the familiar and an urge for the foreign and strange. As often as not, we are homesick most for the places we have never known.” — Carson McCullers “Identity is not found, ... Read moreView the full article

A reader writes: A few weeks ago, our HR manager, Cara, brought in a photo of her dog’s adorable litter of puppies and everybody appropriately ooh’d and ahh’d all over them. Now that the puppies are old enough to be adopted, she’s started to put the bite on everybody in the office, and after a few other employees were winnowed away for various reasons (apartment building doesn’t allow pets, just had a new baby, etc.), she seems to have focused her attention on me. Backstory time, I grew up in a house with a mother who … it’s probably most accurate to say she compulsively hoarded pets … and growing up having to take care of up to 10 dogs at one time has thrown cold water on my desire to have another dog for the foreseeable future, especially an hyperactive, high-maintenance puppy. I’ve politely declined up until now, but Cara persists, dismissing my refusals by using most of the same lines I’ve heard from my mom about having kids: “Oh, you get used to that,” “You’ll change your mind,” “It’s different when it’s your own,” and of course, “But look how cute!” It’s getting to the point it’s how she opens every single conversation we have: “Hey! I’ve got three left. Have you changed your mind yet or do you still not want one?” I’ve stood firm, but things are happening that are making me start to get a little tin-foil-hatty. A while back, I commented on the cute puppy on a coworker’s birthday card and she looked all confused and said, “Wait, I thought you were the one who didn’t like dogs.” I casualty asked around a little, and while I can’t be positive, I’m getting the impression Cara has started telling people that my not wanting to adopt one of her puppies right now is because I hate dogs and having me adopt one to guilt-trip me into proving I don’t. I don’t know exactly what to do here since, being head of HR, she’s normally who I’d go to for something like this, and I’m really starting to feel like I’m being bullied into adopting a puppy I do not want. Is there some way to remedy this? The good news is that Cara cannot in fact bully you into adopting a puppy. You can simply continue to say no, and you will not find yourself living with a puppy. But what she’s doing is obnoxious! It would be obnoxious from any colleague, but it’s particularly obnoxious from the head of HR, who ideally would have enough awareness of power dynamics and internal relationships that it would stop her from haranguing employees to take puppies off her hands. You could continue doing what you’ve been doing — politely reiterating your refusal when Cara raises the topic — but frankly, it sounds incredibly annoying that she continues to bring it up over and over. So a different option would be to say, the next time she raises it, “Can I ask you a favor? Please take me at my word — I am not available to adopt a puppy, and that’s not going to change. I’d really appreciate it if you’d stop asking.” If she continues after a clear “you need to stop,” she’s just making herself look weird, not you. And in fact, if she does continue after that, feel free to say, “It’s making me really uncomfortable that you aren’t respecting my answer on this” (or “it’s really weird that you keep pressuring me about this after I asked you to stop” or whatever formulation feels natural to you). It’s okay to call it out! She is being weird. It’s okay for your reaction to make that clear. And if Cara is telling people you don’t like dogs … I’m not sure it really matters. Plenty of people don’t like dogs, at least not enough to adopt one. If the topic comes up with a coworker, feel free to set the record straight — “I like dogs but I don’t want to adopt one and she’s being really weird about continually pushing me to take one of her puppies anyway” — but unless she’s going around telling people that she spotted you kicking puppies in the park, it’s not a big deal if people think you’re not a dog lover. If it’s really bothering you, though, feel free to strategically complain about it to a couple of coworkers who you have good rapport with — “Is Cara giving you a hard sell on taking one of her puppies? I’ve told her a bunch of times that I like dogs but I’m not interested in adopting one, and she’s being really weird about pressuring me anyway.” This is a normal thing to share with coworkers because what Cara is doing is so odd and annoying; it’s a perfectly reasonable topic that you might vent about, and sharing that a feel times might make you feel better as far as correcting the record goes. But there’s no world where this needs to end with you adopting a puppy to prove anything to your office. The post head of HR is waging a pressure campaign to make me adopt a puppy appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

Deposed Venezuelan leader and wife appear in New York courtroom for first time since their capture in Caracas View the full article

CHAPTER 1 Digital Nomad Nation: Rise of a Borderless Generation Why Are Digital Nomads Everywhere? “I was not born for one corner. The whole world is my native land.” — Seneca “Not all who wander are lost—some are escaping what they were never meant to be.” — DNN In 2017, two decades after Tsugio Makimoto ... Read moreView the full article

PART 1 The Individual Experience Rise of the Digital Nomad In a world that is increasingly restrictive on time, money, and freedom, digital nomadism is a last resort to escape suffocating societal constructs. Digital nomadism presents an opportunity to break free, trading in daily life for a journey to satisfy the natural urge ... Read moreView the full article

As today is the first Monday of 2026, Americans across the country are settling back into their everyday routines after the busy holiday season. But many are also recovering from the flu—or still suffering from it. Flu illnesses are surging across the country. According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), positive influenza test results reached the highest levels of the season for the week ending December 27, 2025. The CDC publishes a weekly influenza surveillance report that details positive case counts, illness activity levels by state, and breakdowns of flu types. Due to the winter holidays, the CDC’s latest weekly report was delayed. But the agency published its findings today, January 5, 2026. The report shows that 32.9% of samples tested positive for influenza. Positive influenza test results have continued to trend upwards in recent weeks. Influenza A H3N2 ‘Super Flu’ cases are surging nationwide Fast Company previously wrote about the worsening spread of the so-called super flu. The most common influenza strain this season is the subclade K, which is a mutated version of H3N2, a subtype of the influenza A virus. According to CDC data, for the week ending December 27, a total of 994 influenza viruses were reported by public health laboratories. Of those, 971 were influenza A and 23 were influenza B. Of the 600 influenza A viruses that were subtyped, 91.2% were influenza A H3N2. For the same week, 33,301 patients were admitted to hospitals with influenza. Meanwhile, two influenza-related pediatric deaths were reported. One death occurred the week ending December 20 and one death occurred the week ending December 27. A total of nine influenza-related pediatric deaths have been reported this season. For the week ending December 27, activity levels were considered very high in more than half of the U.S. states. Activity levels were also very high in Puerto Rico. The states with the highest flu activity include: Alabama Alaska Arkansas Colorado Connecticut Florida Georgia Idaho Indiana Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Ohio Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New York North Carolina North Dakota Rhode Island Tennessee Texas Vermont Virginia The CDC expects activity to continue for several weeks. What are the symptoms of the flu? Flu symptoms can vary from mild to severe. According to the CDC, these are the most common symptoms to be aware of: Fever Feeling feverish/having chills Cough Sore throat Runny or stuffy nose Muscle or body aches Headaches Fatigue (tiredness) Possible vomiting or diarrhea It’s worth noting that not everyone with the flu gets a fever. If you’re experiencing flu-like symptoms, the CDC recommends limiting contact with others. Total flu cases reach 11 million nationwide The CDC estimates that at least 11 million flu illnesses have occurred so far this season. The agency estimates that there have been 120,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths from the flu. The CDC recommends that everyone 6 months of age and older who has not yet been vaccinated this season get an annual influenza vaccine. View the full article

The The President administration has added seven countries, including five in Africa, to the list of nations whose passport holders are required to post bonds of up to $15,000 to apply to enter the United States. Thirteen countries, all but two of them in Africa, are now on the list, which makes the process of obtaining a U.S. visa unaffordable for many. The State Department last week quietly added Bhutan, Botswana, the Central African Republic, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Namibia, and Turkmenistan to the list. Those designations took effect on Jan. 1, according to a notice posted on the travel.state.gov website. It’s the latest effort by the The President administration to tighten requirements for entry to the U.S., including requiring citizens from all countries that require visas to sit for in-person interviews and disclose years of social media histories as well as detailed accounts of their and their families’ previous travel and living arrangements. U.S. officials have defended the bonds, which can range from $5,000 up to $15,000, maintaining they are effective in ensuring that citizens of targeted countries do not overstay their visas. Payment of the bond does not guarantee a visa will be granted, but the amount will be refunded if the visa is denied or when a visa holder demonstrates they have complied with the terms of visa. The new countries covered by the requirement join Mauritania, Sao Tome and Principe, Tanzania, Gambia, Malawi, and Zambia, which were all placed on the list in August and October of last year. —Matthew Lee, AP diplomatic writer View the full article

PROLOGUE Digital Nomad Nation: Rise of a Borderless Generation At the close of the 20th century, Tsugio Makimoto, a technologist, and David Manners, a business writer with a penchant for tech, predicted the rise of a new persona that would lead to a sociological shift with global impacts. According to the authors, the convergence of ... Read moreView the full article

