The year of 2016 is seeing retailers working toward social media as a form of commerce, with more efforts being made to determine the best way to drive sustainable e-commerce sales through social media. Some of the better known examples of the move to social commerce include Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) allowing customers to add items to their shopping carts with #AmazonCart, Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) adding a “Buy” button to make it easier for consumers to purchase items without leaving their social media accounts, and Coca-Cola’s (NYSE: KO) #ShareACoke campaign.

But, the evolution of social commerce truly started in 2012, when Facebook added its collection features. Later, in 2014, Facebook, Twitter (NYSE: TWTR), and Tumblr (NASDAQ: YHOO) added “Buy” buttons. In 2015, Facebook added a shoppable page and made messenger payments available, Instagram added a “Shop Now” feature, Pinterest added buyable pins, and Twitter finally expanded its Buy Now partnerships. In 2016, Facebook enabled a feature allowing consumers to buy event tickets on the social media site, and Pinterest added buyable pins open to all SMBs, as well as a Pinterest shopping cart.

In addition to the above developments, according to Sumo Heavy Industries (http://dtn.fm/LFq4h), social media referral traffic to e-commerce sites grew by 198%, with baby products, home furnishings, health and wellness, and automotive purchases being the most influenced by social media. Facebook showed the highest conversion rates for all social media e-commerce traffic at 1.85%, according to Shopify (http://dtn.fm/9wOLd).

Although social commerce is still developing, Sumo Heavy Industries found that it remains a promising channel, with 73% of users who have tried “Buy” buttons saying they would do it again, and one in five people saying they are open to the idea despite not having tried it yet. Also, according to an article published in Marketing Week (http://dtn.fm/0Fts7), out of 2,017 people aged 18 and over who were surveyed, 56% of them like or follow brands because of their products, and research shows that Facebook is the most popular site for direct purchases.

Yet not all businesses are convinced of this new way of selling. Some describe it as “making a mistake” while others have not optimized their websites for mobile use (51%). Not only this, 31% of these organizations have no intention of optimizing their sites, which millennials find increasingly irritating, according to statistics (http://dtn.fm/69fE0).

Fortunately, Moxian, Inc. (OTCQB: MOXC) is in the business of providing social marketing and promotion platforms to aid merchants in growing and advertising their businesses through social media. Moxian incorporates social media, entertainment, and business intelligence. The company is a multi-channel social commerce platform that includes a relationship management system in order to generate knowledge for merchants so they can better interact with their chosen audiences.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Moxian.com

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Already a leading provider of unique and highly innovative pet care solutions ranging from toys to feeding and waste management, Ohio-based OurPet’s Company, Inc. (OTCQX: OPCO) expects to expand its presence on the fast-growing pet care market through a unique line of products designed to awaken a pet’s natural instincts.

The company’s innovative products, as other premium pet care solutions available on the market, cater to the needs of a growing number of customers who are treating their pets like family members and are looking to buy only the most high-end products for them, according to an analysis from industry research report provider Sandler Research (http://dtn.fm/Xxtx2).

The report also shows that the global pet care market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.72% from 2016 to 2020, driven mostly by high profit margins for manufacturers offering a wide range of specialized, premium products. The highest revenue-generating geographic region in the market will be North America, expected to hold more than 40% of the market share.

Despite fierce competition on the pet care market, companies that consistently provide top-quality, premium products will only strengthen their positions, while many vendors will also take action to expand their business to emerging markets such as the Asia-Pacific, Central and South America, the report indicates.

With its unique line of proprietary pet products distributed both in the United States and overseas, OurPet’s Company therefore seems poised for overcoming its competition and becoming a major player on the market of innovative pet care solutions. The company is committed to developing one-of-a-kind products (http://dtn.fm/6NMdJ) that are patented and unparalleled on the market, based on a unique design that focuses on the health and behavioral needs of pets and their owners.

