Archives November 2021

During this time where people tend to stay at home most of their time, playing online games might be the thing that people choose. The number of people playing online gaming including online gambling like online casinos is increasing. New sites about online casinos are also coming up. The problem with so many new gambling sites is, it is becoming more and more difficult to find the trusted and the safe one.

Online gaming and casinos are the place where most hackers and credit card phishing activity commonly occur. It is strongly recommended that you check that the site where you play is trusted. Here are some helpful tips to increase the security before you choose the site where you want to play.

Let’s take a look at some points you need to check before even signing up to a gambling site. First is the reputation of the casino, by searching for a review before you decide to start. So many gamblers put their opinion online so you can decide whether a site is good or not. Then you also need to check the license and the registration of that online gambling site. A legitimate online gaming site must be licensed and registered to protect the security of their players. 

Let’s take an example like vegas99bet which people talk about recently. Third, you also need to check the banking option for making deposits and withdrawal. Some of the genuine payment options used by online casinos include prepaid cards, debit cards, online payments, credit cards, and money transfers. It is a good sign if you select a casino that has all the major payment options.

Some online gaming sites also give bonuses or gifts. These bonuses and gifts are things that can be compared to one another. The bigger bonus a site gives is better.

As the World Health Organization (WHO) issued an international notification to make sure that anything considered as any sort of risk of infection is as such, the focus of this article will be on the payments. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are set to benefit from this as part of a niche that was left on the table by credit and debit cards.

What is payment volume?

Payment volume is the number of “transactions” that happen every year. For example, if you own a retail establishment with $1,000,000-$2,000,000 in annual revenue and six months ago your payment volume was 1,100 but now it’s down to 800, then your payment volume has lost 100 transactions. More often than not though, journal entries will adjust the balance appropriately during the same time frame.

Companies and industries that use payments

Here’s the scenario: everyone in your company is sick and needs days off, while hundreds of customer orders also need to be filled. In other words, the perfect time for a disruption. That’s why it pays to have a backup plan in place for employees and customers alike. How could you handle how people pay at your business?

Impact of the epidemic on payments

With so many people worried about contracting measles, there’s been a noticeable decline in debit and credit card use. For example, the Oregonian reports that over 1,200 transactions at their business can’t be processed due to fear of spreading. This lack of card use has led to a decline in customer confidence and surprisingly increased costs for goods and services.

Bitcoin after Covid

The impact of the WannaCry Ransomware attacks on nation-states around the world has been understated but could have significant consequences for the future of mobile payments. There are emerging signs that politicians could allow or mandate methods of distributing money to citizens other than by card. The reality is that if every major bank is offline after a cyber security event banks should not expect public confidence in their payment systems to bounce back quickly. A number of disease-fighters, such as the Global Payment Satton Group and Multiple Government Corporation collaborate to coordinate research and policy to solve the epidemic. From the group’s forecast, it’s estimated that payment volumes will decline by ten percent per year as they promote products such as Covid, a vaccine against Ebola.

CryptoCurrency & Covid

Many financial professionals & mobile payment solution platform providing companies are speculating on the future of the global slowing economy forecast. One of the most popular subjects in the finance industry is the way cryptocurrencies will be affected. For example, if everyone was to panic and withdraw cash from their accounts to buy any item they deemed necessary, chances are that there would not be any cash availability. This means that banks would resort to funding themselves through loans, which in turn means increased interest rates for you and me!

Conclusion

“Trying to predict the future is never an exact science,” the proverb goes.
In this article, we.ve tried exploring what will happen to payments after the epidemic with a clear objective of anticipating risks and opportunities in that context. Unfortunately, our analysis does not end up in any crystal ball conclusions because it is difficult to put numbers on certain estimates. Nevertheless, we hope that the perspective of various experts increases our understanding of possible scenarios.

In 2018, there were approximately 30 million Americans living in poverty. During the same period, a study found that 17 million Americans were living in what is known as deep poverty. These families earned an income that was below 50% of the poverty line.

People who earn less than the Federal government’s official poverty threshold are considered to live in poverty. Under the threshold, that would be about $27,000 for a family of four. These individuals include seniors living on a fixed program, people working for minimum wage, employees who suddenly find themselves without a job, people working multiple jobs, and people from rural and other towns.

Employment

While there have been three consecutive years of increases, the dollar amount did not change significantly per household for families or non-families. There was, however, a shift in working behavior. There was a 2%  shift from 2018 to 2019 in individuals, both men and women, who shifted from part-time positions to full-time year-round positions.

Programs that help

Government-sponsored programs aim to alleviate the pressures of poverty on families from low-income households. Some of these programs are SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Program, or Lifeline. Lifeline provides phones and services at reduced rates or, in some cases, for free.

Several states participate in Lifeline and Lifeline phone companies Oklahoma-based is one example of a state that participates in this program. Other programs include Veterans and Survivors Pension Benefit, Federal Public Housing Assistance, Supplemental Security Income, the Veterans and Survivors Pension Benefit, certain Tribal Programs, or Medicaid.