Creating cool videos requires a structured approach that starts with comprehending your goals and audience. You’ll need to plan your content carefully, from storyboarding to scripting, ensuring clarity in your message. Quality recording equipment is crucial, as is effective editing that incorporates engaging visuals. Once your video is complete, promoting it effectively can make all the difference. To get started, let’s explore the fundamental steps in detail. Key Takeaways Define your video’s purpose and target audience to tailor content effectively for engagement and clarity. Create a structured script and storyboard to outline key messages and ensure coherence throughout the video. Use high-quality recording equipment and stable techniques, like a tripod, to produce professional-looking footage. Enhance your video with relevant text overlays, annotations, and engaging visuals during the editing process. Optimize titles, descriptions, and thumbnails with keywords to improve search visibility and attract viewers. Why Creating Videos Is Important Creating videos is important not just because they capture attention effectively, but likewise as they cater to the preferences of a majority of consumers. With 85% of individuals preferring video content, you can engage your audience in a compelling way. Since 65% of people are visual learners, comprehending how to create a good video becomes vital, simplifying complex topics. Instructional videos boost viewer retention considerably compared to text-based formats. In addition, 96% of people have watched an explainer video to learn about a product, indicating that well-crafted videos can improve brand loyalty. If you’re looking to enhance your SEO, knowing how to make a nice video can help drive organic traffic, as search engines prioritize multimedia content. Steps to Create Engaging Videos To create engaging videos, it’s essential to start with a clear purpose and a defined target audience, as this focus allows you to tailor your content to meet their interests and knowledge levels. Next, utilize a structured script and storyboard to outline key points, which will help maintain a coherent narrative flow. When recording, use high-quality equipment and stable techniques, like a tripod, to achieve professional-looking results. During the editing phase, add relevant text overlays, annotations, and engaging visuals to improve comprehension. Finally, optimize your video for SEO by incorporating relevant keywords in the title and description, along with eye-catching thumbnails. Planning Your Video Content Planning video content begins with a clear comprehension of your objectives and audience. First, define the goal of your video, whether it’s to educate, entertain, or promote a product, ensuring alignment with your desired outcomes. Next, identify your target audience to tailor the complexity and language of your content, enhancing viewer engagement and retention. Create a detailed outline or storyboard to visualize each scene and maintain narrative coherence, which streamlines the filming process. Furthermore, develop a clear and concise script that highlights key messages, keeping your audience engaged. Finally, research common questions or pain points related to your topic, allowing you to create more relevant and useful content that addresses viewers’ needs effectively. Recording and Editing Techniques Recording and editing techniques are crucial for producing high-quality videos that resonate with your audience. Start by using a high-quality external microphone; built-in smartphone microphones often fail to capture clear audio. Guarantee stability during recording by using a tripod, which minimizes shaky footage and improves professionalism. Furthermore, record in well-lit environments. To boost visual appeal, consider using the three-point lighting method for balanced illumination. For editing, choose user-friendly software that allows for automatic syncing of audio and video tracks, making the process smoother. During the editing phase, include text overlays and annotations to guide viewers, emphasizing key messages to improve comprehension. Promoting Your Finished Video Once you’ve completed your video, the next step is promoting it effectively to reach a broader audience. Start by sharing your video on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter; this will help engage a wider audience. Optimize your video title, description, and tags with relevant keywords to boost search visibility and attract organic traffic. Creating eye-catching thumbnails can also entice potential viewers, improving your click-through rates. Furthermore, utilize video analytics tools to track performance metrics, such as view counts and engagement rates, which will help refine your promotional strategies. Finally, consider collaborating with influencers or relevant content creators; their established audiences can provide valuable exposure for your video, enhancing its reach and impact. Frequently Asked Questions How to Make a Really Cool Video? To make a really cool video, start by defining its purpose and audience. Create a storyboard to outline your content, ensuring a logical flow. Use quality recording equipment for clear visuals and audio. Edit with software that allows for the integration of text and graphics. Finally, optimize your video for sharing by designing eye-catching thumbnails and incorporating relevant keywords in the title and description to improve visibility and engagement. How to Create a Video Step by Step? To create a video step-by-step, start by defining your video’s purpose and knowing your audience. Next, draft a detailed script and storyboard to organize your content. Use quality recording equipment for clear audio and visuals. Once filming is complete, edit your footage with user-friendly software to improve the presentation. Finally, publish your video on suitable platforms and promote it through social media to effectively reach your target audience. How to Make a Step by Step Instruction Video? To make a step-by-step instruction video, start by defining your audience and purpose. Create a clear script that includes an engaging introduction, detailed instructions, and a conclusion. Use high-quality recording equipment for better audio and visuals. During editing, trim excess content, add helpful annotations, and incorporate relevant visuals. Finally, publish your video on various platforms, optimizing it with keywords and appealing thumbnails to improve visibility and attract viewers effectively. What Is the Easiest Program to Create Videos? The easiest program to create videos is often Animoto, thanks to its user-friendly templates and drag-and-drop features. If you prefer automation, Guidde simplifies the process by recording and editing for you. For Apple users, iMovie offers intuitive tools that make editing seamless. Adobe Spark provides pre-designed templates for quick video creation, whereas Kapwing‘s online platform supports collaboration and simple editing. Each option caters well to beginners, ensuring you can produce quality videos efficiently. Conclusion In conclusion, creating cool videos involves a structured approach that starts with clear planning and scripting. By utilizing high-quality recording techniques and effective editing, you can improve the visual appeal of your content. Once your video is complete, promoting it on social media platforms helps reach your target audience. Finally, analyzing performance metrics allows you to refine your strategies for future videos, ensuring continuous improvement in your content creation process. Image via Google Gemini This article, "How to Create Cool Videos With a Step-By-Step Guide" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Creating cool videos requires a structured approach that starts with comprehending your goals and audience. You’ll need to plan your content carefully, from storyboarding to scripting, ensuring clarity in your message. Quality recording equipment is crucial, as is effective editing that incorporates engaging visuals. Once your video is complete, promoting it effectively can make all the difference. To get started, let’s explore the fundamental steps in detail. Key Takeaways Define your video’s purpose and target audience to tailor content effectively for engagement and clarity. Create a structured script and storyboard to outline key messages and ensure coherence throughout the video. Use high-quality recording equipment and stable techniques, like a tripod, to produce professional-looking footage. Enhance your video with relevant text overlays, annotations, and engaging visuals during the editing process. Optimize titles, descriptions, and thumbnails with keywords to improve search visibility and attract viewers. Why Creating Videos Is Important Creating videos is important not just because they capture attention effectively, but likewise as they cater to the preferences of a majority of consumers. With 85% of individuals preferring video content, you can engage your audience in a compelling way. Since 65% of people are visual learners, comprehending how to create a good video becomes vital, simplifying complex topics. Instructional videos boost viewer retention considerably compared to text-based formats. In addition, 96% of people have watched an explainer video to learn about a product, indicating that well-crafted videos can improve brand loyalty. If you’re looking to enhance your SEO, knowing how to make a nice video can help drive organic traffic, as search engines prioritize multimedia content. Steps to Create Engaging Videos To create engaging videos, it’s essential to start with a clear purpose and a defined target audience, as this focus allows you to tailor your content to meet their interests and knowledge levels. Next, utilize a structured script and storyboard to outline key points, which will help maintain a coherent narrative flow. When recording, use high-quality equipment and stable techniques, like a tripod, to achieve professional-looking results. During the editing phase, add relevant text overlays, annotations, and engaging visuals to improve comprehension. Finally, optimize your video for SEO by incorporating relevant keywords in the title and description, along with eye-catching thumbnails. Planning Your Video Content Planning video content begins with a clear comprehension of your objectives and audience. First, define the goal of your video, whether it’s to educate, entertain, or promote a product, ensuring alignment with your desired outcomes. Next, identify your target audience to tailor the complexity and language of your content, enhancing viewer engagement and retention. Create a detailed outline or storyboard to visualize each scene and maintain narrative coherence, which streamlines the filming process. Furthermore, develop a clear and concise script that highlights key messages, keeping your audience engaged. Finally, research common questions or pain points related to your topic, allowing you to create more relevant and useful content that addresses viewers’ needs effectively. Recording and Editing Techniques Recording and editing techniques are crucial for producing high-quality videos that resonate with your audience. Start by using a high-quality external microphone; built-in smartphone microphones often fail to capture clear audio. Guarantee stability during recording by using a tripod, which minimizes shaky footage and improves professionalism. Furthermore, record in well-lit environments. To boost visual appeal, consider using the three-point lighting method for balanced illumination. For editing, choose user-friendly software that allows for automatic syncing of audio and video tracks, making the process smoother. During the editing phase, include text overlays and annotations to guide viewers, emphasizing key messages to improve comprehension. Promoting Your Finished Video Once you’ve completed your video, the next step is promoting it effectively to reach a broader audience. Start by sharing your video on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter; this will help engage a wider audience. Optimize your video title, description, and tags with relevant keywords to boost search visibility and attract organic traffic. Creating eye-catching thumbnails can also entice potential viewers, improving your click-through rates. Furthermore, utilize video analytics tools to track performance metrics, such as view counts and engagement rates, which will help refine your promotional strategies. Finally, consider collaborating with influencers or relevant content creators; their established audiences can provide valuable exposure for your video, enhancing its reach and impact. Frequently Asked Questions How to Make a Really Cool Video? To make a really cool video, start by defining its purpose and audience. Create a storyboard to outline your content, ensuring a logical flow. Use quality recording equipment for clear visuals and audio. Edit with software that allows for the integration of text and graphics. Finally, optimize your video for sharing by designing eye-catching thumbnails and incorporating relevant keywords in the title and description to improve visibility and engagement. How to Create a Video Step by Step? To create a video step-by-step, start by defining your video’s purpose and knowing your audience. Next, draft a detailed script and storyboard to organize your content. Use quality recording equipment for clear audio and visuals. Once filming is complete, edit your footage with user-friendly software to improve the presentation. Finally, publish your video on suitable platforms and promote it through social media to effectively reach your target audience. How to Make a Step by Step Instruction Video? To make a step-by-step instruction video, start by defining your audience and purpose. Create a clear script that includes an engaging introduction, detailed instructions, and a conclusion. Use high-quality recording equipment for better audio and visuals. During editing, trim excess content, add helpful annotations, and incorporate relevant visuals. Finally, publish your video on various platforms, optimizing it with keywords and appealing thumbnails to improve visibility and attract viewers effectively. What Is the Easiest Program to Create Videos? The easiest program to create videos is often Animoto, thanks to its user-friendly templates and drag-and-drop features. If you prefer automation, Guidde simplifies the process by recording and editing for you. For Apple users, iMovie offers intuitive tools that make editing seamless. Adobe Spark provides pre-designed templates for quick video creation, whereas Kapwing‘s online platform supports collaboration and simple editing. Each option caters well to beginners, ensuring you can produce quality videos efficiently. Conclusion In conclusion, creating cool videos involves a structured approach that starts with clear planning and scripting. By utilizing high-quality recording techniques and effective editing, you can improve the visual appeal of your content. Once your video is complete, promoting it on social media platforms helps reach your target audience. Finally, analyzing performance metrics allows you to refine your strategies for future videos, ensuring continuous improvement in your content creation process. Image via Google Gemini This article, "How to Create Cool Videos With a Step-By-Step Guide" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

