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Online MarketingSocial Media

Pinterest and Shopify Launch New Merchant Channel

PinterestShopify

Pinterest as a Marketing Channel

Whether making pinboards of your dream wedding or virtual closet, Pinterest allows users to catalogue items and ideas in to unique folders and share them with the world. They have capitalized on visual marketing. As Pinterest’s community has risen to over 350 million active users since its inception in 2009, the image sharing site has lead users to some amazing products and services that they wouldn’t have otherwise known about. This means Pinterest users essentially market merchants’ products for them, which helps small businesses and artisan boutiques thrive. 80% of the website’s active users have bought items they had pinned on the website.

Product Pins

Shopify is an e-commerce website that hosts over 500,000 active stores on its platform. Now, Shopify has teamed with Pinterest to create a unique channel that allows Shopify merchants to promote themselves on Pinterest by integrating their products on to the website as a “product pin.” Not only that, but the merchant’s Pinterest page will include a shop tab. This promotion is completely free to Shopify merchants. However, if a merchant does have a budget for promotion, there are also paid ads merchants can opt in to, which Pinterest will promote, and the ad will take users straight to to the merchant’s online store.

Pinterest and Shopify Partnership

Of Shopify’s 500,000 active stores, over 100,000 of those are based in the U.S. and Canada, so a lot more products will be heading to Pinterest if those merchants decide to take advantage of this new channel. The partnership is great for both Pinterest users and Shopify merchants, as this will now make it much easier to shop through Pinterest, and merchants will have access to a much bigger pool of consumers. Merchants will also be given $100 credit to promote their ads once their first ad is posted through Shopify. The Shopify tag on Pinterest even has over 110,000 followers, which tags boutique fashion, beauty, and other products that are only available through Shopify stores, so there is already a level of demand on Pinterest.

Pinterest-Shopify Partnership Marketing Explained

General Business

Wunderlist Microsoft To Do App Transition

Wunderlist

Its been long in the making, but the time to say farewell to one of the best and rightly most popular task apps is here. Wunderlist is finally going down, and soon it will be Wunderlist Microsoft To Do App. Microsoft bought the company that created Wunderlist five years ago. Ever since that purchase, there was a lot of speculation as to the destiny of Wunderlist. But, in December we finally found out the answer to all that speculation.

Why Should You Transfer Your Data from Wunderlist

You might be wondering why you should transfer your data, because it is easier to transfer your data than to start and create all your obligations all over again. A lot of people have used Wunderlist for pretty much any task they had. Some even planned their free time with Wunderlist. For example, they scheduled what Tv shows or movies to watch and when. And finally, the To Do app is the natural successor to Wunderlist, with a lot of features native to Wunderlist already added to the To Do app.

How To Transfer Your Data to Microsoft To Do

Here’s the steps needed to transfer our Wunderlist data to Microsoft To Do: First and foremost you have to download the new app to your device. Once the app has downloaded and installed, you will need to sign in with your Microsoft account. It is OK if you do not have one, you can create one on the spot without any issues. In addition to that, you can use your Live or Xbox account as well. Once you have signed in to the new To Do app, in the bottom of your screen there should be a blue pop up that asks you if you have come to the To Do app via the Wunderlist app, and if you click there you can start your Wunderlist tasks import feature. It might take a few minutes wait, but it is worth it.

Alternatives to Wunderlist

If you don't want to transfer your data to the successor of Wunderlist or want to continue but with other apps, you always have the option of trying other task apps.

Todoist

A great alternative that is focused on goals, productivity, and getting task after task done is ToDoIst. Another plus of this app is that it has an import function which means that you can also import all your tasks and data from your Wunderlist account. The app is free to download for both Android and iOS

Things

Things is an app that is exclusive for iOS users, all those who prefer to live in an Apple-only world. None the less it is a great app to keep track of all your goals, obligations, trackers, etc. It also gives you the opportunity to import all your Wunderlist data. Things is one of the best, if not the best task app in the world. But, it also comes with a price. For example, it costs 10$ for iPhone users and 20$ iPad users.

.Net DevelopmentWeb Development

Github Core For Free

GitHub_Logo

Github, a techie's favorite software for hosting, has unveiled that its core features will now be free to all users. The platform, which hosts over 40 million users, will allow free account holders to enjoy the benefits of its core features. The company has done away with its Pro tier and divided the features between the free and team accounts.

What did the previous Github free account include?

In the past, users of the free plan could enjoy unlimited repositories, three collaborators in a private repository, and 2000 Github Action minutes per month. Furthermore, users would receive 500 megabytes of storage and automated security updates.