Social media is all the rage in 2021. It seems like there’s a new social media channel popping up every month or so. This leaves many business owners wondering if they should be getting on every trend.

Should you get more involved with Instagram Reels? Is Twitter Spaces the right place for your brand? What about TikTok or Clubhouse? Social media is pretty much an inevitable part of business at this point, but is it the right course of action to be active on each and every platform? Probably not.

Instead, strategically choosing the right social media channel for your particular brand is the way to go. Creating a social media strategy will be a crucial step in this process. 

Thankfully, we have friends at a prominent New York web design company, and they’ve helped us understand what it takes to be successful on social media.

In short, there are several questions you need to ask yourself before creating an account on any social media platform. We’ll take a look at each of these questions and their potential answers in this post. Let’s begin!

Question #1 — Does My Business Need Social Media?

Yes. Next question!

Jokes aside, several factors go into deciding if you should put your brand on social media at all, but in all likelihood, this is the right thing to do.

If your KPIs, audience, and goals align without the use of social media, you might be fine without it. However, even one social media channel can increase your brand exposure and help you reach new customers while staying in touch with existing ones.

A Sprout Social report recently uncovered that customers use social media more than any other channel when reaching out to customer service with issues or questions and sharing product feedback.

The same report confirmed that marketers use social media to collect various bits of data. In fact, 90% of survey respondents reported that social media helps them stay ahead of the competition, while 88% agreed that social media positively impacted their sales.

So, if you want to keep tabs on your competitors, generate leads, increase brand awareness and build a community, creating a social media channel is a good idea.

Now that we’ve got the critical question out of the way, let’s consider a few things you should consider when choosing the right social media channel to promote your business.

Question #2 — What Am I Trying to Accomplish?

Even if you’re not particularly well-versed in the social media game, you’re likely aware that different platforms come with different sets of advantages. So, once you’ve decided that creating a social media presence is the right course of action for your business, it is time to think about your goals.

Your social media goals will most likely align with the overall goals you have in place for your business, and there will probably be a few platforms that stand out as the best ones to reach these specific targets.

The goals that most marketers have when it comes to social media include:

• Growing the brand’s audience
• Increasing community engagement
• Increasing website traffic
• Generating leads
• Increasing brand awareness

Once you’ve identified the top few goals for your social media strategy, come back to reference them as you consider your choice of platform.

Question #3 — What Resources Do I Have Available?

Like any marketing strategy, social media takes effort and time. Between scheduling posts, creating content, and keeping up with new features, there’s much work involved. To answer the question of your resources when it comes to handling social media, you may need to reflect on a few sub-questions, such as:

• Are there enough people on your team to manage all the channels you may be interested in?
• Is there room in your budget for a dedicated social media team, and if not, which members of your current team could potentially handle the added responsibility?
• How much time can you dedicate to each platform, including the time needed to learn the ins and outs of a new channel?

Obviously, resources aren’t just about people or time, either. The software you plan to use to analyze metrics and schedule posts is a massive part of the cost calculation when it comes to your social media ROI.

Ultimately, although there’s a wide range of marketing management tools available, you may choose to outsource your social media management to a company specialized in this field. Whatever you decide to do, you’ll need to factor the cost into your calculations.

Question #4 — What Type of Content Do You Plan to Share?

You may already have a media library and visual content that you can repurpose on your social media accounts. You may also already have a few blog posts that you can share. This is all content that can get you started on social.

Take a closer look at your existing content and think about your overall ability to create more content for your social channels. Consider who will be creating this content and how? Get specific with questions like whether the social media manager would also be responsible for your Instagram photos and whether your YouTube and FB videos or Instagram Reels would need to be outsourced.

Before you can answer these and similar questions, you need to know that social media content can be divided into five main categories:

• Images
• Video
• Live Video
• Stories
• Text

The content that you are able to create should be a massive influence on your choice of social media platform and channel.

If you’re able to create lots of video content, you should probably focus on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. TikTok may also be a tempting option, but the content featured on this platform is quite specific in form, so you should think twice before making the leap.

When it comes to content creation and curation, it is best to be realistic about your abilities. Starting on a new platform, you want to make sure that the type of content you’re sharing is just right and that you can produce enough of it to be able to post consistently.

Closing Thoughts

There are so many social media platforms out there for you to choose from. While on the surface, this may look like a great thing, as the choice is abundant for every type of content, it can get overwhelming very quickly.

The four questions above should help you narrow down your selection and ultimately pick the few social media channels on which your brand will flourish.

Consumer social media use increases across all generations every single year. It is no longer a question of if but how you should invest in this thriving marketing channel. 

If you’re hesitant, start with one platform and work your way up from there, but don’t take too long to get settled in. Social media usage and spending are more than likely to continue to rise, and by not taking immediate action, you run the risk of getting left behind by your competitors.