The PPC landscape in 2025 shifted faster than ever, with updates arriving at a pace unmatched in the industry’s 20-year history. At SMX Next, a panel of industry experts broke down what’s working, what’s failing, and what advertisers should prepare for in 2026 and beyond. The state of PPC The panelists agreed that 2025 marked a major shift, especially in how quickly Google responded to advertiser feedback. Ameet Khabra, founder of Hop Skip Media, called the year “interesting” and said he was genuinely surprised by Google’s willingness to listen to advertisers, especially on channel reporting for Performance Max. “It was really cool to see the people who were in that room sit there and be like, this is exactly what we asked for,” she noted, referring to discussions at Google Marketing Live. Chris Ridley, head of paid media at Evoluted, said 2025 wasn’t just about Google listening — it was the year AI and AI search truly took off. “Everyone is now talking about the different platforms available, like Perplexity, ChatGPT, Gemini, and they just seem to be dominating. AI Overviews have kind of taken over as well.” Reva Minkoff, founder and president of Digital4Startups, called 2025 “the year of the max,” pointing to Performance Max, AI Max, and the growing list of “max” campaign types. She said more features launched this year than at any other time in her 20-year search career. “It’s just every day there’s a new thing, which is really exciting. But there’s definitely a lot happening now.” What’s working in PPC Back to basics: Structure and signals All panelists stressed that success in 2025 came from returning to the fundamentals. Minkoff stressed the importance of proper campaign structure and quality signals: “It’s still important to have a good search campaign with keywords that you control and ads you create that goes to an audience that you think it should be going to.” Minkoff noted that Performance Max is working well, but only when the signals are right — “if you’re not putting good stuff in, you won’t get good stuff out.” She also pointed to strong results from Demand Gen (formerly Video Action campaigns), user-generated content, and influencer marketing: “I think people want to hear from real people.” Khabra stressed the importance of using scripts and automation oversight to catch issues before they turn into problems. “We’ll have scripts in place that are like anomaly detectors, just so we know that tracking is off. The broken URL script is a lifesaver, honestly — how many times have we had a developer push a change and we didn’t even know it happened?” The human touch in creative Ridley underscored the need for authentic creative in an AI-driven landscape: “Going back with our authentic user-generated content is getting really good results compared to this slick, polished stuff, especially with AI coming out now and people questioning whether it’s real or not. Having that human touch is really working for us.” Client communication Beyond tactics, Ridley emphasized better client communication: “Making sure that we understand what their business objectives are rather than just their ROAS and CPAs” has been essential for success. What not working in PPC Automatically created assets (ACAs) The panel unanimously agreed that Automatically Created Assets are problematic, primarily from a brand safety perspective. Khabra was particularly critical: “We can’t put in guidelines. We’re not allowed to approve things beforehand. So we really have to sit there and kind of just figure out what the system has created for us.” She referenced a quote from Amy Hebdon: “AI is a pattern matcher, not a creator. It’s going to generate the most probable thing, not something that’s actually new or exciting, or even correct.” Minkoff echoed these concerns: “A lot of clients need to be able to control their brand story and what they’re talking about, and the words that they use. I just don’t trust the automatically generated anything to reflect those guidelines.” Minkoff noted that automatically generated content often misses business nuances, such as which products deserve budget and which items shouldn’t be advertised at all. User interface and UX issues Ridley voiced frustration with ongoing platform user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) changes. “Having to click campaign, campaign, campaign makes no sense. I’m finding everything a lot easier to do in Editor now or using tools like Optmyzr where it kind of skips that UI.” He apologized to Google representatives on other panels but maintained that UI changes are “counterproductive in terms of making it quicker, easier, more natural for people to find what they need.” The problem is compounded by gaps between the UI and Editor, forcing advertisers to jump back and forth between the two. Learning periods and flexibility Minkoff pointed to extended learning periods as a major challenge, especially for smaller campaigns or time-sensitive moments like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. “How do you navigate a learning period on these platforms that feel no longer designed to let you do those pushes for one day that are honestly a real part of the business calendar?” Measurement challenges Khabra flagged measurement as a major pain point, especially for small business owners with limited budgets and data. “Trying to figure out how to make that work with automation that needs a lot of it has been really, really interesting.” Khabra warned that Google’s modeled conversions reflect a “best possible outcome” scenario that business owners may mistakenly treat as reality. Biggest surprises of 2025 Google Marketing Live announcements Ridley said Google Marketing Live was his biggest surprise, noting that Google “announced loads of new things for small and medium businesses, but also big things we’ve been asking for.” Key announcements included: A/B testing on product feeds in Merchant Center Reducing customer list size requirements for search from 1,000 to just 100 approved users He called the changes “game-changing” for small businesses. Performance Max channel reporting Minkoff was caught off guard by channel reporting for Performance Max: “I did not see that coming. I think it’s very exciting, although the next step is going to be being able to do something about it, which is kind of what I’m hoping for come soon.” Waze pins in Performance Max Khabra’s biggest surprise was the most recent: Waze pins as a placement in Performance Max. “That was definitely not on my bingo card. I would’ve never, ever in a million years thought the Waze pins would be a placement in PMax.” The speed of AI/LLM rollout Minkoff was struck by how quickly AI Overviews and LLMs became ubiquitous. “It felt like overnight in a way. It was kind of coming out and then it was out and it’s there a good chunk of the time. The cat is out of the bag and it is very out of the bag and not coming back.” The channel reporting debate The Performance Max channel reporting discussion exposed tension between what advertisers want and what the platform was built to do. The problem Minkoff explained that many campaigns now see 95% or more of their budget flowing into a single placement, usually display: “I just don’t think that was the point of PMax. The thing that I’ve always liked about PMax is that it can fill the whole funnel, that it can fill these different placements, that it wasn’t gonna be completely overrun by one.” The fence-sitting position Khabra acknowledged sitting on the fence: “It was meant to be a black box this entire time. Although I’m really happy about the channel reporting, there was a little piece of you that was like, were we supposed to — should this have actually happened?” She worried that everyone is now trying to manipulate the system in ways that defeat its purpose: “We’re supposed to put in clean data, we’re supposed to put in good signals, and it’s supposed to do its job.” Potential solutions Ridley raised an intriguing idea: What if Google offered media mix controls that let advertisers suggest percentage splits — like 20% search and 30% display — as guidance rather than hard limits? Minkoff suggested bid adjustments as a middle ground: “Bid up, bid down. I want more of this, I want less of this. I’m not even necessarily asking for me to figure it out because if I was right, I would just run them in the other campaign. But more a matter of like, do a little more of this, do a little less of this.” The consensus was clear: until better controls exist, advertisers should focus on sending the right signals so Google can make smarter decisions on the backend. Biggest struggles right now Controlling automated AI features Ridley called the automatic rollout of AI recommendations and features the biggest challenge: “Even sometimes after you turn it off and you go through the whole review, the campaign setup, you see it turned back on.” He pointed to Matt Beswick’s recent experience, where forgetting to disable search partners led to most of the budget being spent on wasted traffic. The challenge goes further with hidden toggles and hard-to-find settings, creating constant stress for advertisers trying to stay in control. Finding hidden settings Minkoff echoed this concern: “A lot of the boxes are hidden, so it’s hard to even find where it was turned on or turned off, or the option that you can adjust it.” Measurement for small businesses Khabra’s biggest concern remains measurement challenges, especially with privacy concerns making tracking increasingly difficult: “I think that’s just gonna continually become more of an issue.” What we’ll be talking about in 2026 The unknown unknown Minkoff offered a fascinating perspective: “My favorite thing about this question is that I honestly don’t know. And I feel like this is the first time I can say that—the first time where I felt like things were changing that quickly.” She emphasized that the biggest thing we’ll discuss in a year probably hasn’t even been released yet: “We have to make sure that we have budget, we have flexibility to factor that into our planning. I really think it’ll be something completely new, which is super exciting, but also kind of crazy.” The antitrust trial Khabra is watching the Google antitrust trial closely: “They lost the first part of it. They’re appealing it. I’m really curious just to see what happens on that front and what the implications are.” Ads within AI platforms Ridley expects AI to remain the focus a year from now, but with ads running inside AI platforms. “Ads within each of the AI platforms as well, and probably Google and other platforms integrating them as network partners as well.” The only certainty in PPC is uncertainty PPC changed at an unprecedented pace in 2025. Google finally listened to advertisers while pushing deeper into AI-driven automation. The advertisers who performed best embraced automation without giving up strategic control, prioritized quality signals over volume, and stayed agile enough to adapt to changes that seemed to come weekly, rather than quarterly. As 2026 approaches, platforms are evolving faster than ever, and the biggest changes likely haven’t even been announced yet. Advertisers who build flexibility into their strategies, stick to strong fundamentals, and feed high-quality signals into automated systems will be best positioned to succeed — whatever 2026 brings. Watch: 2026 PPC trends to get ahead of now + Live Q&A Here is the full panel discussion from SMX Next 2025: View the full article

