Does grammar trip you up? According to Google, even professional linguists have a hard time agreeing on grammatical suggestions. Google’s research found that one-in-four linguist disagrees whether a grammar suggestion is correct. To help its users avoid more grammar glitches, the professional (paid) versions of Google’s cloud-based office productivity software suite is in the process of adding machine learning techniques to a grammar-checking feature.

Google Docs first introduced spell check seven years ago. Soon, you will start seeing the new grammar feature showing up in all three paid “professional” versions of Google’s cloud-based business suite: G-Suite Basic, Business, and Enterprise.

If you make a potential grammar mistake, a squiggly blue line will appear under the phrase as you write it. You can choose to accept the suggestion by right-clicking it.

“Affect” versus “effect,” “there” versus “their,” or even more complicated rules like how to use prepositions correctly or the right verb tense, are examples of errors that grammar suggestions can help you catch. Because this technology is built right into Docs, you don’t have to rely on third-party apps to do the work.

How it works

When it comes to spelling, you can typically look up whether or not a word exists in the dictionary. But grammar is different. It’s a more complex set of rules that can vary based on the language, region, style and more. Because it’s subjective, it can be a harder problem to tackle using a fixed set of rules. To solve the problem, Google will start using machine translation to build a model that can incorporate the complexity and nuances of grammar correction.

When will you see it?

Google says all G Suite users will soon see grammar suggestions popping up in Google Docs. Some of the common ones include usage of affect versus effect, when to use they’re instead of their, and tricky tense issues. To differentiate it from standard spellcheck, which highlights misspelled words in red, the grammar checker will use blue squiggly lines to underscore an error that should be addressed.

As noted earlier, grammar check will only be a feature of the business versions of Google docs.

Other grammar apps for Google docs

We are fans of Grammarly, however, please don’t blame our mistakes on them.

Learn more about how machine learning is used in this process in this detailed blog post.

GoogleImages | Google

If you were ever a user of the now defunct Google Reader, you may believe that the end of Google Reader meant the end of RSS  (Really Simple Syndication). However, that would be like believing electricity dies when you turn off the lights. Google Reader may be gone, but each day and night, tens of millions of articles, blog posts, podcasts, photos, etc., still flow into RSS reader apps and podcast players. Even better, the newsreaders available in 2017 are greatly improved over what Google Reader was for catching and organizing content flowing through the internet via RSS.

It was via an RSS feed from Gizmodo that I was reminded how dependent I am on RSS to keep up with the various types of news and information important to my work (and play). I agree with Gizmodo: “RSS is far better for following the flow of news than any alternative source, including and especially social media…It is faster, more efficient, and you won’t have to worry as much about accidentally leaking your news reading habits to all your Facebook friends.”

What is RSS?

Today (June 25, 2017), the cloud-based business software company, Zoho, redefined a suite and pricing of business software with its launch of Zoho One, a platform and licensing model connecting 35+ mobile, native, and web software apps. Google, Apple and Microsoft each have a cloud-based suite of business-focused software applications. Each offers a subscription model and provides the basics: word processing, presentation, spreadsheet, calendar, and contacts, along with some data and file storage options. Unlike their subscription model where a company pays a few dollars per employee per month (for a few software applications), Zoho One is priced at $30 per employee, per month, for the entire 35+ collection of software.

Previously, Zoho has focused primarily on the small business market and has created independent software and business service apps. But in a project lasting four years, Zoho has combined all of those independent apps onto one data platform with a plan to expand its market beyond small businesses. Raju Vegesna, Zoho’s chief evangelist, said the company wanted to make its entire business operating system available in a buffet. “We think this will expand the market,” said Vegesna. “We initially thought Zoho One would appeal to smaller companies, but we’re seeing mid- to large-enterprise beta customers.”

Zoho will now be competing with software in nearly all business categories, including Google, Microsoft, Oracle’s NetSuite, Salesforce and Intuit. “We are targeting anyone who does work. This isn’t a traditional way of looking at the business market,” said Vegesna.

