Unless you’ve been living under a rock, it should come as no shock to anyone that mobile technology has become a huge part of our daily lives. We use our phones for everything – navigation, social media, watching TV, and sometimes, to call people. In fact, 91% of smartphone owners have their phones within arm’s reach 24/7.

Why does this matter? If your business has a web component and you aren’t planning a mobile marketing strategy, then you are costing your company a very significant source of visitors, and ultimately customers. Being able to conduct business on your phone is the ultimate form of convenience, and if your company isn’t easily accessible to customers, they may think, “meh, why bother?”

Gone are the days when it was only the morning news shows and Oprah who told us what products to buy. Now, we just trust strangers.

That’s right, 33 percent of millennials, which represent about a fourth of the American population and possess $200 billion in annual buying power, rely mostly on blogs before they make a purchase.

Marketers are taking notice, trying to find ways to implement blogs and other user generated content into their marketing campaigns. But a blog can’t simply be written by your CEO, that’s not who millennials want to hear from. What these powerful shoppers are looking for is content from peers and celebrities on what’s hot and what’s not.

Your computer freezes, shuts off, or just generally does something that it shouldn’t - what do you do?

If you are anything like me, you sit and wonder. Then you might try turning it on and off again. After that, it’s time to start looking for help.

If your computer breaks down, much like if your car breaks down, who are you going to call? Not Ghostbusters, the guy you call is Gilbert Cerda of Knockout PC Repair.

Every business owner has their own story for how they came to where they are today. It probably all started with a dream. That appeal of "being your own boss" and calling all the shots does have a ring to it. But very few know what it is like to own a company before they are hardly old enough to drink. Meet Makayla Thom, the 21-year-old owner of Heritage Blossom's. In the past year she's bought her own company, taken a trip to Italy, jumped into the learning curve of running a shop, oh, and of course, become a member of BizX. 

School is back in session. The pressure for vacations and trips is off, and you can rest easy knowing that for now, all you have to plan is day-to-day life. Flights, hotels or visits to foreign countries will be put off for a bit.

However, Thanksgiving break and winter vacation will be here before you know it, and those family vacations will be back in full swing. Remember the misbehavior and challenges you didn’t anticipate while traveling with your kids over the summer? Reactions from other adults, your partner or even your children might have hinted at something wrong in how this last vacation worked, or well, didn’t.