For years, pharmaceutical companies have been racing to develop a market-ready GLP-1 weight-loss pill to join the ranks of popular injectables. Today, Novo Nordisk’s oral version of Wegovy is officially available for purchase. The Wegovy pill—which has been in clinical trials for over two years and was approved by the FDA on December 22—is the first and only oral GLP-1 for weight loss in adults available in the U.S. According to a press release from Novo Nordisk, the pill hit the market on January 5 at more than 70,000 U.S. pharmacies and several popular telehealth providers. Per a KFF health tracking poll released in November, one in eight Americans were already taking a GLP-1 for weight-loss. The new Wegovy pill likely represents an incoming era of even more widespread access to GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, as the medicine becomes more approachable and convenient than ever. “We know there are people who are interested in addressing their weight but have been waiting on the sidelines for a medicine that was right for them,” Ed Cinca, Novo Nordisk’s senior vice president of marketing & patient solutions, said in the press release. For many of them, he added, that wait is over. As of this writing, Novo Nordisk’s stock is up about 4% since the announcement. Here’s what to know about the company’s new pill. How much does the Wegovy pill cost? Like the injectable version of Wegovy, its pill form will require a prescription from a doctor. It’s available in multiple doses, including 1.5 mg (which is considered a starter dose, to help the body build up a tolerance), 4 mg, 9 mg, and 25 mg. Novo Nordisk says prices for self-pay patients will start at $149 per month for the 1.5 mg dose. The 4 mg dose will also be available for $149 per month through April 15, 2026, then $199 per month after. The highest dose of 25 mg will be available for $299 per month. Where is the Wegovy pill available? Starting today, the Wegovy pill is available at more than 70,000 pharmacies, including CVS and Costco, as well as telehealth providers like Ro, LifeMD and Weight Watchers, NovoCarePharmacy (Novo Nordisk’s direct-to-patient service), GoodRx, and more. For its part, GoodRx (which is a healthcare company that provides coupons and savings to be applied in pharmacies) announced in its own press release that it will help consumers access the Wegovy pill at a variety of pharmacies for its lowest price of $149 per month at the 1.5 and 4 mg dosages. The news comes after GoodRx first joined forces with Novo Nordisk in September to offer the lowest-ever out-of-pocket prices for injectable Ozempic and Wegovy. View the full article

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella urges moving beyond “slop vs sophistication,” while Google engineer Jaana Dogan frames AI criticism as burnout. The post Microsoft CEO, Google Engineer Deflect AI Quality Complaints appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Stocks rose in morning trading on Wall Street Monday to kick off the first full week of the new year, led by energy and technology companies. The S&P 500 rose 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 639 points, or 1.3%, as of 10:55 a.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.8%. Markets in Asia and Europe were mostly higher. Energy companies and the oil market were a key focus after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a weekend raid. The price of U.S. crude jumped 1.4% to $58.13 per barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 1.2% to $61.50 per barrel. President Donald The President has floated a plan for U.S. oil companies to help rebuild Venezuela’s oil industry. Chevron surged 5% and Exxon Mobil rose 2% for some of the strongest gains in the market. After years of neglect and international sanctions, Venezuela’s oil industry is in disrepair. It could take years and major investments before production can increase dramatically. But some analysts expect its current output of about 1.1 million barrels a day could double or triple fairly quickly. Big banks also made solid gains. JPMorgan Chase rose 3.4% and Bank of America jumped 2.6%. Wall Street is also watching the technology sector as the industry kicks off its annual CES trade show in Las Vegas. Nvidia rose 0.3% and Intel jumped 2%. Investors are particularly focused on advancements in artificial intelligence, or AI. The sector led the broader market to a series of records in 2025 on expectations that AI will continue to drive advancements and profits for a wide range of technology companies. The latest updates on AI from influential technology companies could help shed more light on whether the big investments are worth the potential financial risks. Companies like Nvidia have been heavily investing in the technology, while investors on Wall Street have made those companies among the most valuable in the world. Their outsized valuations now drive much of the movement for major indexes. Gold gained 2.8% and the price of silver soared 8%. Such assets are often considered safe havens in times of geopolitical turmoil. The metals have notched record prices over the last year amid lingering economic concerns brought on by conflicts and trade wars. Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.18% from 4.19% late Friday. The yield on the two-year Treasury, which moves more closely with expectations for what the Federal Reserve will do, fell to 3.46% from 3.48% late Friday. Wall Street will get several economic updates this week that will also be watched by the Fed as it determines interest rate policy. On Monday, the Institute for Supply Management released its manufacturing index for December showing the sector continued shrinking. More importantly, the business group will release its December report on the services sector on Wednesday. The services sector makes up the bulk of the U.S. economy and it grew, even if only slightly, throughout most of 2025. Reports on the job market later this week, which include updates for job openings and overall employment, will be a bigger focus for the Fed. The central bank has been weighing a slowing job market against risks for rising inflation as it decides whether to cut interest rates. It cut its benchmark rate three times late in 2025, but inflation has remained above its 2% target and that has made the Fed more cautious. Wall Street still expects the Fed to hold rates steady at its upcoming meeting later in January. —Damian J. Troise, AP business writer AP business writer Elaine Kurtenbach and AP video journalist Mayuko Ono contributed to this report. View the full article

Your phone is a one-stop shop for a lot of your personal information, from day-to-day activities logged in your calendar and email to financial data accessed via banking apps. If you let someone else use your device—whether you're showing a friend a collection of photos or allowing a stranger to make an emergency call—there's a lot you don't want them to be able to see. If you're an iPhone user, there are several features you can enable to prevent others from snooping around your device. Use Guided AccessIf you don't want someone using your device to see anything else on it, you can turn on Guided Access, which limits them to a single app (such as Phone or Photos). This essentially locks down your screen and prevents navigation outside of the specific features you make available. First, go to Settings > Accessibility > Guided Access and toggle the feature on. Tap Passcode Settings to set up a specific passcode or flip the Face ID toggle to use biometrics to end Guided Access sessions. To start a Guided Access session before handing over your phone, open the app and triple click the side button. You can circle specific areas of the screen you don't want to respond to touch (such as swipes through Photos). Tap Session Settings at the bottom to set a time limit, disable the keyboard, and manage button press options. Then tap Start. To end a Guided Access session, triple-click the side button and enter your passcode or double-click and authenticate with Face ID. You can also lock or hide specific appsSome mobile apps, like financial apps and password managers, already require you to log in or authenticate with your username and password combo or device biometrics every time you open them. You can also lock down other individual apps on iPhone so Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode is required for access. To lock an app from your home screen, touch and hold the icon until the quick actions menu appears, then tap Require Face ID. Alternatively, you can hide apps so others cannot see them on your device (let alone open them) unless you authenticate using Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode. To hide an app, tap and hold the icon on the home screen and tap Require Face ID in the quick actions menu. Tap Hide and Require Face ID > Hide App. If you need to open a hidden app, swipe left on your home screen to reach your App Library, locate the Hidden folder at the bottom, and tap and authenticate to unlock the folder followed by the app. (Note that some native iOS apps, including Calculator, Camera, Clock, Contacts, Find My, Maps, Shortcuts, and Settings, cannot be locked, and system apps that come preinstalled cannot be hidden.) View the full article

Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari said on CNBC that both sides of the central bank's dual mandate show signs of imbalance, with the labor market appearing more vulnerable. View the full article

