Jeff Cassman, Author at Jeff Cassman

Sterling Background Check Review – What Makes Sterling Background Check Great and Where Sterling Background Check Falls Short

Sterling is a background check company specializing in criminal history checks, identity verifications, and drug and health screenings. Completing more than 95 million background checks annually, Sterling ensures that you can build a foundation of trust and safety among your employees in any industry with its overall accuracy.

Sterling offers a comprehensive background check solution for businesses of any size and promptly delivers the results you need.

Sterling Compared

Although Sterling didn’t make it onto our top list, it still offers extensive background check features that cater to small and medium-sized businesses. With that said, the best background check company for most people is Intelius because it has the functionality for unlimited background checks without an excessive price point. Sign up today and start a five-day unlimited trial for just $1.99.

Want to read more about the top best background check companies? We reviewed dozens of options and narrowed it down to the top five. If you want to scope out all of your options, see all of our top picks here.

Intelius — Best for unlimited background checks
GoodHire — Best for flexible pricing and intermittent use
B&B Reporting — Best for next-day background check results
Accurate — Most affordable background checks for small businesses
Verifirst — Best background check service for property management companies

About Sterling

Even though Sterling didn’t make it onto our top list, that doesn’t mean it’s a poor product. Sterling offers an extensive solution for general screenings that make it easier for you to hire faster and more efficiently.

Sterling’s comprehensive suite of products includes general screenings, drug and health screenings, financial and…

These Meats Increase Dementia Risk 44%

Some meats increase dementia risk, others reduce it, new research finds.

A single rasher of bacon each day raises the risk of dementia by 44 percent, a study finds.

In fact, eating just 25g of any processed meat per day was linked to increased risk.

Common processed meats include sausages, corned beef, salami, and dried meat.

Processed meat refers to anything that is not sold fresh, with processing including curing, salting and smoking.

However, not all meat is bad in this context.

People who ate 50g of unprocessed (fresh) red meat per day, including pork, beef or veal, had a 19 percent reduced risk of developing dementia.

Dementia affects up to one in 12 people over 60, with Alzheimer’s being the most common form, accounting for around 60 percent of cases.

Ms Huifeng Zhang, the study’s first author, said:

“Worldwide, the prevalence of dementia is increasing and diet as a modifiable factor could play a role.

Our research adds to the growing body of evidence linking processed meat consumption, to increased risk of a range of non-transmissible diseases.”

The study used data on almost half-a-million people from the UK Biobank.

The Biobank is a long-term project that tracks the well-being of volunteers in the UK, including genetic and health data.

Risk factors for developing dementia include being older, poorer, smoking, and being less physically active.

There are also genetic risk factors.

On top of these, though, eating more processed meat increased the risk of dementia substantially.

Ms Zhang said:

“Further confirmation is needed, but the direction of effect is linked to current healthy eating guidelines suggesting lower intakes of unprocessed red meat could be beneficial for health.”

This study is believed to be the first to link increased dementia risk to specific amounts of processed meats.

Professor Janet Cade, study co-author, said:

“Anything we can do to explore potential risk factors for dementia may help us to reduce rates of this debilitating condition.

This analysis is a first step towards understanding whether what we eat could influence that risk.”

→ Read on: Beat Dementia: 8 Changes Your Brain Will Thank You For

The study was published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Zhang et al., 2021).

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The Biggest Ad Fraud Cases and What We Can Learn From Them

Ad fraud is showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, the latest data indicates that it will cost businesses a colossal €120 billion by 2023. But even more worrying is that fraudsters’ tactics are becoming so sophisticated that even big-name companies such as Uber, Procter & Gamble, and Verizon have been victims of ad fraud in recent years.

So what does this mean for the rest of the industry? The answer is simple: every ad company, no matter their size or budget is just as at risk as the big guns – if not more.

In this article, I summarize some of the biggest and most shocking cases of ad fraud we’ve witnessed over recent years and notably, what vital lessons marketers and advertisers can learn from them to avoid wasting their own budgets.

The biggest ad fraud cases in recent years

From fake clicks and click flooding to bad bots and fake ad impressions, fraudsters have and will go to any lengths to siphon critical dollars from your ad budgets.

Let’s take a look at some of the most high-profile and harmful ad fraud cases of recent years that have impacted some of the most well-known brands around the world.