Zoho One’s Challenge

The challenge of going broad with a 35+ application suite of software services is the eco-systems already developed around the software that individual industries are built upon, like Intuit or Salesforce. In military terminology and strategy, the expression “two-front war” describes a situation in which a country finds itself fighting enemies from two directions (e.g., Germany in World War II). In choosing to offer 35+ different software categories, Zoho will find itself engaged in a 35+ front war. According to Zoho, it has 1,000+ implementation and training partners who are available to help customers whenever needs arise.

Zoho One Applications

The array of software categories and applications in the Zoho One suite in impressive. Here is a list of the categories and applications in each.

Sales

• CRM
  A multichannel approach to modern sales processes. (Customer relationship management.)
• Motivator
  Gamification-enhanced sales performance.
• Reports
  A business intelligence platform.
• ContactManager
  A small business app to manage contacts and deals until you graduate into the full-blown CRM.

Marketing

• SalesIQ
  Engages website visitors.
• Campaigns
  Create, send, and track email campaigns.
• Social
  Post content, interact with followers, and monitor conversations across social networks, from one place.
• Survey
  Helps make decisions using feedback from surveys.
• Forms
  Forms for lead generation and customer engagement.

Support

• Desk
  A multi-channel help desk that helps prioritize support requests.
• Assist
  Troubleshoots customer issues remotely for quick resolutions.

Productivity & Collaboration

• Mail
  Securely hosted, ad-free email.
• Cliq
  Quick and informal messaging for team communication.
• Connect
  A private social network for team discussion and sharing resources.
• Writer
  An online word processor for collaborative work.
• Sheet
  A collaborative cloud spreadsheet.
• Show
  Create slide decks with ideas from multiple collaborators.
• Showtime
  Present slide decks to audiences anywhere and interact with them.
• Docs
  Store and share files and documents with teammates, partners, vendors, or customers.
• Projects
  Plan, track, and collaborate on projects across teams.
• Meeting
  Browser-based web conferencing for demos and presentations.
• Vault
  Securely store and manage passwords.
• Notebook
  A simple note-taking app.
• Sign
  Sign documents digitally and request signatures.

Finance

• Books
  Online accounting software.
• Invoice
  Professional invoices.
• Subscriptions
  Bills customers on a recurring or subscription basis.
• Expense
  Turn receipts into expense reports for quick approvals.
• Inventory
  A centralized inventory management system for distributed sales channels like retail stores, online shops, or marketplaces like Amazon or eBay.
• Checkout
  Simple one-time and recurring online payments solution.

Human Resources

• People
  Manage your employees, including managerial approvals, performance management, and more.
• Recruit
  Designed for both in-house recruiters and staffing agencies.

Business Process

• Creator
  Turn unique processes into custom applications.
• Reports
  Business intelligence platform that provides useful insights about your business.

The small business marketing management and automation company Infusionsoft announced on Tuesday (April 25, 2017) the launch of a new simple-to-use mobile-based marketing platform called Infusionsoft Propel. According to Terry Hicks, the company’s COO, Propel will allow small business owners and managers with no marketing expertise to develop marketing campaigns. The announcement was made at ICON, the company’s annual user conference in Phoenix, Arizona. In addition to Propel, the company unveiled a long list of new features for its existing campaign management platform. 

Background: Infusionsoft

Infusionsoft is a platform of software services that includes Customer Relationship Management (CRM), marketing automation, sales automation and e-commerce. The platform also offers a marketplace of third-party features and services from independent “partner developers” and hundreds of agencies and individuals who provide digital marketing services managed with Infusionsoft.

Here’s an example. If you are a small business owner who has contracted with a digital marketing firm or individual to help you manage your online marketing and customer relationship activities, there’s a good chance the platform and tools they use to help you are from Infusionsoft. Similar to the way the financial management software company Intuit markets its services to accountants and bookkeepers who, in turn, can assist their clients who use QuickBooks, Infusionsoft has a model for marketing services like CRM and marketing automation. It works with independent digital marketers who, in turn, provide consulting and creative services to small and local businesses.