Keeping in line with its dedication to product innovation, OurPet’s Company recently launched a strong showing of game-changing pet products such as the OurPets® Switchgrass Natural Cat Litter™ (http://dtn.fm/7bBA5) – a high-end, all natural and fully biodegradable litter, and the Intelligent Pet Care™ (http://dtn.fm/En6rt) Bluetooth® line of products, which monitor pet behavior via a smartphone app. And despite a slight decline in revenue in Q2 that followed record numbers in Q1, OurPet’s Company anticipates a solid performance and record revenue again in the second half of the year, as a direct consequence of the new product launches.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.ourpets.com

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As one of the leading pioneers in the world of secure, cloud-driven regulatory compliance, as well as investor communication solutions, Issuer Direct (NYSE MKT: ISDR) is currently the go-to Disclosure Management System (DMS) source for thousands of compliance issuers around the world, as well as for hundreds of corporate issuers, which derive substantial advantages from the company’s affordable, but extremely robust suite of branded solutions.

Issuer Direct’s already widely successful toolset stands to remain at the head of the pack alongside players like Certent, which was recently selected by PR Newswire to augment its own flexible XBRL tagging and filing solution with Certent’s own DM tech. Compliance looks to be one of the hottest, fastest-growing segments of the $3 billion and growing legal technology solutions market (http://dtn.fm/x7sO5). There is plenty of room here for an agile, cost-competitive player with advanced technology and a mountain of in-house experience like ISDR, even with bigger sharks like IBM (NYSE: IBM) and SAP (NYSE: SAP) circling the market.

The same kind of rock-solid value brought to the table with ISDR’s proprietary cloud-based DMS framework, so noteworthy for its security, performance and ease of use, is also present in the company’s other offerings, whether we are talking about Issuer Direct’s premier regional, national and global news/communications network, Accesswire®; the company’s extremely robust media, advisor and investor targeting dataset platform, Classify®; or ISDR’s SEC filing marvel, known as Blueprint®.

Accesswire is particularly interesting given that the platform was designed from the ground up specifically for public companies, as well as due to the sheer scale of Accesswire’s end-user footprint and the ease with which public companies can join the Accesswire News Network before almost immediately using it to disseminate messages to that huge audience in real-time. Underlying this supremely attractive megaphone functionality is a powerful analytics engine that exposes information like actual social engagement metrics of a given release, as well as the subsequent/relevant audience targeting solutions, via a highly intuitive dashboard. Putting the power into users’ hands, allowing them to really understand what works (or just how well whatever they are doing is working), ensures confidence in PR budgets and makes the platform an easy sell to public companies who are hungry to engage the investment community.

Because ISDR so intimately understands the regulatory environment, the announcements that need to go to SEDAR or EDGAR are always routed. Accesswire is partnered with the top names in business media today, such as Reuters (NYSE:TRI), The Wall Street Journal (NASDAQ: NWSA) and The New York Times (NYSE: NYT), as well as Stock Exchanges, local newspapers of record, The Associated Press and United Press International, and digital data feeders like Yahoo! Finance (NASDAQ: YHOO) – to name but a few.

Little wonder then that ISDR was recently able to report Q2 revenue growth from its Accesswire press release business of 18 percent (compared to Q1), which was up a handsome 73 percent year-over-year (http://dtn.fm/WCSu6). Accompanied by a 74 percent gross margin for the quarter and an additional $1 million in operational cash flow, the quarterly dividend increase issued back in July on the strength of continued positive earnings and cash flow has substantially encouraged ISDR shareholders to remain bullish about the company’s prospects. Accesswire’s distribution channels line up superbly with the company’s investor network and investor calendar, as well as ISDR’s public company outreach platform, providing unparalleled venue reach that includes the Dow Jones Network and the Factiva system, as well as top broker-dealers. Needless to say, this is a winning proposition to public companies, and business has been very good for Issuer Direct.

In fact, revenues from platform and technology solutions were up 20 percent last quarter when compared to Q1, with both Blueprint and Classify showing marked traction. Even as the traditional Annual Report Service (ARS) business flags amid an ongoing shift to digital over hardcopy, and market commoditization hammers XBRL demand, Issuer Direct has actually prospered. Intelligent restructuring of channel partner agreements in its ARS game, as well as receptivity to the company’s innovative cloud-based offerings, have allowed ISDR to soar where lesser operators may have folded altogether.