Methbot: $5 million a day lost through fake video views

In 2016, Aleksandr Zhukov, the self-proclaimed “King of Fraud”, and his group of fraudsters were discovered to have been making between $3 and $5 million a day by executing fake clicks on video advertisements.

Oft-cited as the biggest digital ad fraud operation ever uncovered, “Methbot” was a sophisticated botnet scheme that involved defrauding brands by enabling countless bots to watch 300 million video ads per day on over 6000 spoofed websites.

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Due to the relatively high cost-per-mille (CPM) for video ads, Aleksandr and his group were able to steal millions of dollars a day by targeting high-value marketplaces. Some of the victims of the Methbot fraud ring include The New York Times, The New York Post, Comcast, and Nestle.

In late 2021, Aleksandr Zhukov was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay over $3.8 million in restitution.

Uber: $100 million wasted in ad spend

In another high-profile case, transportation giant Uber filed a lawsuit against five ad networks in 2019 – Fetch, BidMotion, Taptica, YouAppi, and AdAction Interactive – and won.

Uber claimed that its ads were not converting, and ultimately discovered that roughly two-thirds of its ad budget ($100 million) wasn’t needed. This was on account of ad retargeting companies that were abusing the system by creating fraudulent traffic.

…

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ADP Alternatives and Competitors – 2022 Review

Our favorite ADP alternative is Gusto because it has built-in time tracking, automated payroll cycles, and plenty of other comprehensive features. Start your 30-day free trial to determine whether it fits your needs.

ADP provides excellent payroll services to many small and large enterprises. Even though ADP made it to our list of top payroll service providers, it is not the only option, nor necessarily the best one for every business.

The Quick Sprout research team spent hundreds of hours analyzing many payroll service providers. After carefully studying the data and creating a criteria system, our team narrowed the list to the top five online payroll services we recommend.

The 5 Best Online Payroll Services

The best ADP alternative is Gusto, which is ideal for remote teams and provides them with several tools to manage their payroll activities seamlessly, even with a dispersed workforce. Start your 30-day free trial to see if it’s the right fit for you.

Gusto — Best for dispersed workforces
Paychex — Best for experienced payroll teams
OnPay — Best for simplifying all things payroll
QuickBooks Payroll — Best for solopreneurs and small teams
ADP — Best for never outgrowing your payroll provider

Read a detailed review of each of the mentioned payroll services here to make an informed decision for your business.

Gusto – Best for Dispersed Workforces

More than 200,000 businesses trust Gusto across the US for payroll processing. It offers plenty of features that help in onboarding and managing employees. It is…

Episode 1926 Scott Adams PART1: Let’s Talk About Election System Credibility, If That Is Still Legal, More

Content:

If President Trump develops a fentanyl plan
FTX crypto creator Bankman-Fried
Why TikTok isn’t going to be banned
Delayed election vote counts
Arizona election system
Why midterms didn’t go as predicted
If you would like to enjoy this same content plus bonus content from Scott Adams, including micro-lessons on lots of useful topicsto build your talent stack, please see scottadams.locals.com for full access to that secret treasure.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Why SMS Marketing Should be Part of your Digital Strategy in 2023 & How to Make it Work

Short message service (SMS) is one of the most underrated yet effective mobile advertising channels. Research conducted by Statista in 2021 shows that SMS and texting experienced a 75 percent year-over-year increase in popularity among customers—higher than email and in-app messaging.

Similarly, as people become more comfortable interacting with businesses via mobile devices, now is an excellent time to leverage SMS marketing. As such, this article sheds light on why SMS marketing should be part of your digital strategy in 2023 and the diverse ways you can make it work.
Why SMS marketing should be part of your digital strategy
Irrespective of how sophisticated your digital strategy is already, you need SMS marketing in your arsenal. Here’s why:

1. Excellent open and read rates

Emails may stay unread for days, and customers will probably swipe past your sponsored social media ads without blinking. Yet, people read text messages almost immediately after they are received.

This is because people are more likely to open their default text messaging app than turn on their data connection to access emails and react to ads on social media platforms. Statistics also show that over 90% of SMS are opened within three minutes compared to 33% for emails.

Furthermore, texts reach the target audience faster than email or social media ads, as they are not subject to third-party algorithms.

2. Great for mobile optimization

SMS provides a better user experience because text messages go straight to consumers’ mobile phones. Customers do not have to download any app, put up with the noise on social media, or scroll through several emails to interact with your brand.

