Tech is becoming a big part of our daily lives. The education space is no different, and teacher websites are becoming popular bridges for communicating with students, whether you see them in a brick-and-mortar classroom or a virtual one.

Whether it’s online classes, laptops in the classroom or multimedia-based lessons, the ways we teach and learn are continuously evolving. This is a lesson that the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly made clear to educators nationwide.

Luckily, several tools can greatly improve or help you build your website, without having to learn any new technical skills.

Whether you’re a full-time teacher looking for a better way to deliver course materials or a part-time tutor who’s trying to build up your side hustle, this article can help.

Below you’ll learn why every modern educator today needs a website, along with five tips … Read the rest

A company’s business name is one of its most important brand assets, so as a business owner you want to do everything you can to protect it. Not sure how to legally protect your business name? We’ve got you covered.

Disclaimer: This content should not be construed as legal or tax advice. Always consult an attorney or tax professional regarding your specific legal or tax situation.

How to legally protect your business name

Here are five steps to help make sure the name you choose for your business is legally yours to use and keep for the long run.

1. Do your homework.
2. Register the business name in your state.
3. Secure a domain name.
4. Trademark your brand.
5. Protect your trademark.

Let’s jump in.

Important note: A business name is completely different from a trademark. Company names can be used as trademarks if they are associated with goods and services, but there … Read the rest

Getting started in the world of freelance web development is not an easy task.

In addition to solid technical knowledge, you’re on the hook to constantly keep up with the latest tools and methods, as well as to persuade prospective clients that you have the necessary skills and abilities to deliver the results they demand.

Fortunately, a part-time side hustle as a freelance web developer can provide an excellent opportunity to gradually get some experience before making a full-time commitment.

How to become a freelance web developer — A comprehensive guide

This guide will cover everything you need to know if you’re considering taking the leap into freelance web development, including:

1. Understand the benefits of being a freelance web developer
2. Understand the challenges before committing to freelancing
3. Decide if you have what it takes to be a successful freelancer
4. Understand the contractor-client relationship
5. Make a plan for your new freelancing

Digital businesses  — from part-time side hustles selling homemade jewelry to local restaurants that started fulfilling orders online during the pandemic — have helped U.S. communities weather the economic storm caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

Orders placed on such websites almost doubled between January and April, as stay-at-home edicts caused consumers to move spending online.

The upshot is that communities with a higher concentration of these web-based micro-businesses tended to lose fewer jobs at the peak of the unemployment crisis. 

These and other findings are part of a new dataset from Venture Forward, a multiyear research project that combines information about GoDaddy’s millions of U.S. web domains with data from the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics and similar sources.

Of these “ventures,” roughly 75% are businesses and the rest are a mix of nonprofits, civic groups and personal sites. Because many of these ventures aren’t incorporated or don’t have … Read the rest

Do you ever watch a show like “Shark Tank”and find yourself yelling at the screen, “Hey! That’s my idea!”? You’re not alone. Over the years, I’ve personally filled notebooks with thousands upon thousands of small business startup ideas with high hopes of making the big bucks. From starting a T-shirt and apparel business to planning out a food truck in Boston to building an app for expecting and new dads, my imagination ran wild with ways of making a lavish life for my family.

Now that I run my own digital marketing agency and speak for Google on a national stage, I write even more ideas in the Notes app on my iPhone because of the interactions I have with a wide variety of entrepreneurs. I’m sitting on a gold mine of small business startup ideas, but there’s just not enough time in the day.

If you’re looking to start … Read the rest

Editor’s note: The following is a guest post from our friends at Weglot.

Taking your WooCommerce store international can open you up to a huge potential customer base that’s interested in purchasing your products or services.

If your offerings are familiar and have appeal across different countries then the benefits of being able to sell to those customers hardly need to be elaborated on.

The only question is: how do you go about doing that?

In this post, we’ll go over the five key steps you need to follow in order to get started and set up a fully-functional WooCommerce store that can cater to customers across different countries, currencies, and languages.

The best part is that you can do all of this without setting up multiple sites, negatively impacting your site’s SEO, or incurring huge up-front costs.

How to set up an international WooCommerce store

1. Design for different

Disclaimer: This content should not be construed as legal or tax advice. Always consult an attorney or tax professional regarding your specific legal or tax situation.

Consumers spent $601.75 billion online with U.S. merchants in 2019, up 14.9% from the year before, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. With online sales sure to increase in the coming years, it’s prime time to get moving on the ecommerce idea you’ve been itching to start. However, just like brick-and-mortar businesses, ecommerce companies also have legal and tax issues to consider when choosing a business entity type. Which business structure will offer the most advantages depends on a number of factors.

Which business entity is best for an ecommerce company?

Here are the options available to you and what to think about when structuring your new ecommerce business. There are also some insights on where to turn for help when making … Read the rest

Nowadays, more American workers than ever have a side hustle — an additional job (typically some kind of gig work or a profitable hobby) alongside their main form of employment. But in order to make it grow, understanding how to fund a side hustle is vital.

Taking on extra work to make ends meet or have a little extra spending money is especially common among younger generations: Nearly half of all millennials have a side hustle of some kind. That could mean one of the more lucrative side hustles like web development or design, or even driving for a rideshare service.

Let’s say your side hustle becomes successful, and you decide it’s time to invest more in your operations. Maybe you need a website redesign, an influx of new inventory, or a new piece of crucial equipment. This is the first step of turning your side hustle into a legitimate … Read the rest

Twitter chats are an underutilized social media tool for businesses to communicate with their followers and audience, share knowledge and strategies — all while promoting their brand. If you’ve seen a Twitter chat on your feed but never ventured into this virtual activity — you are in for a treat.

As a participant, you can gain valuable insights and meet individuals with shared interests. But as a host, you can use Twitter chats to drive meaningful engagement, promote campaigns, and increase your reach. If it seems like a complicated or foreign process, don’t worry!

How to use Twitter chats for your business

In this ultimate guide to using Twitter chats for your business, I spoke with experts who’ve driven results with this social media strategy (as well as learned from their mistakes).

Complete with examples, I’ll help you understand the logistics of a Twitter chat, the benefits for your business … Read the rest

Maybe you want to be an entrepreneur, to make your own way, but you aren’t sure where to begin. Or perhaps you have an idea for a business and have already taken the first steps to get it off the ground, but need a little inspiration to keep going. Or you might already be running your own venture and a dose of motivation could help you take it to the next level. That’s why I’ve gathered 15 TED Talks that are growth fuel for entrepreneurs.

Run by TED, a nonprofit organization founded in 1984 for a conference that combined technology, entertainment and design, TED Talks are short conversations that pack a punch on a wide variety of topics. Today, TED Talks are available in more than 100 languages.

We all need a little extra inspiration to take the next step toward success — whatever that next step might be. … Read the rest