Blueprint deserves a closer look here, for instance, due not only to a recent partnership expansion with the London Stock Exchange Group that includes the SEC reporting platform’s license to LSEG’s RNS (regulatory news service), but because the LSEG deal is just the latest example of end-market resonance for Issuer Direct. LSEG’s RNS wanted a way to automate the reformatting of their own systemically generated HTML into SEC EDGAR-compliant documentation, and the readily adaptable Blueprint platform was perfect for the job – a deal which has crystallized an already tight-knit relationship between LSEG and ISDR. Issuer Direct’s CEO, Balbirnie, was keen to point out the number of high profile clients that have already signed on with Blueprint as a hallmark of the platform’s inherent value. The top dog at LSEG/RNS roundly affirmed this conclusion, while also pointing to Blueprint’s scalability as leaving the door open to a host of future applications.

That scalability is a big sell for Blueprint, alongside the platform’s baseline cost-effectiveness and ease of use, as it allows great confidence that ISDR can fulfill the role of trusted regulatory platform provider for years to come (no matter how big or small the client). The ability to handle essentially any document type via a proprietary compliance editing platform like Blueprint, which alleviates the historically time-consuming and cumbersome process of regulatory filing, when combined with the company’s DMS platform, makes for a super-fast, real-time project creation/editing workflow that has to be experienced to be believed. The ironclad value of the company’s DMS platform, engineered to meet and keep up with the ever more stringent demands of regulatory authorities like the SEC, DTCC and FINRA, is further enhanced by dynamic shareholder communication features.

Issuer Direct even offers naturally parallel services such as stock transfer agent and proxy services, as well as full-spectrum document design, formatting and typesetting – the company even does printing/fulfillment with real-time tracking. Transfer agent duties come second nature to an outfit like Issuer Direct, and with the in-house talent to easily handle everything from electronic stock issuance and management, to document preparation and review, ISDR is increasingly seen as a one-stop-shop for a variety of such services.

For more information, visit www.IssuerDirect.com

In the world of Laguna Blends (CSE: LAG) (OTC: LAGBF) (Frankfurt: LB6A.F), things are done differently. Laguna Blends, a network marketing company operating out of Kelowna, British Columbia, is using 3D technology to change the direct sales and network marketing game. Through a simple, interactive platform, the company delivers training and marketing strategies to independent affiliates who in turn use these tools to attract customers and drive sales.

Laguna Blends’ network marketing program has a particular area of focus. It seeks to highlight the nutritional health benefits of hemp-based products while providing high quality product experiences. Laguna develops and produces a line of high-protein-content functional beverages derived from hemp, distributed and sold throughout the United States and Canada.

The company’s leading products include Caffe and Pro369. Caffe, an instant-coffee beverage, is loaded with hemp and whey protein and, with two grams of protein per serving, packs a powerful protein punch. Pro369, on the other hand, is a single-serving hemp protein powder drink mix that comes in a number of flavors.

Laguna Blends sells its protein-packed beverages and other hemp-based products through a network of independent affiliates who help promote its message of finding balance in life. As these affiliates generate retail sales for the company, they can also recruit other affiliates, using the latest tools and technology to build a global business from the comfort of their homes or while traveling on the road.

Laguna Blends embraces a spirit of innovation, adaptability, and leadership when it comes to its technology, applied to product development and online web-based training for affiliates. The company wants to lead the network marketing industry, and it is reaching for that goal by providing a viable, long-lasting business opportunity for its internal and external stakeholders.

For more information, visit www.lagunablends.com

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Occupational alcoholism and drug use are serious problems among America’s workforce, leading to major expenses and issues ranging from low employee morale and absenteeism to lost productivity, theft, injuries and even fatalities. Costs associated with alcohol abuse in the workplace alone range anywhere between $33 billion and $68 billion per year, studies show. Faced with this problem, a growing number of businesses are introducing mandatory workplace drug and alcohol testing by enrolling the help of industry leader Lifeloc Technologies, Inc. (OTC: LCTC).

Of the approximately 142.63 million people employed in the U.S. as of September 2015, about 14 million are alcoholics. A factsheet from the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (http://dtn.fm/lVYD9) shows that roughly 6.6 percent of full-time employees are frequent and heavy drinkers, having had five or more drinks at once during more than five occasions within the last 30 days. Of current adult illegal drug users aged 18 to 49, 70% are employed full-time, the NCADD data also shows.

Alcohol and drug abuse can be a major financial burden for employees and businesses, both in terms of higher health care costs, workers’ compensation and legal liabilities, as well as in lost productivity, absenteeism, injuries on the job, fatal accidents and more. Additional problems may include tardiness and sleeping on the job, poor decision making, loss of efficiency, reduced job performance and even having trouble with co-workers or supervisors. Some of the jobs ad industries with increased occupational alcoholism rates and alcohol-related deaths include bartenders, shoe machine operators, roofers, painters, cooks, sailors and construction workers.