Managing construction operations across projects, teams and finances quickly becomes complex without the right systems in place. Construction ERP software brings structure to that complexity by centralizing data, processes and controls. For growing contractors and developers, choosing the right platform can improve visibility, reduce risk and support smarter decisions as operations scale. What Is Construction ERP Software? At its core, construction enterprise resource planning software, most commonly referred to as construction ERP software, is an integrated system that combines financial management, project controls, procurement, resource planning and reporting into a single platform. Rather than relying on disconnected tools, ERP software creates a unified source of truth that allows construction organizations to manage costs, schedules, contracts and operations more consistently. ERP software is best used when construction businesses reach a level of complexity that spreadsheets and standalone tools can no longer support. Multi-project environments, growing teams and tighter margins benefit most, as ERP systems improve coordination, standardize workflows and provide real-time insight across departments and job sites. For these reasons, ERP software is mostly used by larger firms in the construction industry. ProjectManager’s construction project management software is recognized as an official Acumatica Application, meaning it meets rigorous standards for integration and technology. ProjectManager provides users with a bi-directional project management application that empowers them to synchronize project data, automate financial tasks and optimize workflow processes within their Acumatica ERP system. Learn more about our Acumatica integration. /wp-content/uploads/2024/06/acumatica-pm.pngLearn more Who Needs Construction ERP Software? As construction operations become more interconnected, certain teams feel the strain of disconnected systems sooner than others when managing construction projects. Construction enterprise resource planning software is most valuable where financial control, operational coordination and cross-project visibility directly affect profitability and risk. General contractors coordinating multiple active job sites who need synchronized cost tracking, scheduling data and procurement workflows to maintain control across projects without relying on fragmented tools. Mid-sized construction firms transitioning from spreadsheets to integrated systems as transaction volume increases and manual processes begin to introduce reporting delays and financial inaccuracies. Construction finance and accounting teams responsible for job costing, forecasting and compliance who require a single system to connect budgets, commitments, invoices and revenue recognition. Operations and project executives overseeing portfolios who need consolidated dashboards and standardized reporting to compare performance, identify risks and make timely strategic decisions. Enterprises with complex subcontractor, equipment and materials management needs that benefit from centralized purchasing, contract administration and resource planning within one platform. Related: 20 Best Construction Scheduling Software for 2026 (Free & Paid) Key Features of Construction ERP Software Modern construction projects demand tight integration between finance, operations and field execution, making feature selection critical when evaluating ERP platforms. Understanding core construction ERP software capabilities helps buyers compare systems objectively, avoid unnecessary complexity and ensure the software supports cost control, compliance, scalability and real-time decision-making across projects effectively consistently. Project Cost Accounting: Construction ERP software provides centralized job cost ledgers, real-time cost rollups and automated cost allocation, enabling accurate construction accounting, profitability tracking, variance analysis and financial reporting across projects and portfolios. Progress Billing: ERP systems automate progress billing workflows by linking contracts, schedules and completed work, generating compliant invoices, managing retainage and synchronizing billing data with accounting and revenue recognition. Time Tracking: Built-in time tracking tools capture labor data from the field and sync it directly with payroll, real-time analytics, job costing and productivity reports, eliminating manual entry and improving labor cost accuracy. Cost Management and Budgeting: Construction ERP platforms continuously forecast costs by combining original budgets, committed costs and actuals, giving teams early warnings of overruns and tools to adjust projections in real time. Contract Management: ERP software centralizes contracts and change orders, enforcing approval workflows, tracking financial impact automatically and ensuring contract values stay aligned with budgets and billing. Inventory Management: Enterprise resource planning systems track materials across warehouses and job sites, update stock levels in real time and connect inventory data to purchasing and project schedules to reduce waste and delays. Payroll Management: Construction ERP software automates payroll processing by applying wage rates, union rules and tax requirements while pushing labor costs directly into job cost and financial reports. Equipment Management: ERP platforms monitor equipment utilization, maintenance and costs, linking asset data to projects to support scheduling decisions, cost recovery and lifecycle management. Supply Chain Management: Construction ERP software integrates procurement, supplier management and delivery tracking, providing visibility into lead times, commitments and material flow to keep projects supplied and schedules protected. Document Management: Construction ERP software centralizes drawings, contracts, RFIs and approvals in a controlled repository, enabling version control, permission management and real-time access across office and field teams. Resource Allocation: Enterprise resource planning systems allocate labor, equipment and materials across projects using availability and workload data, helping managers balance capacity, avoid overallocation and align resources with construction schedules. /wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025-construction-ebook-banner-ad.jpg Top 5 Construction ERP Software for 2026 The construction ERP software market continues to evolve as contractors demand tighter financial control, deeper project visibility and systems that scale with growth. The following platforms stand out in 2026 for their construction-specific capabilities, enterprise readiness and ability to support complex, multi-project operations across finance, field execution and management. 1. Acumatica Acumatica is widely recognized for its flexible, cloud-native ERP platform tailored to construction and project-based businesses. It offers strong job cost accounting, project tracking and real-time financial visibility without user-based licensing limits. Acumatica’s construction edition integrates project management, compliance tracking and billing workflows into a unified system. Its open architecture allows deep customization and integration with third-party tools, making it attractive to growing contractors that need scalability without sacrificing control. The platform is particularly well-suited for companies transitioning from disconnected systems to a centralized ERP while retaining flexibility in how processes are configured. 2. Oracle NetSuite ERP Oracle NetSuite ERP is an enterprise-grade cloud platform designed for organizations that require advanced financial management and global scalability. While not construction-exclusive, it is commonly adopted by large contractors and developers with complex accounting, multi-entity operations and rigorous reporting needs. NetSuite excels in financial consolidation, cost management and revenue recognition and compliance, making it a strong fit for firms managing portfolios across regions. Construction companies often pair NetSuite with industry-specific extensions to support job costing and project controls while leveraging its robust financial backbone and analytics capabilities. 3. Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate is a long-established ERP solution built specifically for construction and property-focused businesses. Known for its depth in job cost accounting, project management and payroll, it supports contractors managing detailed cost structures and regulatory requirements. The platform offers strong reporting, change management and compliance features that appeal to experienced finance teams. While traditionally deployed on-premises, cloud-hosted options have expanded its accessibility. Sage 300 remains a preferred choice for firms prioritizing proven construction functionality and industry-aligned financial workflows. 4. SAP S/4HANA Built for large, complex organizations, SAP S/4HANA is an enterprise ERP platform used by major construction firms operating at scale. Rather than focusing solely on project execution, it excels at integrating finance, procurement, supply chain and asset management across global operations. Construction companies use SAP S/4HANA to manage large capital programs, multi-entity accounting and long-term asset lifecycles with strict governance requirements. Its real-time data model supports advanced analytics and forecasting, while extensive configuration options allow alignment with highly structured internal processes. SAP S/4HANA is best suited for enterprises with mature controls, dedicated IT resources and complex reporting obligations. 5. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Positioned as a flexible ERP for small to mid-sized organizations, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central offers construction firms a balance between financial control and operational simplicity. It integrates accounting, project management and procurement within a familiar Microsoft ecosystem, making adoption easier for teams already using Microsoft tools. While not construction-specific out of the box, it supports job costing, budgeting and project tracking through configuration and extensions. Business Central is often chosen by growing contractors that need stronger financial oversight and scalability without the complexity or cost of enterprise-heavy ERP platforms. Free Construction Project Management Templates We’ve created dozens of construction project management templates for Excel, Word and Google Sheets you can download for free. Construction Management Plan Template Before work begins, teams need a clear roadmap for execution. This construction management plan template helps define responsibilities, coordination methods and control procedures to keep construction activities aligned and risks managed throughout delivery. Construction Budget Template Cost visibility is critical once construction is underway. This construction budget template supports detailed cost tracking for labor, materials and equipment while allowing teams to compare forecasts against actual spending in real time. Construction Scope of Work Template Clarity around what is included—and excluded—prevents disputes later. This construction scope of work template documents tasks, deliverables and responsibilities to align expectations, limit scope creep and support accurate pricing and contracts. ProjectManager Integrates with Acumatica Construction ERP Software Acumatica doesn’t have a project management module, but it partners with resellers like ProjectManager to offer best-in-class project management tools in the construction industry. Acumatica’s “project management as a service” helps partners achieve ERP implementation. As the sole project management software integration available on the Acumatica marketplace, ProjectManager helps gain portfolio insight, reduce data gaps and better understand a project’s financial impacts. Build Construction Schedules on Powerful Gantt Charts Construction industry teams rely on ProjectManager’s in-depth Gantt charts that can track all four types of dependencies, set milestones, filter for the critical path and more. These interactive Gantt charts allow you to collaborate with your field team and view progress with taskbar shading. /wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Gantt-Light-Mode-Timeline-Focus.jpg Leverage AI-Informed Reports Construction projects have a lot of stakeholders who need to be in the loop. Once the schedule is made, use other tools like AI Project Insights and our reporting feature to keep stakeholders informed on progress. AI Project Insights leverages OpenAI’s latest technology to provide informed guidance in a matter of seconds. Then, generate a custom report to print or email to stakeholders. /wp-content/uploads/2025/10/AI-Project-Insights-Dashboard-Edited-Lightmode.png Related Construction ERP Content 10 Types of Construction Projects with Examples How to Manage a Construction Company: 9 Key Areas to Manage 18 Construction Methods and Techniques The Construction Process Explained Step-by-Step Construction Cost Tracking: Complete Guide ProjectManager is online project and portfolio management software that connects teams whether they’re in the office, out in the field or anywhere in between. They can share files, comment at the task level and stay updated with email and in-app notifications. Get started with ProjectManager integration with Acumatica today. The post 5 Best Construction ERP Software: Key Features to Look for appeared first on ProjectManager. View the full article

