In the News: Small Businesses are Relying on Email – A Lot!

The debate on how many emails your business should send to customers and clients is as old as email itself. Or so it seems sometimes.

How many is too much? How few are not enough?

You look one way and you get told you’re not sending enough. And in another direction, you hear the complete opposite.

Well, some news this week may help shed some light on the confusion. Or maybe it’ll make it less clear. It’s hard to tell.

The data we found comes from a new report titled, “2019 State of Conversational Marketing” and in it, we’re discovering that email seems to be making a comeback … again. Or did it ever go away?

In this study, it’s found that one-third of businesses said they sent more emails to customers last year. And the reason they sent more emails? They worked, of course.

Now, there’s always going to be that fine line between just the right amount and too many emails. But if you’ve been using marketing emails to some success for a little while now, maybe this should encourage you to step up your efforts just a little more.

If you’ve built up a trust factor with your customers and clients, it’s likely you’ll get a little (and friendly) nudge from them when you may be crossing the line.

Check out the rest of the details on email marketing in our report. And don’t forget to see if you’ve missed anything else this week in our small business news and information roundup below.

Employment

Labor Department Says Gig Workers Are Contractors, Not Employees

A recent Department of Labor (DOL) opinion letter has said gig workers are independent contractors and not employees. The letter gives sway to employers in the on-demand/sharing economy who say these workers are in business for themselves. Others point to the fact gig workers are denied benefits and other protections covering overtime and minimum wage.

Finance

Lendio Launches Sunrise, A New Bookkeeping Platform for Small Businesses

Business applications have optimized virtually every task for running the backend of a company. In most cases, these tools are standalone products, which create compatibility issues when you add new apps. The new Sunrise bookkeeping app from Lendio called Sunrise is going to combine accounting, cash flow management, loan and credit information into a single platform.

Local Marketing

FreshLime Offers an AI Solution Allowing Local Businesses to Maximize Customer Interaction

FreshLime corrals data from a wide swath of sources into one simple platform. It brings the power of big budget data analytics to local small business so they can engage customers automatically. A FreshLime Overview Small Business Trends spoke with Jay Bean, the CEO of FreshLime. He told us about what they do and why small business needs to pay attention.

Marketing Tips

June Delivers the Lowest Monthly Decrease for Retail Sales in Over 5 Years

People buy things online, but they go to brick and mortar retail stores for the shopping experience. The new data from the RetailNext Performance Pulse June 2019 report proves this very point. According to the report, June delivered the lowest monthly decrease in retail sales in more than five years. Coming in at -0.

Small Biz Spotlight

In the Spotlight: Woops! This Macaron Pop-Up Shop is Now a Full-Time Business

French macarons have been popping up in cafes and bakeries more and more in recent years. But Woops!, a French macaron company, is putting a new spin on this international treat. And the founders built the business largely by accident. The french macaron company started as a pop-up in one of the most challenging markets in the world.

Small Business Operations

$700M Equifax Settlement Largest in Data Breach History, How Vulnerable is Your Business?

The credit reporting company Equifax will be forced to pay up to $700 million to settle U.S. federal and state probes involving a massive 2017 data breach. The breach affected the personal information, including the Social Security numbers, of roughly 147 million consumers who relied on Equifax for data storage.

Startup

50 Low Cost Business Ideas with High Profit Potential

Every small business owner wants to turn a profit. But it can be difficult to do so — especially early on. If you don’t have a ton of money or resources to get your business up and running, you can still hope to create a profitable business. You just need to choose the right idea.

Ecommerce Business Failure Rate at 90% After 120 Days – How to Avoid It With Your Business

The success and failure rates of brick and mortar small businesses have been well documented. But how do ecommerce startups fare? According to a new survey by MarketingSignals, the failure rate stands at 90% after 120 days or almost four months. This, of course, is much direr than physical stores.

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This article, "In the News: Small Businesses are Relying on Email – A Lot!" was first published on Small Business Trends