In the News: Twitter, Snapchat Unveil New Features

If you want your business to make an impact on social media, you need to establish trust and provide great content. A couple of new features from Twitter and Snapchat could help you boost your social media game in those areas.

Twitter has announced an application process for verified accounts, marking the first time that anyone can apply for that status. And Snapchat finally created a feature that lets you archive and see your old photos from the platform. See these headlines and more in this week's Small Business Trends news and information roundup.

Social Media

Don't Have a Verified Twitter Account Yet? Read This

On July 19, Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) announced the creation of an online application process for verified accounts. This process marks the first time that the social media giant has opened the gates to allow any person or business to apply for verified status.

Oh Snap! Snapchat's Memories Feature Now Lets You See Old Photos

Oh snap! Snapchat wants you to hold on to your photos and videos for a little longer. The new Snapchat Memories feature is a shareable and searchable archive of snaps. The feature allows you to save photos you take within Snapchat's server.  The company, in its press release describes Memories as “a personal collection of your favorite moments that lives below the Camera screen.

Is This New Snapchat Ad Feature Cool - or Creepy? (Watch)

Snapchat may soon be able to sell ads based on things it recognizes in users' photos. The company recently filed a patent for a behavioral targeting system that uses image recognition technology to find specific items and then suggest filters based on those items. So for example, if Snapchat recognizes that a photo includes the Empire State Building, it could suggest a King Kong filter.

HootSuite  Game Changer: Access DropBox, OneDrive and More Right From Your Dashboard

Popular web-based social media management platform Hootsuite has integrated Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) OneDrive, Box and other content sources into its publishing platform. The integration will allow you to access GIFs and photos from other digital assets directly from your cloud content repositories within Hootsuite.

Solomoto Platform Handles Webdesign, CRM, Ecommerce, More

Solomoto is a marketing technology provider that helps small companies grow by centralizing their digital business needs into an all-in-one platform that encompasses web design, ecommerce, CRM, social media marketing and ad campaigning. The company is based in Tel Aviv, Israel, and launched in 2015.

Economy

Congress Needs to Help Small Business by Deterring Patent Trolls

Small business owners are facing a growing problem. More and more of them are receiving letters from companies demanding payment for alleged patent infringement.

Employment

Overtime Pay Reform Bill Seeks Three-Year Phase-In of New Rules

A new bill has been proposed that would give small businesses and others a three-year phase-in to handle a transition to new overtime regulations. Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR) introduced the Overtime and Reform Enhancement Act, legislation that would stretch out implementation of the Department of Labor's (DOL) final overtime rule, introduced in May and supported by the Obama administration.

Green Business

These Ugly Apples Could Boost Sales and Save the Environment (Watch)

If you could save some money by buying fruit with some visual imperfections, would you? That's the idea behind Walmart's new partnership with a company called “I'm Perfect.” The company sells apples with blemishes, marks and other imperfections at a discounted rate. This plan seems to be a plus for everyone.

Research

Sage Study Paints Portrait of the Millennial Entrepreneur

Concerns about an impending economic slowdown are a worry for most businesses. But young millennials are unfazed as they appear optimistic about the future, according to a new survey. The global study by software company Sage shows young millennials are driven by a desire for independence, a belief in social good and a commitment to employee happiness.

Retail Trends

Chick Fil-A Shakes Up Breakfast - with this New Take on the Egg White Sandwich (Watch)

Chick-Fil-A is adding to its breakfast menu for the first time since 2010. The latest addition to the fast food chain's menu is called the Egg White Grill. It's made with grilled chicken, egg whites, American cheese and an English muffin.

Ice Cream Month Gives Businesses Unique Promotional Opportunities (Watch)

There's National Trivia Day, Talk Like a Pirate Day, and even Beer Can Appreciation Day. So it shouldn't come as any great surprise that there's a day (and a whole month) to celebrate ice cream. But National Ice Cream Day, which took place over the weekend, and the rest of National Ice Cream Month, is about more than just celebrating a silly holiday.

Small Biz Spotlight

Spotlight: Need a Virtual Staffing Service? Try Conversational

Hiring an assistant or receptionist can provide a big boost for small business productivity. But some businesses just don't have the resources to bring on full time staff members to cover those duties. That's where Conversational comes in. The company has a staff of full time assistants and receptionists who can work for a variety of different businesses virtually.

Small Business Operations

eBay Business Supply Brings B2B Sales Under One Umbrella

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) last week announced a significant combining and rebranding of several different eBay business-to-business (B2B) offerings, bringing them all under one umbrella the company calls eBay Business Supply. The eBay B2B offerings now encompassed under eBay Business Supply are: Business & Industrial, SAP Ariba Spot Buy, and eBay Wholesale Deals solutions.

Taxes

IRS Reporting Rules on Sales of Tractors, Trailers, Trucks Draw Fire

The Internal Revenue Service has proposed rules that would update a more than 30-year-old definition of “highway vehicle” as it relates to excise taxes imposed on the sale of highway tractors, trailers, trucks and tires and the use of heavy vehicles on the highway. Small business advocates, not happy with the new rules, are firing back.

Technology Trends

SwagBot May be the Mechanized Helper on Small Farms of The Future

Small farmers and ranchers may soon find their new hires are no longer human. But if a group of robotics researchers have their way, they may end up with something even better.

Voila!  Ori Robotic Furniture Can Change Your Living Room to a Home Office in Seconds

With the need for smaller more cost effective living spaces in mind, Ori Systems has developed a line of modular furniture that makes the most of the space that is becoming more and more of a premium. And, though not yet applied outside the residential market, the technology has clear applications for maximizing precious office space as well.

This App Discovers Whether Your Confidential Data Is in the Wild

Global Velocity, a developer of security software small businesses can use to protect their critical data, today announced the release of the latest version of its flagship security application, Securio 4.0. The app has the ability to scour the dark sections of the Internet to locate stolen information and notify the victimized business that a confidential data breach has occurred.

What Is Pokemon Go and Why Your Small Business Can't Afford to Miss This Trend?

If you haven't seen scads of people near you seemingly chasing figments of their imagination down sidewalks, through public parks, or - let's hope this isn't the case - into traffic, you've likely heard of Pokemon Go.

Alcatel OneTouch IDOL 4, 4S are Mid-Range Phones - with VR Goggles

Alcatel is one of the companies incorporating VR into their phones with its OneTouch IDOL 4 and 4S, which are ingeniously packaged inside the VR headset. When a particular technology starts experiencing a high rate of adoption, products and services begin to integrate said technology at a increased rate. Case in point is virtual reality (VR).

Pyze Introduces Freemium Mobile Analytics for Everyone

Smartphones have made apps one of the most popular ways in which we engage with brands and each other. According to market researcher App Annie, the mobile app market could grow to $100 billion by 2020, but there is a great disparity between the top and bottom app publishers.

Twitter Photo via Shutterstock

This article, "In the News: Twitter, Snapchat Unveil New Features" was first published on Small Business Trends