When considering the best customer satisfaction format for your business, it’s essential to align your survey design with your specific goals and audience. Different question types, such as Likert scales and open-ended queries, can provide a well-rounded view of customer sentiment. By tailoring your approach to fit customer demographics and regularly updating your survey structure, you can improve engagement and accuracy. What strategies can you implement to optimize your survey effectiveness? Key Takeaways Tailor survey formats to customer demographics, ensuring questions resonate with different segments for higher engagement and relevant feedback. Combine question types, such as Likert scales and open-ended questions, to capture both quantitative and qualitative insights effectively. Maintain a clear objective for your survey to ensure that questions are relevant and focused on gathering actionable data. Limit the survey length to 10-20 questions to prevent respondent fatigue and improve the quality of responses. Regularly review and update survey formats based on changing customer expectations and business needs to remain relevant. Understanding Customer Satisfaction Surveys What makes customer satisfaction surveys fundamental for businesses? These structured questionnaires gather critical feedback on your products or services, helping you identify areas for improvement and measure customer happiness. By using a customer satisfaction survey email template, you can efficiently reach your audience and collect valuable insights. Common metrics like the Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) and Net Promoter Score (NPS) provide quantifiable data on how your customers feel about your offerings. Tailoring your survey invitation email template to specific touchpoints guarantees relevance, while maintaining a concise format of 10 to 20 questions prevents respondent fatigue. It’s imperative to prioritize clarity in your questions, avoiding jargon to improve data relevance. A mix of question formats, including multiple-choice and open-ended questions, allows for a thorough grasp of customer sentiments. Eventually, effective surveys drive actionable insights that can greatly improve your business’s performance. Importance of Customer Satisfaction Formats Comprehending the importance of customer satisfaction formats is essential for your business. By choosing effective question types and tailoring surveys to your audience, you can gather relevant feedback that leads to actionable insights. Analyzing this data helps you identify trends and areas for improvement, in the end enhancing customer experience and loyalty. Choosing Effective Question Types How can you confirm that your customer satisfaction surveys provide valuable insights? Start by choosing effective question types. Using Likert scales allows respondents to express varying degrees of sentiment, which helps you capture nuanced feedback. Open-ended questions can yield rich qualitative data, giving your customers a chance to share detailed insights and suggestions. Meanwhile, multiple-choice questions simplify analysis, providing standardized feedback quickly. Combining these formats improves the survey’s ability to gather thorough insights into customer perceptions. When drafting your survey request email example, make sure the questions align with your business’s unique interactions. This customized approach can greatly enhance response rates and the relevance of the data you collect, making your surveys more effective overall. Tailoring Surveys for Audience Why should you customize your customer satisfaction surveys to your audience? Personalizing surveys guarantees your questions resonate, leading to more accurate feedback. Different customer segments often prefer varied formats, like multiple-choice for quick insights or open-ended questions for detailed responses. By utilizing customer demographics, you can align survey formats with preferences, enhancing engagement and completion rates. Furthermore, consider the audience’s familiarity with your product; experienced users may handle in-depth questions better, whereas new users might prefer concise formats. Finally, employing a mix of qualitative and quantitative questions allows you to capture a thorough view of customer satisfaction customized for your audience segments. This approach maximizes the relevance and effectiveness of your surveys. Analyzing Data for Insights Analyzing customer satisfaction data is crucial for making informed business decisions. Choosing the right format, like CSAT, NPS, or CES, helps you gather insights aligned with your specific goals. This targeted approach allows for more effective decision-making. As you analyze data, you’ll uncover trends and patterns in customer behavior, revealing both strengths and areas needing improvement. By utilizing varied question formats, such as Likert scales and open-ended questions, you can gain richer qualitative and quantitative insights that inform strategic adjustments. Regularly reviewing and adjusting these formats guarantees your business remains responsive to evolving customer needs, promoting a culture of continuous improvement. In the end, effective data analysis leads to identifying customer pain points, resulting in improved experiences and solutions. Types of Customer Satisfaction Surveys Comprehending the different types of customer satisfaction surveys is essential for gathering meaningful feedback and improving your business. There are several key types to evaluate. The Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) typically asks customers to rate their satisfaction with a specific interaction or product on a scale from 1 to 5, offering immediate insights. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) gauges customer loyalty by asking how likely customers are to recommend your business on a scale of 0 to 10, helping you identify promoters, passives, and detractors. Finally, the Customer Effort Score (CES) measures the ease of interactions by asking respondents to rate how simple it was to resolve an issue or complete a task. You can tailor different survey types to specific customer segments or touchpoints, such as post-purchase or service interactions, ensuring you collect relevant feedback for informed decision-making in your business. Key Elements of Effective Surveys When creating effective surveys, it’s vital to start with a clear objective, as this guarantees each question serves a purpose in gathering valuable insights. Engaging question formats, such as a mix of multiple-choice and open-ended questions, can boost both the quality of your data and the experience for respondents. Clear Objective Definition Defining clear objectives for your survey is crucial, as it directly influences the quality and relevance of the data you collect. Start by clearly outlining the purpose of your survey, ensuring each question aligns with your overall goal. Involve stakeholders to identify key insights, allowing you to create focused and actionable questions. Streamline your inquiries to target only vital insights, avoiding unnecessary questions that detract from your core objectives. Establish clarity about what information you’re gathering and how it will be used, promoting transparency to boost respondent engagement. Finally, regularly review and refine your survey objectives to adapt to changing business needs and customer expectations, ensuring that your data collection remains effective and relevant over time. Engaging Question Formats How can you effectively engage customers in your survey? By using a mix of question formats, you can gain thorough insights into their sentiments. Multiple-choice questions streamline data collection, offering predefined responses that make it easier to analyze trends. Likert-scale questions quantify attitudes, helping you measure the intensity of customer feelings about your services or products. Although you should use open-ended questions sparingly, they can yield rich qualitative feedback, revealing specific experiences and suggestions for improvement. Furthermore, maintaining a clear and logical question flow boosts engagement and increases the likelihood of survey completion. This approach leads to more reliable data collection, ensuring you capture valuable insights to improve customer satisfaction. Designing a Customer Satisfaction Survey Designing an effective customer satisfaction survey requires careful consideration of various elements to guarantee it captures meaningful feedback. Aim for 10 to 20 questions, balancing thoroughness with engagement, so respondents can complete it in 10 to 15 minutes. Organize questions logically, starting from general inquiries and moving to specific ones, using a funnel approach to reduce bias and improve comprehension. Incorporate diverse question formats like multiple-choice, Likert scales, and open-ended questions to gather both quantitative and qualitative insights. Providing clear instructions at the beginning is vital, as it guides respondents and improves the quality of their feedback. Finally, regularly test and iterate your survey design through pilot runs. This allows you to identify potential issues and incorporate feedback for continuous improvement before full deployment. Common Mistakes in Survey Creation During creating a customer satisfaction survey might seem straightforward, many businesses fall into common traps that undermine their effectiveness. Here are some mistakes to avoid: Mistake Description Forgetting the survey goal Irrelevant questions confuse respondents. Leading questions Imply bias and skew results; neutral phrasing is key. Complicated wording Overwhelms respondents, leading to survey abandonment. Unnecessary questions Distract from main objectives and reduce data quality. Limiting answer options Yes/no answers restrict depth; use a spectrum for insights. Utilizing Customer Feedback for Improvement Collecting customer feedback through surveys isn’t just about gathering data; it’s about translating that information into actionable improvements. By identifying specific areas for improvement, you can refine your product or service quality based on direct insights from your customers. Utilizing metrics like Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) and Net Promoter Score (NPS) helps you quantify customer opinions, enabling you to gauge their loyalty effectively. Don’t overlook qualitative feedback from open-ended questions, as it often reveals nuanced sentiments that numbers alone can’t capture, guiding targeted improvements. Implementing a structured feedback loop where you act on customer suggestions cultivates stronger relationships, potentially increasing your retention rates by up to 5%. Finally, regularly updating your customer satisfaction surveys to reflect changing expectations guarantees that the feedback you collect remains relevant and actionable, driving ongoing improvements in your business. Analyzing Survey Results Analyzing survey results is crucial for comprehending customer sentiments and making informed business decisions. Systematic analysis helps you identify trends and patterns in responses, guiding your strategic decisions and improving customer satisfaction. By utilizing statistical methods, you can strengthen the validity of your insights, ensuring they are reliable and actionable. Regularly reviewing and adjusting your strategies based on this feedback keeps you aligned with customer expectations. Sharing findings with stakeholders promotes transparency and encourages collaboration, ultimately addressing areas needing improvement. Effective data visualization techniques can simplify interpreting survey results, making it easier to communicate insights and drive organizational change. Trend Response Rate Action Needed Positive 75% Maintain current strategy Neutral 20% Investigate concerns Negative 5% Immediate action required Specific Feedback 15% Address key issues Overall Satisfaction 85% Continue improvements Free Resources for Customer Satisfaction Surveys How can you improve your customer satisfaction efforts without breaking the bank? One effective way is to leverage free online customer satisfaction survey templates. These customizable formats cater to various business needs and objectives, streamlining the survey creation process. Resources like SurveyMonkey offer a collection of certified templates that enrich your survey design, ensuring efficient data collection. Frequently Asked Questions What Are the 3 C’s of Customer Satisfaction? The 3 C’s of customer satisfaction are Customer Expectations, Customer Perception, and Customer Experience. Customer Expectations involve what you think you’ll receive based on past experiences or marketing. Customer Perception is how you interpret the quality of service or product compared to those expectations. Finally, Customer Experience encompasses all your interactions with a business, from initial contact to after-sales support, greatly influencing your overall satisfaction and future loyalty. What Is the Industry Standard for Customer Satisfaction? The industry standard for customer satisfaction typically includes key metrics like Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT), Net Promoter Score (NPS), and Customer Effort Score (CES). CSAT measures satisfaction on a scale, aiming for scores above 80%. NPS gauges loyalty, targeting scores over 50. CES assesses the ease of interactions, with lower effort correlating to higher satisfaction. Different sectors have varying benchmarks, with retail averaging around 75% and hospitality or healthcare aiming for over 85%. What Are the Four Types of Customer Satisfaction? There are four main types of customer satisfaction surveys you should know. First, the Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) measures satisfaction with specific interactions. Second, the Net Promoter Score (NPS) gauges customer loyalty by asking how likely they’re to recommend your business. Third, the Customer Effort Score (CES) evaluates how easily customers complete tasks. Finally, qualitative feedback surveys gather open-ended responses, providing detailed insights and suggestions about customer experiences and perceptions. How to Create a Customer Satisfaction Form? To create a customer satisfaction form, start by defining your goals, ensuring your questions align with them for actionable insights. Use a mix of multiple-choice, Likert scales, and open-ended questions to gather both quantitative and qualitative feedback. Keep it concise, ideally 10 to 20 questions, and provide clear instructions for each to improve comprehension. Finally, test the form with a sample audience to identify issues before full deployment, ensuring a smooth experience. Conclusion In summary, selecting the best customer satisfaction format for your business involves comprehending your goals and audience. By combining various question types and tailoring your surveys to fit customer demographics, you can improve engagement and obtain valuable insights. Regularly reviewing your survey structure guarantees it remains effective in capturing accurate feedback. In the end, leveraging this information will allow you to improve your services and meet customer expectations more effectively, nurturing long-term loyalty and satisfaction. Image via Google Gemini and ArtSmart This article, "What Is the Best Customer Satisfaction Format for Your Business?" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