The text limit for SMS also makes your messages short and easy to read. In less than one minute, customers can get the intent of your message and respond if necessary.

Moreover, a recent survey by Statista had half the respondents saying that they spend five to six hours on their mobile phones daily. This is more reason to make SMS marketing part of your digital strategy.

3. Works very well with email marketing

You don’t have to discard email marketing when adding SMS to your digital strategy. As a matter of fact, SMS and email marketing work very well together.

Play the strengths of SMS to deliver time-sensitive news about events, service reminders, feedback requests, or other real-time alerts, then follow up via email for more detailed info.

Consequently, this goes a long way to boost your email engagements while maintaining your SMS open and read rates. You can also utilize the creative aspects of email marketing in SMS marketing. Consider using mobile-friendly designs and adding different forms of media (audio and images) to your messages.

4. Perfect for two-way conversations

SMS allows you to have real-time human interactions with your customers. When you send messages, customers can respond using number codes or keywords. These increase return purchases and…

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How to Offend Christmas – Leadership Freak

How to Offend Christmas

Generosity, joy, and kindness seem easier during Christmas. If we could flush commercialism it would truly be the most wonderful time of the year. Two things offend Christmas, artificial trees and white lights.

Authentic people have real trees. Everyone else insults mankind with fakery. The only thing worse than a fake Christmas tree is the double offense of a fake flocked Christmas tree. The first offense of an artificial Christmas tree is pretending to be real. Adding fake snow is pretentious self-importance.

White lights offend the spirit of Christmas glaring with monotonous drudgery. Authentic people have colored lights on real trees. Bringing in the greens was a celebration of life in the darkness of winter. Fake trees insult life. They aren’t alive and never will be.

Trees are expensive in Pennsylvania this year. We have miles of forest and a gazillion evergreens, but one Christmas tree is a hundred bucks. I remember when dad and I trudged into the forest and came out with a real tree for free.

Christmas tree supply is, like many things, tight. Something about a disease a few years ago has created shortage. Picking a tree is like walking through Sam’s Club and seeing something you might need next month. You better get it because when they run out, that’s it.

Monday morning my wife did the unthinkable. She ordered an artificial tree. It arrived with commercial precision Tuesday morning. To add insult to injury, she purchased – with our hard-earned money – a flocked tree. I can’t even use the word Christmas to describe it.

The final offense is white lights look great on it.

What long-held beliefs have you let go?

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Bimonthly vs. Biweekly Pay: 7 Key Differences

Many businesses use biweekly or bimonthly payroll cycles to compensate their employees. For the most part, employees get paid twice a month with both methods, but each has several key differences that determine if it works well in a given company or industry.

Bimonthly and biweekly payments differ mainly in their payroll processing timing. However, finer details, like efficiency and the types of employees you have, will affect which one you choose. Payroll processing software can help you keep track of your pay periods and ensure that your employees get paid correctly and on time.

1. Number of Yearly Paychecks

Bimonthly or semimonthly pay cycles give employees 24 paychecks per year, two per month. Many companies issue these payments at the beginning and middle or the middle and end of each month.

A biweekly payment cycle issues a paycheck every two weeks, so employees receive two additional paychecks per year for a total of 26. As a result, employees get three paychecks during two months of the year. If the first paycheck falls on a Friday early in the month, employees will get paid on that day, another Friday in the middle of the month, and a third Friday at the end of the month.

Gusto homepage Gusto helps everyone on your team process payroll fast and get paid on time every pay period.

The difference in the number of paychecks doesn’t affect how much your employees get paid—it just distributes that payment differently. For some people, getting paid biweekly makes them feel like they’re making more money, and it can be convenient since they don’t have to wait as long between pay cycles. With bimonthly paychecks, they may have to wait a few extra days.

A payroll processing service like

Talking Fast May Be A Sign Of Intelligence And Has Other Advantages

Talking fast may make people appear more intelligent, although the evidence is mixed — research reveals if there are other advantages.

Beware the fast-talker, the person with the gift of the gab—the friendly salesman, the oily politician—running through the ‘facts’ faster than you can keep up. Rat-a-tat-tat.

What does all that fast talking do to us? Does it have advantages?

Are we more persuaded by their apparent confidence and grasp of the subject?

Or, are we less persuaded because all the information comes at us too fast to be processed?