Which features are the same?

As was the case previously, the Github core for free account will give you access to unlimited repositories. The free account will continue to give you access to 2000 minutes of Github Actions. Github Actions, allow users to automate their workflow. From the Github platform, one can conceptualize, develop and deploy code. Users will also still receive 500 MB of storage.

Which features are different?

The two features which are an upgrade from the previous free account are unlimited collaborators and community support. In the past free accounts only enabled users to add three collaborators within a private repository. This allows for more efficiency on projects, especially where you have more than three collaborators.

What doesn't the Github core account include?

Whilst the core account offers users a variety of exciting features there are still some things which you will need to upgrade to use. Two such features are code owners and enterprise features. There is still good news if you need to have these features, as the monthly cost per user for code owners has been reduced by $5 to a measly $4. The Enterprise plan will run you $21 a user per month. Unlike the previous free account in days gone by, you will no longer receive any automated security updates.

Major GitHub Changes -- Teams Now Free, Prices Halved!

General Business

3D Printed Face Shields from Prusa Research

3dPrintedFaceSheilds

The global coronavirus pandemic has tested the capacity of healthcare systems all over the world, and we’ve very suddenly found ourselves desperately short on protective masks for healthcare workers. Many hospitals have resorted to sterilizing and re-using facemasks or asking for donations online to make up the shortage. However, this crisis has inspired an unlikely solution, known as “distributed manufacturing,” in which people with 3D printers all over the world have stepped up to make life saving hospital supplies.

3D printers have had the most success in producing face shields. A face shield is simply a sheet of clear plastic covering the health care worker’s face and looks kind of like a plastic version of a welder’s mask. These shields are worn over the breathable face masks that cover a healthcare worker’s mouth and nose. These shields are critical right now, because the coronavirus spreads through water droplets discharged by coughing or sneezing. The face shield protects the face mask from fluids, allowing it to be re-used. While many essential medical devices are too complex for 3D printing technology as it currently, stands, the face shield’s simplicity makes it a perfect candidate for home production.

Who is making 3D printed face shields?

3D printers all over the world have stepped up and begun trying to fill in the need. A Czech entrepreneur by the name Josef Prusa has uploaded some of the first designs for 3D printed face shields, which have since been downloaded more than 40,000 times. Prusa is the founder a of 3D printing company (also named Prusa), which is currently manufacturing over 10,000 3D printed face shields for the Czech Republic’s Ministry of health.

Many US companies are also stepping up to address the crisis. HP has reached out to customers who bought 3D printers to deputize their manufacturing capabilities and has also publicly released downloadable plans for other hospital equipment, such as hands-free door openers to slow the infection rate among hospital staff. Carbon, a 3D printing startup, has followed suit and reached out to its customers with 3D printers. You can also download their design. The company is currently working on 3D printing designs for nasal swabs to collect samples, another critical piece of medical equipment in short supply.

Because the plans are open source instead of patented, many small businesses and individuals with home 3D printers have been able to answer the call. The Youtuber “3D Printing Nerd” has just uploaded a video in which his product is tested and reviewed (positively) by a local healthcare worker. In Baltimore, 3D printers have formed an online group called “We the Builders”, and in Tampa Bay, a furniture maker and a fine arts professor have teamed up to start producing masks, joining a global effort to outfit hospitals with sorely needed necessities.

3D Printing Face Shields and YOU CAN TOO!

General Business

Software for Telecommuting During the CoronaVirus Pandemic

Telecommunication is the transmission of signals, words, writing, message, sounds, and images.it can also be any information of any nature through radio, wire, an electromagnet. Telecommunication takes place when there are communication participants through the exchange of information and also involves the use of technology.


It's transmitted through a medium transmission such as electrical wire cable, electromagnet radiation through light or radio. The transfer is in many multiple channels that make it possible for multiplexing.

Communication has come a long way since the start of the 20th century. It began with the use of beacons, signal flags, beacons, drumbeats, lung horns, Helio-graph, and semaphores telegraph. The end of the century and the start of 21st-century thing communication improved, and people began using telephones, radio, television, wireless, networks, microwaves transmission, optic fiber, internet, and satellites.

As time went by, the creation of the internet came into play. Many people embezzled it of the added value it offered at a cheap variable rate. Research began creating the packet switch, which was for sending the message in segments through a centralized mainframe. The later study came up with advanced internet technology like the use of local area networks, the creation of Ethernet, and the token ring protocol.