When considering the best customer satisfaction format for your business, it’s essential to align your survey design with your specific goals and audience. Different question types, such as Likert scales and open-ended queries, can provide a well-rounded view of customer sentiment. By tailoring your approach to fit customer demographics and regularly updating your survey structure, you can improve engagement and accuracy. What strategies can you implement to optimize your survey effectiveness? Key Takeaways Tailor survey formats to customer demographics, ensuring questions resonate with different segments for higher engagement and relevant feedback. Combine question types, such as Likert scales and open-ended questions, to capture both quantitative and qualitative insights effectively. Maintain a clear objective for your survey to ensure that questions are relevant and focused on gathering actionable data. Limit the survey length to 10-20 questions to prevent respondent fatigue and improve the quality of responses. Regularly review and update survey formats based on changing customer expectations and business needs to remain relevant. Understanding Customer Satisfaction Surveys What makes customer satisfaction surveys fundamental for businesses? These structured questionnaires gather critical feedback on your products or services, helping you identify areas for improvement and measure customer happiness. By using a customer satisfaction survey email template, you can efficiently reach your audience and collect valuable insights. Common metrics like the Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) and Net Promoter Score (NPS) provide quantifiable data on how your customers feel about your offerings. Tailoring your survey invitation email template to specific touchpoints guarantees relevance, while maintaining a concise format of 10 to 20 questions prevents respondent fatigue. It’s imperative to prioritize clarity in your questions, avoiding jargon to improve data relevance. A mix of question formats, including multiple-choice and open-ended questions, allows for a thorough grasp of customer sentiments. Eventually, effective surveys drive actionable insights that can greatly improve your business’s performance. Importance of Customer Satisfaction Formats Comprehending the importance of customer satisfaction formats is essential for your business. By choosing effective question types and tailoring surveys to your audience, you can gather relevant feedback that leads to actionable insights. Analyzing this data helps you identify trends and areas for improvement, in the end enhancing customer experience and loyalty. Choosing Effective Question Types How can you confirm that your customer satisfaction surveys provide valuable insights? Start by choosing effective question types. Using Likert scales allows respondents to express varying degrees of sentiment, which helps you capture nuanced feedback. Open-ended questions can yield rich qualitative data, giving your customers a chance to share detailed insights and suggestions. Meanwhile, multiple-choice questions simplify analysis, providing standardized feedback quickly. Combining these formats improves the survey’s ability to gather thorough insights into customer perceptions. When drafting your survey request email example, make sure the questions align with your business’s unique interactions. This customized approach can greatly enhance response rates and the relevance of the data you collect, making your surveys more effective overall. Tailoring Surveys for Audience Why should you customize your customer satisfaction surveys to your audience? Personalizing surveys guarantees your questions resonate, leading to more accurate feedback. Different customer segments often prefer varied formats, like multiple-choice for quick insights or open-ended questions for detailed responses. By utilizing customer demographics, you can align survey formats with preferences, enhancing engagement and completion rates. Furthermore, consider the audience’s familiarity with your product; experienced users may handle in-depth questions better, whereas new users might prefer concise formats. Finally, employing a mix of qualitative and quantitative questions allows you to capture a thorough view of customer satisfaction customized for your audience segments. This approach maximizes the relevance and effectiveness of your surveys. Analyzing Data for Insights Analyzing customer satisfaction data is crucial for making informed business decisions. Choosing the right format, like CSAT, NPS, or CES, helps you gather insights aligned with your specific goals. This targeted approach allows for more effective decision-making. As you analyze data, you’ll uncover trends and patterns in customer behavior, revealing both strengths and areas needing improvement. By utilizing varied question formats, such as Likert scales and open-ended questions, you can gain richer qualitative and quantitative insights that inform strategic adjustments. Regularly reviewing and adjusting these formats guarantees your business remains responsive to evolving customer needs, promoting a culture of continuous improvement. In the end, effective data analysis leads to identifying customer pain points, resulting in improved experiences and solutions. Types of Customer Satisfaction Surveys Comprehending the different types of customer satisfaction surveys is essential for gathering meaningful feedback and improving your business. There are several key types to evaluate. The Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) typically asks customers to rate their satisfaction with a specific interaction or product on a scale from 1 to 5, offering immediate insights. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) gauges customer loyalty by asking how likely customers are to recommend your business on a scale of 0 to 10, helping you identify promoters, passives, and detractors. Finally, the Customer Effort Score (CES) measures the ease of interactions by asking respondents to rate how simple it was to resolve an issue or complete a task. You can tailor different survey types to specific customer segments or touchpoints, such as post-purchase or service interactions, ensuring you collect relevant feedback for informed decision-making in your business. Key Elements of Effective Surveys When creating effective surveys, it’s vital to start with a clear objective, as this guarantees each question serves a purpose in gathering valuable insights. Engaging question formats, such as a mix of multiple-choice and open-ended questions, can boost both the quality of your data and the experience for respondents. Clear Objective Definition Defining clear objectives for your survey is crucial, as it directly influences the quality and relevance of the data you collect. Start by clearly outlining the purpose of your survey, ensuring each question aligns with your overall goal. Involve stakeholders to identify key insights, allowing you to create focused and actionable questions. Streamline your inquiries to target only vital insights, avoiding unnecessary questions that detract from your core objectives. Establish clarity about what information you’re gathering and how it will be used, promoting transparency to boost respondent engagement. Finally, regularly review and refine your survey objectives to adapt to changing business needs and customer expectations, ensuring that your data collection remains effective and relevant over time. Engaging Question Formats How can you effectively engage customers in your survey? By using a mix of question formats, you can gain thorough insights into their sentiments. Multiple-choice questions streamline data collection, offering predefined responses that make it easier to analyze trends. Likert-scale questions quantify attitudes, helping you measure the intensity of customer feelings about your services or products. Although you should use open-ended questions sparingly, they can yield rich qualitative feedback, revealing specific experiences and suggestions for improvement. Furthermore, maintaining a clear and logical question flow boosts engagement and increases the likelihood of survey completion. This approach leads to more reliable data collection, ensuring you capture valuable insights to improve customer satisfaction. Designing a Customer Satisfaction Survey Designing an effective customer satisfaction survey requires careful consideration of various elements to guarantee it captures meaningful feedback. Aim for 10 to 20 questions, balancing thoroughness with engagement, so respondents can complete it in 10 to 15 minutes. Organize questions logically, starting from general inquiries and moving to specific ones, using a funnel approach to reduce bias and improve comprehension. Incorporate diverse question formats like multiple-choice, Likert scales, and open-ended questions to gather both quantitative and qualitative insights. Providing clear instructions at the beginning is vital, as it guides respondents and improves the quality of their feedback. Finally, regularly test and iterate your survey design through pilot runs. This allows you to identify potential issues and incorporate feedback for continuous improvement before full deployment. Common Mistakes in Survey Creation During creating a customer satisfaction survey might seem straightforward, many businesses fall into common traps that undermine their effectiveness. Here are some mistakes to avoid: Mistake Description Forgetting the survey goal Irrelevant questions confuse respondents. Leading questions Imply bias and skew results; neutral phrasing is key. Complicated wording Overwhelms respondents, leading to survey abandonment. Unnecessary questions Distract from main objectives and reduce data quality. Limiting answer options Yes/no answers restrict depth; use a spectrum for insights. Utilizing Customer Feedback for Improvement Collecting customer feedback through surveys isn’t just about gathering data; it’s about translating that information into actionable improvements. By identifying specific areas for improvement, you can refine your product or service quality based on direct insights from your customers. Utilizing metrics like Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) and Net Promoter Score (NPS) helps you quantify customer opinions, enabling you to gauge their loyalty effectively. Don’t overlook qualitative feedback from open-ended questions, as it often reveals nuanced sentiments that numbers alone can’t capture, guiding targeted improvements. Implementing a structured feedback loop where you act on customer suggestions cultivates stronger relationships, potentially increasing your retention rates by up to 5%. Finally, regularly updating your customer satisfaction surveys to reflect changing expectations guarantees that the feedback you collect remains relevant and actionable, driving ongoing improvements in your business. Analyzing Survey Results Analyzing survey results is crucial for comprehending customer sentiments and making informed business decisions. Systematic analysis helps you identify trends and patterns in responses, guiding your strategic decisions and improving customer satisfaction. By utilizing statistical methods, you can strengthen the validity of your insights, ensuring they are reliable and actionable. Regularly reviewing and adjusting your strategies based on this feedback keeps you aligned with customer expectations. Sharing findings with stakeholders promotes transparency and encourages collaboration, ultimately addressing areas needing improvement. Effective data visualization techniques can simplify interpreting survey results, making it easier to communicate insights and drive organizational change. Trend Response Rate Action Needed Positive 75% Maintain current strategy Neutral 20% Investigate concerns Negative 5% Immediate action required Specific Feedback 15% Address key issues Overall Satisfaction 85% Continue improvements Free Resources for Customer Satisfaction Surveys How can you improve your customer satisfaction efforts without breaking the bank? One effective way is to leverage free online customer satisfaction survey templates. These customizable formats cater to various business needs and objectives, streamlining the survey creation process. Resources like SurveyMonkey offer a collection of certified templates that enrich your survey design, ensuring efficient data collection. Frequently Asked Questions What Are the 3 C’s of Customer Satisfaction? The 3 C’s of customer satisfaction are Customer Expectations, Customer Perception, and Customer Experience. Customer Expectations involve what you think you’ll receive based on past experiences or marketing. Customer Perception is how you interpret the quality of service or product compared to those expectations. Finally, Customer Experience encompasses all your interactions with a business, from initial contact to after-sales support, greatly influencing your overall satisfaction and future loyalty. What Is the Industry Standard for Customer Satisfaction? The industry standard for customer satisfaction typically includes key metrics like Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT), Net Promoter Score (NPS), and Customer Effort Score (CES). CSAT measures satisfaction on a scale, aiming for scores above 80%. NPS gauges loyalty, targeting scores over 50. CES assesses the ease of interactions, with lower effort correlating to higher satisfaction. Different sectors have varying benchmarks, with retail averaging around 75% and hospitality or healthcare aiming for over 85%. What Are the Four Types of Customer Satisfaction? There are four main types of customer satisfaction surveys you should know. First, the Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) measures satisfaction with specific interactions. Second, the Net Promoter Score (NPS) gauges customer loyalty by asking how likely they’re to recommend your business. Third, the Customer Effort Score (CES) evaluates how easily customers complete tasks. Finally, qualitative feedback surveys gather open-ended responses, providing detailed insights and suggestions about customer experiences and perceptions. How to Create a Customer Satisfaction Form? To create a customer satisfaction form, start by defining your goals, ensuring your questions align with them for actionable insights. Use a mix of multiple-choice, Likert scales, and open-ended questions to gather both quantitative and qualitative feedback. Keep it concise, ideally 10 to 20 questions, and provide clear instructions for each to improve comprehension. Finally, test the form with a sample audience to identify issues before full deployment, ensuring a smooth experience. Conclusion In summary, selecting the best customer satisfaction format for your business involves comprehending your goals and audience. By combining various question types and tailoring your surveys to fit customer demographics, you can improve engagement and obtain valuable insights. Regularly reviewing your survey structure guarantees it remains effective in capturing accurate feedback. In the end, leveraging this information will allow you to improve your services and meet customer expectations more effectively, nurturing long-term loyalty and satisfaction. Image via Google Gemini and ArtSmart This article, "What Is the Best Customer Satisfaction Format for Your Business?" was first published on Small Business Trends 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. Bone conduction headphones are ideal for activities where it is vital to your safety to hear your surroundings. That's because they use a technology that sends audio vibrations through to the inner ear while leaving your ear canals open. Shokz is one of the best brands—if not the best brand—making bone conduction headphones right now; at the high end of Shokz's offerings is the OpenRun Pro 2, which I got to review and put to the test. But the OpenRun Pro are also quality headphones and are currently discounted to $109.95 (originally $179.95), the lowest price they've been, according to price-tracking tools. SHOKZ OpenRun Pro Sound: Stereo, Connection Type: Wireless, Connectivity: Bluetooth, Maximum Wireless Range: 33 feet. $109.95 at Amazon $179.95 Save $70.00 Get Deal Get Deal $109.95 at Amazon $179.95 Save $70.00 If you've never used bone conduction headphones, they're worth a try, and the Shokz OpenPro are a great introduction. The technology has come a long way since their early days. The major downside of the way they work has been that the bass doesn't sound as good as their in-ear counterparts. The OpenRun Pro is designed to compensate for some of that—you won't get the same thumpy bass you'd get from regular headphones, but it'll be the best you can get from any other bone conduction headphones. As the name implies, these are meant to be used on runs outdoors. They have an IP55 rating for dust- and water-resistance, are lightweight and comfortable, and, because of their design, can be worn with bicycle helmets and sunglasses. You can use these as everyday headphones around the house, as well, since they can take calls; just be mindful that they don't block any sound. If you plan to use these in a location with a loud music or has a lot of ambient noise, you'll hear everything, so you might prefer taking regular headphones—but that will defeat the purpose of the "open ear" headphones. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods 4 Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds — $148.99 (List Price $179.00) Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ 10.9" 64GB Wi-Fi Tablet (Graphite) — $149.99 (List Price $219.99) 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 — $329.99 (List Price $429.00) Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Plus — (List Price $24.99 With Code "FTV4K25") Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