Advantages of talking fast

When psychologists first began examining the effect of speech rate on persuasion, they thought the answer was cut-and-dried.

In 1976 Norman Miller and colleagues tried to convince participants that caffeine was bad for them (Miller et al., 1976).

The results suggested people were most persuaded when the message was delivered at a fully-caffeinated 195 words per minute rather than at a decaffeinated 102 words per minute.

At 195 words per minute, about the fastest that people speak in normal conversation, the message became more credible to those listening, and therefore more persuasive.

Talking fast seemed to signal confidence, intelligence, objectivity and superior knowledge.

[However, another study in a different context has found that speaking slowly is linked to sounding intelligent, so the link is far from proven.]

Going at about 100 words per minute, the usual lower limit of normal conversation, was associated with all the reverse attributes.

These results, along with a couple of other studies, lead some researchers to think that speaking quickly was a potential ‘magic bullet’ of persuasion.

Perhaps we should watch out for people who speak quickly—who knows what we might agree to.

Advantages of talking slowly

By the 1980s, though, other researchers had begun to wonder if these results could really be correct.

They pointed to studies suggesting that while talking faster seemed to boost credibility, it didn’t always boost persuasion.

The effects of talking fast might not all be positive; for example, when someone talks quickly it can be hard to keep up with what they are saying, so the persuasive message doesn’t have a chance to take hold.

By the 1990s a more nuanced relationship between speech rate and persuasion emerged.

Stephen Smith and David Shaffer, for example, tried to convince one group of student participants the legal age for drinking should be kept at 21 (Smith & Shaffer, 1991).

Another group they tried to persuade the age should not be 21 (this was shortly after the legal age for drinking in the US was raised to 21).

Fast, slow and intermediate speech rates were employed and this time a telling twist emerged.

When the message was counter-attitudinal (you’ll not be amazed to hear that college students don’t like the idea they can’t legally drink in bars), fast talking was more persuasive than the intermediate, with slow talking being the least persuasive of all.

Exactly the reverse effect was seen when the message was pro-attitudinal.

When preaching to the converted, it was slow speech that emerged as the most persuasive.

The question became: why does the effect reverse…

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The Anatomy of High-Converting Sales Copy

And no, you don’t need to be a copywriter or hire one. Yet.

Can this post alone help you write your high-converting sales copy? Keep reading.

Will it feel like a lot of work? Maybe.

Will it work? Yes.

When some entrepreneurs and marketers think of writing copy, they either turn to AI or Google their way through it. Maybe they get lucky and score a free template they can copy and paste.

Unfortunately, this is lazy. And lazy effort equals sluggish results. But you’re not lazy. You’re here to peruse this article and get to work right after.

Here’s what you need to do to nail your sales copy:

Doing Voice of Customer Research

This research involves learning everything you need to know about your current and prospective clients.

So that you can learn:

Their wants
Their needs
Their frustrations
Their successes
Their motivations
Their hesitations
Past failed solutions
What they are saying about your competitors
What they are saying about your brand
What they think about themselves

If you skip this step, you’ll risk not knowing what your ideal clients are saying or how they’re saying it.

Which means you’ll risk not connecting with them on any level.

Without this research, you’ll write copy blindly and guess your way through it rather than using your prospects’ words and phrases.

And guess what… this research alone can write 90% of your copy for you.

You can do this research in many ways. You can interview some of your clients and possibly survey them.

You can also read your positive and negative reviews and sort them based on the list above. Last but not least, you can read social media comments and even forums.

At the end of this research, you want to have an organized spreadsheet with the data you collected and sorted using the bullet points from above. Use this spreadsheet to help drive your copy.

The research above will tell you what to say and how to say it. If your biggest blocker around writing copy is not knowing what to write, you’ll eliminate it after doing your Voice of Customer research.

Copywriting Is Hard, We Made It Simple…

Discover The Foolproof Copywriting Formulas For Crafting Winning Sales Messaging From Scratch Every Time…Even If You Suck At Writing!

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Structuring Your Funnel

This is where you take a step back and wireframe your funnel before you work on your assets. Start with your traffic sources (social media, paid ads, blogs, etc.) and what their last step should be (purchase).

After you plot the beginning and end of your funnel, filling in what goes in between is easier. You’ll also be able to tell how many assets you’ll need.

Let’s say you’re selling a low-ticket product. Your simple funnel could be ads > landing page to lead magnet > email sequence > purchase.

If you’re…

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