Some of the benefits of using telecommunication software system include: help enhance communication channel as it quick and exchange of conversation. Enhances teamwork as it's practical and very sustainable in decision making is quick. They help reduce the operation cost through video conferencing and the use of email.

Some of the main components of the telecommunication system include a computer network, use of public switched telephone networks, use of the public switched network, radio network, and television network. The introduction of software for telecommunication has made communication even better. One can communicate with another person overseas quickly and at a cheap rate. With just the internet and the software required, communication is possible.


Tips and Tricks for Telecommuting

Online MarketingWeb Development

Google Presents AMP Results in Desktop Search Results

AMPPages
For a couple of days, you can observe that Google is testing AMP results in desktop SERPs. AMP pages were reserved only for mobile users until now, but it seems that Google is testing this option also on the desktop. They now link to the AMP version on desktop too. Let's find out what this change means to marketers and users.

How to Identify AMP Results

First, we should find out how you identify an AMP result. Every AMP page has a lighting bolt icon next to the result. When you make a query and see a result with a lighting bolt icon, it means that it is an AMP result. On the desktop version, we can notice that the images for AMP pages are very big and get all the attention. As they are shown now on the desktop version creates a huge discrepancy between AMP results and the other ones. For now, we discovered that you can see the AMP results when you are searching for celebrities, for example.

These results have great benefits for users. The pages load faster as it indicates the name, Accelerated Mobile Pages. It will first load faster the important features of your website, than the other ones. This improves user experience.

Until now, this feature was available only for mobile users. The marketers were taken by surprise when they discover that Google is testing it on the desktop too.

Marketers and AMP Pages

For marketers are a few downsides about this change in SERPs. The content of the website can be stripped down because it will not be shown as the original version of your website. The accent is put on the fast speed and this can lead to stripping your content for AMP pages.

Another disadvantage for marketers is that they can lose several branding elements. As we have mentioned before, an AMP page will not contain all the elements your website has. The content will be cut and in this context, you will end up losing several branding elements. This will affect your branding efforts. And when it happened only for mobile users was one thing, but when this stripped content is delivered to most of your users, both desktop, and mobile, the impact is bigger. You should reconsider the overall website design for appropriate branding on AMP pages.

How To Add AMP To WordPress - Accelerated Mobile Pages [2019]

General BusinessOnline Marketing

Shopify Mailchimp Alternative

ShopSyncShopify

E-commerce giants like eBay and Amazon paved the way for a whole new way of shopping over the last 20 years or so. And with it came a whole new style of marketing and customer data collection. But eBay and Amazon are not the only 2 notable e-commerce platforms, in recent years other similar sites have gained a lot of traction among online shoppers due to additional features and USPs.. One of these that has become particularly successful is the Canadian multinational e-commerce site Shopify. Unlike Amazon or eBay it isn't just a marketplace where you can place and sell goods. You can actually create an online shop and website, with your own brand and style, then ship and manage your products through the Shopify shopping cart service.

Marketing with Mailchimp

Mailchimp was a useful tool for Shopify users as it gave them a way of marketing to their audiences and staying in contact with customers as well as developing potential leads. But early last year both Shopify and Mailchimp announced their separation in business, both with a slightly different take on who's to blame and why.

Shopify Mailchimp Breakup

Shopify's side of the story is that Mailchimp had a poor merchant experience and that Mailchimp refused to abide by the terms of Shopify's partner program agreement. Further detailing that this specifically referred to Mailchimp not synchronizing customer data which they had gathered on merchants' stores with Shopify and it's merchants. Therefore disrupting the business ecosystem and not reliably serving their customers. And as such, Shopify announced that it would be removing the Mailchimp app from it's platform.

Mailchimp's response to this was that they requested Shopify to remove them from their platform due to updated terms of agreement that would impact user privacy, and Mailchimp's business at risk. They further explained that Shopify actually wanted access to users' data from before the app was installed, permission for which would not be able to be obtained. Being a company which relies heavily on trust of users' data, Mailchimp said that anything that would put that trust at risk would not be acceptable and as such could not agree to Shopify's new terms.

There is also some speculation that Mailchimp's recent business developments with competitor e-commerce site Square. However due to Mailchimp's involvement with hundreds of businesses some of which will likely be involved in e-commerce and thus competitors, it is somewhat debated as to how relevant this actually was as a factor in the separation.

