Digital Trends for Businesses in 2014

Digital trends are emerging in 2014 for your company! CEO of Web.com David Brown advises that small businesses can thrive if they understand and implement business opportunities in the following areas:

Going digital: Create an online presence.

Local search: Online search queries for local businesses is rising.

Partner up for digital needs: Look for a business partner that understands your digital needs. This will help save time and resources.

Mobile device usage will increase:  Nearly 30 percent of web traffic is generated from mobile devices. Consumers demand mobile optimized websites.

E-commerce: Typically thought of for physical goods, there will be a rise in E-commerce for service providers such as tax professionals, etc.

Paid marketing and social networking

Social media, mobile computing, analytics, the cloud, and enterprise IT is transforming the way businesses operate. Dreamforce 2013 focused on the “customer company revolution” with cloud computing, mobile applications, devices, and engagement with customers.

Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian, John Hinshaw Executive Vice President, Technology & Operations of Hewlett-Packard and DocuSign Chairman and CEO, Keith Krach will be speaking at Momentum 2014 with the focus of keeping business digital.  Momentum describes its event as, “industry luminaries and forward thinkers from around the globe for a fast-paced and entertaining exchange of ideas about how to expand and integrate digital processes.” Has your business started the transition to digital?

Tuition Freeze at Purdue University

Here’s some welcome news for my fellow college students dealing with expensive tuition! Purdue University is freezing tuition costs for the next two years in response to the nation’s weak economy. Temple University, the University of Texas at Austin, University of Main and all public colleges in Arizona are among other schools that have already implemented a tuition freeze. The Daily Nebraskan is also reporting that the University of Nebraska is proposing a tuition freeze for in-state students.

The cost of basic in-state tuition for students at Purdue’s main campus will remain about $10,000 until the end of the 2014-15 school year.

Purdue President Mitch Daniels said in a statement “in this period of national economic stagnation, it’s time for us to hit the pause button on tuition increases.”

He says Purdue’s students and families “deserve a high-value education that they can afford.”

The Journal & Courier reports that under the freeze, the current base tuition for Indiana and out-of-state students on the West Lafayette campus will remain unchanged for two years.

Purdue will announce a savings plan with a focus on administrative efficiency.

In other great news for Pudue, the school received a $65M anonymous donation last month.  Purdue Board of Trustee Chairman Keith Krach and Provost Tim Sands previously said the university donor base and potential new donors were excited by Daniels becoming president and that large gifts were likely to follow.

Purdue spokesman Chris Sigurdson said, “The anonymous couple pledged the money as an estate gift that will go to the school following their deaths.” Mr. Sigurdson says the gift is worth $65 million, but that will continue to grow.

The money will come to the College of Agriculture without any restrictions, so the college can decide how the money is spent.