The core product of Infusionsoft is an “end-to-end” product that digital marketers can use to manage the distribution and step-by-step follow-up interactions with potential and existing customers. For example, without an automated strategy, a service provider–a house painter, for example–may email an estimate once to a homeowner requesting the estimate. With an automated system, an entire campaign of emails can be sent at pre-planned intervals to follow-up the estimate with a series of relevant messages (or, as Infusionsoft calls it, “follow-up marketing”), depending on the response of the homeowner.

Infusionsoft Propel

Again, using the Intuit analogy, there are many small business owners who, if the software is easy-to-use, will opt for a do-it-yourself approach. Infusionsoft Propel is designed for small business owners and managers with no marketing expertise to develop marketing campaigns, Infusionsoft vice president of product management, Rupesh Shah, told SmallBusiness.com. “It starts with organizing customer information and then allows owners to choose from proven marketing campaigns, designed by experts.”

Once selected, Propel guides owners through a step-by-step experience to personalize and run the campaigns in minutes, according to Shah.

Key features of Infusionsoft Propel

Customer Information Organization | Propel collects and organizes customer information wherever it resides, giving users a single, consolidated view and ability to run campaigns

Guided Experience | A simple, guided questions & answers experience with little time commitment that helps users personalize and launch campaigns in just minutes

Templated, Proven Campaigns | Business owners will be able to use a marketplace offering a growing number of proven, templated campaigns that will no require owners to develop marketing skills.

Automation Recommendations | These will guide users through automated follow-up steps recommended to improve results.

Automatic Personalized Branding |  The tool “scrapes” a business owner’s website for the company logo and color scheme to create a personalized business appearance with no effort.

New features announced for Infusionsoft’s legacy platform

Landing Pages | Simplifies getting and capturing leads

Facebook Advertising Services | A done-for-you advertising service that runs Facebook ads on a customer’s behalf each month

WordPress Integration | Infusionsoft users who have built their website on the WordPress platform can now place a simple opt-in form anywhere on their site and have completed form data automatically submitted into Infusionsoft CRM and campaigns

Vimeo Business Integration | Users can add an email capture box within a video to capture leads and send them directly to Infusionsoft.

Translation for International Customers | Infusionsoft users can now automatically create a seamless, end-to-end experience for their customers who don’t speak English. Their customer-facing pages can be automatically translated into French, Portuguese, Spanish, or German.

The popular information-organizing web service, Evernote, thought it was announcing a great idea last week. It is adding machine learning capabilities to make the service work more intuitively. However, what turned out to be the company’s clumsy announcement of their plan caused many users to push back hard on Evernote’s privacy policy changes that accompanied the machine learning plans.

Within two days of the announcement, Evernote backed down on their privacy change that gave the company permission to access any content created and saved by its users. “Evernote is reaffirming its commitment to keep privacy at the center of what we do. As a result, we will not implement the previously announced Privacy Policy changes that were scheduled to go into effect January 23, 2017,” the company said in a statement on its blog.

“We announced a change to our privacy policy that made it seem like we didn’t care about the privacy of our customers or their notes. This was not our intent, and our customers let us know that we messed up, in no uncertain terms. We heard them, and we’re taking immediate action to fix it,” said company CEO Chris O’Neill.

O’Neill indicated the company was still moving forward on machine learning projects but told , “If any human is going to be involved, it’s going to be on an opt-in basis, period” O’Neill told IDG’s Blair Hanley Frank.

See Also on SmallBusiness.com

Machine Learning Projects Point to a Future of Data-Driven Small Business Strategy

Helping small businesses get paid more quickly, boost their cash flow and save time organizing their finances is the goal of Intuit’s QuickBooks Online, according to Sasan Goodarzi, executive vice president of Intuit’s Small Business Group. Intuit today unveiled a broad range of enhancements to QuickBooks Online at its annual conference for 5,000 accountants and small business owners, QuickBooks Connect, in San Jose. This year, more than 500 developers are also attending the conference to review the enhancements being unveiled today and to receive information on how they can integrate their products into the QuickBooks Online platform.