Shopify Mailchimp Alternatives

But Shopify customers need not worry. There are many alternatives out there which do similar if not the same tasks as Mailchimp. Merchant's may choose from a vast pool of Mail marketing and customer engagement tools: Zapier, Automate.io and ShopSync are in fact recommended by Mailchimp as alternatives for merchants moving forward.

All of these services integrate well with Shopify. However ShopSync allows you to do this for free whereas the others charge. And although they offer free trials, these do not include integrations with Shopify. Zapier has been particularly know to cause some integration issues, and though the others have had some problems too, ShopSync seems to be the best for users who like Mailchimp as it has an almost identical interface and functions in essentially the same way.

No More Mailchimp App for Shopify! What Now?

General Business

The Best Time Management Software with Free Features

Hubstaff

Where as technology is often blamed for distracting our attention, with the right use it can be turned into a powerful ally for time management. Time tracking software is now being used extensively by enterprises and individuals to enhance performance, to set deadlines and distribute work and pay fairly. Let's take a look and assess some of the most popular Time Tracker Tools with available free features:

1. Clockify This app is free for teams and solo users but it is being billed from 9.99 $ for companies and organizations. With the free features, you can fairly allocate your time to each project (billable or not), oversee your solo work or teamwork on a dashboard and check your statistics and timesheets across all devices.

2. Timecamp's biggest strength lies in its expanded list of offered integrations -Evernote, Todoist, Trello and more- as well as the option of automatic invoicing based on working hours. The free plan includes basic time tracking, an infinite number of projects and reports. For more advanced features Basic, Pro and Enterprise levels are available for a monthly fee. The only downside might be that it can be a bit difficult to get started but once you do, the capabilities of this app will surprise you!

3. Hubstaff This innovative software offers a free subscription for limited features as well as a free trial for the premium plan (10 $ user/month). Aside from reporting, on and offline time management and timesheet approval this app offers invoicing, integrations, a time off feature and our favorites- GPS tracking for teams on the go and the ability to take up to three screenshots every ten minutes to confirm the accountability of your employees.

Hubstaff Time Tracker Product Tutorial

.Net Development

Learn .Net Desktop Development FREE for Beginners

FreeCodeCamp

Learning a new skill doesn't have to be as hard as most people think. In this article we look at the best programs and resources for you to learn .Net Desktop Development Programming for free as a complete beginner. There are so many great resources to start learning today. Which one is the best for you? Lets take a look at them.

Home and Learn

This is a complete course for beginners. It will take you through the fundamentals of .Net Programming all the way through the technical side. Everything you need to know to get started is in this course and guess what! It's FREE. You will have 9 different projects in the course so when you are finished, you will be ready to go.

YouTube

YouTube is a great place to learn a new skill. There are plenty of videos that will give you a crash course and teach you all the basics of what you need to know. This video, is by Free code camp. It is a comprehensive 24-hour course, you will use c# to build an application. Everything from start to finish. Another great video resource is by Programming with Mosh. It is the complete basics of c# learned in 1 hour. If your looking for a program to learn from scratch then you will love it.

Create a C# Application from Start to Finish - Complete Course

Free Code Camp

Free Code Camp is a nonprofit community platform that makes it easy to learn code. Not only can you learn everything for free, you can chat with others in your area and even have practice sessions with them. You can learn at your own pace, which is great if you don't want to binge watch a whole course in one sitting.

ConferencesOnline MarketingSocial Media

Ungagged Los Angeles Digital Marketing Convention

UngaggedLA

The Ungagged Los Angeles conference begins this week, providing talks and master classes in search engine optimization and digital marketing. There will be a variety of excellent speakers providing insights into online marketing, link building strategies, analytics and more.

Ungagged LA Conference Speakers

Once of the most exciting speakers to be presenting at this year's Online Los Angeles is Andrew Shotland. He edits the excellent blog Local SEO Ranking Factors. He was a pioneer of NBC's Internet group and started a local search engine that was acquired by City Search. He will be talking about reverse engineering Google's local search analytics and explaining what it takes to master local business rankings. He will also explain how to set up in house local marketing systems. He also is an expert on explaining how gig economy unicorns are exploiting loopholes to optimize search rankings without a physical location.

Another very exciting speaker to be presenting at Ungagged Los Angeles is Andrew Stone, a Key Account manager at Buffalo Partners at Online Casino Affiliate Programs. He will be talking about risk and fraud management, retention marketing and more.

Ungagged LA Location

The conference will be located at Convene South Grand Avenue in the center of downtown Los Angeles. You can book hotel space at Omni Hotel just across the street.

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 Patrick Stevens
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