Here are four updates from past letter-writers. 1. An abusive volunteer is holding our website hostage I am no longer a mere VP — I have been elected president! A short summary of my previous letters: I’m on the board of a small organization and we’re all volunteers. There were issues with our webmaster and our website, but the previous president wasn’t wanting to muck around with the site. I understand his reasons but I disagreed with him about it. At our 2024 convention, the (now former) president announced that he was not running for reelection and that I was running for president. The webmaster pulled me aside after this and told me that he was planning to retire, that he’d identified someone to take over the role from him, and that he was anticipating being able to step down in December 2026. Yes, 2026. As in, 18 months from when we were having this conversation. Flash forward to October. The webmaster sent me an email reiterating what he’d told me at our convention. I replied back agreeing with a lot of the points that he’d made and then continued on to say that having one webmaster was a single point of failure, we couldn’t rely on always having tech-savvy members with the desire and time to maintain the website, and my plans for how I wanted to change things. This … did not go down well. I think the summary of the months-long conversation is: while I definitely made some missteps, the only outcome he was willing to accept was what he’d already decided, and since that was never going to happen, we were pretty much doomed to be at loggerheads about it all. I officially took office in January and as part of my president’s message included an acknowledgement of the work that he’d done over the years and then a description of what I wanted to make happen and a call for volunteers. And holy shit, did they deliver! I ended up with a fantastic group of volunteers, one of whom had retired recently and has a ton of project management experience. She took the reins and our first meeting was March 2025. I am blown away by how talented and dedicated this group is and I am even more blown away by all the things that went into this site. We have an official privacy policy now! Legal disclaimers! Members can update their own privacy information! The site itself is GORGEOUS and we launched it right at the beginning of July, just before our yearly convention. I’m a little worried that we’re still borderline single point of failure on the technical side, but I’ve been assured that the team is good to go. When we launched, we did so with what we felt was the minimum viable product and we’ve been adding functionality, features, made some changes/improvements, all that good stuff, since July. Right now, we’re working on updating our directory in accordance with our new privacy policy. (Ooo, exciting!) The former webmaster and the new web team, we’ve all reached a sort of détente with each other. And, ya know, given how everything went down, I’ll take it. Are we all going to be the best of friends? Probably not, but I think we all can either treat each other with respect or just nicely ignore the other person’s existence, and I’m good with that. So all’s well that ends well! Now I just need to get started on my project for this year, but since it’s actually an idea from one of my VPs, I think I’ll just start poking at him to get it up and running. 2. Does board member’s comment mean I’m about to get a big raise? (#2 at the link) To start, I think I need to be more transparent about what the original conversation was. The board member’s cryptic line about waiting for review season was, “You know I’m on the budget committee and we just approved raises for next year, so talk to me after your review. Don’t quote me on it, but I think there’s a new number in front of it if I remember correctly.” Which is why I spiraled about what that number could be and how much of the information was accurate. Anyway, I ended up receiving a 10% raise, and due to some organizational restructuring since, I’m being fast-tracked to higher leadership soon too. I don’t think I’ll be buying a house, but an apartment with in-unit laundry and off-street parking is in my near future! Thanks to you and your readers for your thoughtful advice. 3. My employee is in remote limbo and it’s impacting her work After reading through the feedback and comments I came to the realization that where Jane works was not the main issue. For those that are curious, she was able to work out a hybrid arrangement with HR. The main issue is Jane’s work. The quality is inconsistent and I often have to hold her hand more than necessary for someone at her level. Over the summer another team member, Sam, who is two levels below Jane, shared his project work in a meeting. I was blown away by his thoroughness and analysis. That sealed the deal for me. I had an honest conversation with Jane about areas she needs to improve on and gave her an action plan to get on track. Our checkin on her progress is scheduled for after the holidays. 4. A group of coworkers are pushing for our in-office breakfasts to be vegan The situation fizzled out eventually. People in charge of the breakfast responded that their priority is bringing people together, which means accomodating a wide variety of dietary needs, and the current lack of demand and overstock of the vegan breakfast options goes against the attempts to minimize food waste. The vegan group endorsing the request complained a bit but did not get a buy-in from the majority. The breakfast setup stays the same. The post updates: the volunteer holding a website hostage, the vegan breakfasts, and more appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article