QuickBooks Online Enhancements

Below are some highlights of the new Quickbooks Online partnerships and new features announced today. We will be going in-depth on some of these in a later article. The features will be released at different times between now and the first quarter of 2017.

Payments

Some of the new enhancements planned (or currently available) for Quicken Online designed to speed up payments include:

Apple Pay Integration

QuickBooks Online will be the first small business accounting solution to integrate Apple Pay, giving small business owners a fast, secure way of accepting payment from their customers. Customers will be able to view and pay an invoice with a single touch without having to spend time searching for their wallet and finding the right card. Every transaction on a customer’s iPhone or iPad will require Touch ID – Apple’s fingerprint identity sensor – authentication or passcode, helping small businesses avoid fraud and decrease chargebacks.

PayPal

Intuit and PayPal are expanding their existing partnership. A new feature will allow small businesses to send an invoice from QuickBooks Online and seamlessly accept payment from their customers through PayPal.

Smart Invoice

This new feature of QuickBooks tracks and notifies a small businesses about what’s happening with their invoices every step of the way.

Cash Flow

The current QuickBooks Financing platform allows small businesses to integrate QuickBooks data to demonstrate their credit worthiness, streamline the application process. It shortens the loan processing time significantly, from weeks to as little as one business day. To date, small businesses have secured more than $500 million in credit through QuickBooks Financing. More cash flow and financing features and partnerships include

A new QuickBooks financing platform

QuickBooks Financing gives small businesses the ability to use their QuickBooks data to apply for the full spectrum of credit offerings including, short and long term loans, lines of credit, invoice financing and Small Business Administration loans. In addition to AMEX Working Capital, Intuit is adding BlueVine’s Flex Credit to the platform. Flex Credit is particularly well suited to new small businesses. To be eligible for financing, businesses only need to have been in business for six months and have minimum annual revenue of $60,000.

AMEX working capital

Small businesses that need a short-term loan to pay a vendor will benefit from a deep integration with AMEX Working Capital. It will provide short-term loans directly within QuickBooks Online. Small businesses will be able to access loans between $1,000 and $750,000 to pay vendors and get more time to even out cash flow. One single fee will be associated with each loan term, including 30-day, 0.5 percent; 60-day, 1.0 percent; 90-day, 1.5 percent. Each loan is tied to a specific receivable.

Organization and Time Management

Eighty-one percent of small business owners say they are too busy with other tasks to take the steps to improve their money management. To make it easier for small businesses to seamlessly sync their data and understand their business performance, QuickBooks Online enhancements include:

Google and G Suite integration

Fifty percent of QuickBooks Online users also use Google Calendar. A new integration imports data seamlessly from Google into QuickBooks Online. The time that recorded in Google Calendar flows into QuickBooks. Small businesses can also now access QuickBooks Online through G Suite (formerly Google Apps for Work) and sign-in once using their Google credentials.

Auto expense feature

QuickBooks automatically balances the books by matching income and expenses with the correct category. QuickBooks categorizes over 70 percent of a small business’ transactions, saving users time and making it easier to prepare for tax season.

Money insights at the click of a button

QuickBooks Online connects all of a small businesses’ accounts in one place, automating the flow of data so that business owners have a simple, integrated view of how money flows in and out of their business.

In 2014, we wrote that you’d be hearing lots about Facebook for Work in 2015. At that time, we said it sounded like a great platform with a terrible name. Why? “The brand Facebook is perceived by many as a distraction from work, not a tool for work,” we wrote. As described at the time, the Slack-like, Yammer-like product sounded like Facebook with new metaphors that suggest workflow instead of avoiding workflow.

We were wrong about one thing: We’ve heard nothing about Facebook for Work for nearly two years. Until today, that is. It launched today.

