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Gene Marks: Facebook introduces recruiting tools, and other recent small-biz tech news

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Business Practices | Education | Market Trends | Technology
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Editor’s note: Repairer Driven News regularly features pieces by prolific national columnist Gene Marks. While despite not being directly related to collision repair, they should still prove valuable to the small-business owners and employees which make up much of the industry.

This column, originally published in Forbes Nov. 13, points out some potentially useful tech considerations related to small-business hiring and marketing, among other activities. Nos. 1 and 3 seem particularly relevant for collision repair — in fact, we heard at least one Repairer Driven Education speaker make the same point at SEMA.

By Gene Marks

Here are five things in technology that happened this past week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?

1. Facebook now offers tools to recruit new employees

The social media giant has added a new “jobs” feature for its business pages so that companies can post open positions to recruit new employees, according to TechCrunch.

Why this is important for your business: Administrators will be able to share job openings with your company’s community (and their friends), and Facebook will give you the ability to have your own “jobs” tab for prospective employees to view.

Another big feature will be an “apply now” button that starts the application process, where you can receive a completed application via a Facebook Message or have it forwarded to another email address. With more than 50 million small business pages and almost 2 billion active monthly users, Facebook has a lot of reach, and its numbers dwarf LinkedIn who is trying hard to be a leader in recruiting tools for businesses, both small and large.

2. PayPal can use Siri to pay your bills

PayPal has introduced support for Apple’s Siri this week, according to the Verge.

Why this is important for your business: “Siri, pay that guy!” The new feature will make bill paying easier by giving you the ability to send money to your freelancers, contractors and vendors just by a voice command. (PayPal is a Marks Group client, but has received no compensation for this mention).

3. Google Search will soon be prioritizing mobile websites.

Google has begun experimenting with a new index that will punish websites that don’t conform to a smartphone’s display, Engadget reported.

Why this is important for your business: Your customers are all searching on their mobile devices, and you want to be certain your website is found or you could lose business. Make sure your site is mobile-optimized and properly displayed on smartphones, or Google will punish you.

4. LinkedIn makes it easier to send sponsored direct messages

You can now send sponsored InMail messages using LinkedIn’s campaign manager on your own, VentureBeat reported; in the past, you needed the help of a LinkedIn account representative to do this, according to the site.

Why this is important for your business: 

If you’re choosing to advertise on LinkedIn, you can do this easier, faster and independently. Just please don’t send me any ads, OK?

5. Viber makes it easier to connect with its 800 million users

Viber is a very popular messaging platform, and it’s introducing a “yellow pages” feature to easily locate others on its network, according to VentureBeat.

Why this is important for your business:

If you’re a Viber user, you can connect to the database with your customer relationship management system and initiate live chats with humans or chatbots. This could improve your company’s service delivery to your customers using the messaging platform.

Bonus: Cheap power?

And in less app-ish news, Virginia Tech saysscientists have developed solar tiles so flexible that light can be captured in curtains and wallpaper and then recycled into energy to power devices in homes and offices. (Editor’s note: Hey, every little bit helps when you’re absorbing the cost of drying booths.)

This column originally appeared in Forbes on Nov. 13.

 

Columnist Gene Marks. (Provided by the Marks Group)

Gene Marks is a columnist, author, and small business owner. http://genemarks.com. Gene writes every day on business, politics and public policy for the Washington Post and weekly for Forbes, Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur and the Huffington Post.  Marks has written 5 books on business management, specifically geared towards small and medium-sized companies. His most recent is “The Manufacturer’s Book of Lists.”  Nationally, Marks appears on Fox News, MSNBC and CNBC discussing matters affecting the business community. Through his keynotes and breakout sessions, Marks helps business owners, executives and managers understand the political, economic and technological trends that will affect their companies so they can make profitable decisions. Marks owns and operates the Marks Group PC, a highly successful 10-person firm that provides technology and consulting services to small and medium-sized businesses. Prior to starting the Marks Group PC, Marks, a Certified Public Accountant, spent nine years in the entrepreneurial services arm of the international consulting firm KPMG in Philadelphia, where he was a senior manager.

More information:

“Facebook Introduces Recruiting Tools And Other Small Business Tech News This Week”

Gene Marks via Forbes, Nov. 13, 2016

Images:

Apps are shown on an iPhone 6. (alexsl/iStock)

Columnist Gene Marks. (Provided by the Marks Group)

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