Five Things To Know This Week:
1) Services are Making a Comeback
2) Increase Your Website’s Organic Traffic
3) Cleaning Up Your Sluggish Browser
4) U.S. Birthrate is on the Rise
5) Resource of the Week: National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
Brian Moran, CEO
Small Business Edge
Brian Moran & Associates
brian@smallbusinessedge.com
Services are Making a Comeback
Consumers didn’t stop spending during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they focused on buying “stuff.” Now, according to The Washington Post, citing data from Flexport, consumers are balancing their spending between goods and services. In fact, the numbers are back where they were in May 2020, before the pandemic limited our activities.
The Post says the resurgence of spending on services reflects consumer hunger to “resume their previous lifestyles” and is good news for small business owners, stressed supply chains, and inflation fighters.
Read more about the rise in spending on services.
Increase Your Website’s Organic Traffic
If you’re an online publisher (like me), your goal is to drive traffic to your site. That, as you well know, is easier said than done. What’s New in Publishing (WNIP) has a helpful post that shares seven ideas for increasing your traffic—organically. Meaning you’re not relying on paid search, ads, or affiliate marketing tactics to attract site visitors.
WNIP says focusing on organic traffic helps you build “an engaged audience of people who are interested in your content—and likely to come back.”
Learn more about 7 ways you can organically boost your site’s traffic.
Cleaning Up Your Sluggish Browser
A sluggish browser can actually interfere with your and your team’s productivity. So if it seems your web pages are loading more slowly than usual, it may be time to clean your browser.
Google’s Chrome claims nearly half of the market share for browsers (49.2%), followed by Safari with 36%. PC Magazine shares several ways you can clean your Chrome and return it to a zippier, more productive state.
One note: A slow browser experience could be signaling you that it’s time to upgrade your hardware. Follow PC Mag’s suggestions to find out if a “clogged” Chrome could be the culprit.
Learn more about speeding up your Chrome browser.
U.S. Birthrate is on the Rise
The birthrate in the U.S. rose last year for the first time since 2014. The National Vital Statistics System, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released provisional data that reported 3,659,289 births in 2021, up about 1%, or 46,000 births, from 2020.
The “greatest uptick” was experienced by women in their 30s, who are waiting longer to get married and have a family.
Only time will tell if this is the start of a new trend, the echo boom’s echo boom, but this is good news for small business owners that cater to the children’s market. There will be increased demand for both products and services not only this year but for years to come.
Learn more about the rising birthrate in America.
Small Business Resource: National Gay and Lesbian
Chamber of Commerce
June is National Pride Month, a tribute to the people involved in the Stonewall Riots on June 28, 1969, in New York City. After the Stonewall Inn, a gay club in Greenwich Village, was raided by police, patrons, and neighborhood residents rioted and protested in the streets for six consecutive days. They demanded that places where LGBTQ+ people could go and be open about their sexual orientation without fear of arrest be established. You can learn more about the history of Pride month here.
The National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) is the business voice of the LGBT community, the largest advocacy organization dedicated to expanding economic opportunities and advancements for LGBT people, and the exclusive certifying body for LGBT-owned businesses.
Learn more about the NGLCC and the resources they offer to LGBT-owned businesses.
Listen to my podcast with Chuck here.