We were right about another: Their research must have uncovered what we warned. For whatever reason, they’ve changed the name to Workplace by Facebook and launched it today.

Workplace now works

Workplace is now available to any company or organization that wants to use it. There is a signup page that indicates a “sales team” will work with a company or organization “to understand your needs and help launch Workplace across your organization.”

Facebook, Plus New Features

Workplace retains Facebook’s basic structure. You’ll  recognize the News Feed and the ability to create and share in Groups or via chat. Other recognizable Facebook features include Live, Reactions, Search and Trending posts.

The new product also includes some new features such as a dashboard with analytics and integrations with single sign-on, in addition to identity providers that allow companies to more easily integrate Workplace with a company’s existing IT setup.

Collaborate with Clients and Other Companies

Workplace also has a new feature not found in Facebook called Multi-Company Groups. These are shared spaces that allow employees from different organizations to work together–
“to extend collaboration beyond one company in a safe and secure way,” says Facebook. (Note: Rolling out later.)

The Workplace Partner Program

For Workplace, Facebook has developed a network of IT consultants called the Workplace Partner Program. This is a network of independent technology and professional service organizations that Facebook has created over the past year.

For more information | Workplace.fb.com or Facebook.com/workplace

Pricing

Free 3-month trial period

$3 per month per user | Up to 1k monthly active users
$2 per month per user | 1,001 – 10k monthly active users
$1 per month per user | 10,001+ monthly active users

• Free for Non-Profits and
• Educational Institutions

Specifications

• Unlimited file, photo, and video storage
• Unlimited team and project groups
• Live video streaming
• Monitoring tools for IT teams
• 1:1 support for administrators
• Secure collaboration between companies
• Single-sign on (SSO) support
• Integration with
  • G Suite (formerly Google Docs for Work)
  • Okta
  • OneLogin
  • Ping
  • Windows Azure AD

Photos: @Workplace

Most small businesses in a four-nation survey are using the cloud and relying on apps to run their business, according to research released by Intuit. The study covered a total of 2,000 small businesses; 500 each in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia. Below are some highlights along with an embedded PDF of the survey findings.*

What percentage of small businesses surveyed use web or mobile apps?

68% | Use mobile or web-based apps in the operation of their business
82% | (Of those using apps) Use between one and six apps to run their business.
66% | Use a smartphone

While tech-savvy businesses are integrating apps in record numbers, they are also running into persistent barriers with existing apps

41% | Unsure of which apps are best suited for their business
39% | Concerned with costs to integrate and train on apps
23% | Complexity is a concern

The Appification of Small Business Report | 2016 (PDF)

To view the report use the arrows ( back) (forward ) at the bottom left corner of the reader. If you are having trouble viewing the report, click here.

[pdf-embedder url=”http://smallbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/intuitqbdevslideshare0816v6-160826214953.pdf”]

*In 2015, Intuit conducted a similar study of U.S. small businesses.

Online payroll service SurePayroll, recently surveyed small business owners nationwide for its annual ranking of most popular small business “tech tools” in the categories of Cloud Storage, Organization Apps, Social Networks, Social Media Management, Customer Relationship Management and Email Marketing. Here are the results of the survey.

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“Small businesses with only a few employees are typically not going to have a lot of resources for extensive technology systems. Fortunately, there are some really beneficial, low-cost tools available,” said SurePayroll General Manager Andy Roe.

VIA | SurePayroll Facebook Page)

All small businesses must decide how to manage the money coming in and going out. It’s important to understand that each small business is unique, and we recommend that you consult with a trusted advisor when it comes to setting up and managing the accounting methods and platforms you should use. On an accompanying post, we’ve outlined the reasons you need two of those trusted advisors: a bookkeeper and an accountant. In this post, we provide an overview comparison of ten current (2016) popular online accounting software that you, a bookkeeper and accountant may use to turn your financial operations into a finely tuned machine. But there are more solutions your advisor might suggest.

(VIA | PCMag.com, where you will find reviews and links to each software platform below.)

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