According to NCADD statistics, alcohol and drug testing as part of the hiring process remains the most common method used by employers to identify candidates with a substance abuse problem. Only about one quarter of workers interviewed reported random testing on the job, while 30% mentioned testing upon suspicion and 29% mentioned testing after an incident.

Lifeloc Technologies comes to the aid of all businesses and industries with a wide range of DOT and NHTSA approved, high-precision alcohol and drug testing solutions, whether for pre-employment, random, post-accident, return-to-duty or stand-down testing. With more than 30 years of experience in the industry, the company offers complete alcohol and drug testing solutions, including handheld breath testing instruments for screening and confirmation, as well as training, supplies and consultations to guide customers through all aspects of setting up alcohol and drug testing programs in the workplace. Two of Lifeloc’s most popular products for workplace alcohol testing, the Phoenix 6.0 Bluetooth and the EV30, are based on proprietary technology and are guaranteed to give accurate and reliable readings.

A global leader in the breath alcohol testing industry, Lifeloc offers a complete range of evidential breath testers and portable breath alcohol testers to markets such as law enforcement, schools, corrections, and workplace. Its products are also recognized and distributed internationally through a complex global network of specialists that also offer consultation, support and service.

For more information, visit www.Lifeloc.com

Fibrosis is when connective tissue from an injury or other circumstances thickens and scars, or when there is excess fibrous connective tissue in an organ after it has been exposed to a chronic disease. Unfortunately, the effects of fibrosis cannot be reversed, and there is currently no treatment that stops the disease from getting worse, although some treatments can deal with the symptoms temporarily.

Galectin Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: GALT) is currently undertaking its phase 2a pilot trial (NASHFX) with GR-MD-02 in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) patients with advanced fibrosis. Although the study did not meet original expectations, Galectin’s larger scale, one year trial in patients with NASH cirrhosis has already enrolled 162 subjects, and top line results will be reported by the end of December 2017. The company considers it encouraging to see that GR-MD-02 has an important clinical effect in both moderate and severe cases of psoriasis. This further suggests that the substance can play a role for human diseases that could be related to NASH.

Galectin Therapeutics, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on the science of galectins, a family of proteins, and drug development. With this expertise, the company creates new therapies for patients suffering from fibrotic diseases and cancer. Galectin works with a variety of partners in order to achieve cost effective and efficient development results within short time frames.

GALT is currently looking to enhance and market its lead compounds in liver fibrosis and cancer immunotherapies. The company has three key areas of focus: studying galectins, developing proprietary compounds for diseases, and advancing its discovery programs. All three work together in order to achieve the overall goal of creating new therapies for fibrotic diseases and cancer.

For more information, visit www.GalectinTherapeutics.com

Before the opening bell, Dominovas Energy Corporation (OTCQB: DNRG) announced the formal submission of grant proposals to the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) related to the proliferation of both its RUBICON™ Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) technology and its ORCAS™ hydroelectric system. In total, the company petitioned the USTDA for just over $2.1 million, with submissions divided across four distinct projects featuring a combined power output of 2.9 Megawatts.

USTDA grants are awarded based upon the intended and expected social and environmental impact of proposed projects in an effort to bring private sector solutions to existing development challenges. Dominovas Energy expects to receive the USTDA’s decision on the submissions within the next month.

Dominovas Energy’s proprietary power generation solutions lie at the core of its proposals. The company’s RUBICON™ system leverages a SOFC platform to generate clean, efficient electricity through the conversion of a hydrocarbon fuel such as natural gas. Among its many benefits, the RUBICON™ produces significantly less pollutants than competing systems and is designed to operate year-round with minimal disruptions due to maintenance. For added efficiency, the RUBICON™ can also be used for hot water production or space heating. With these systems in place, combined heat and power efficiency for the RUBICON™ is measured at approximately 85 percent.

The company’s ORCAS™ system offers similar reliability and efficiency without the need for hydrocarbon fuel. The run-of-river (ROR) technology generates electricity by diverting running water from waterways. When compared to conventional stored water systems like reservoirs or dams, ORCAS™ has a much smaller environmental impact, seamlessly guiding used water back into the main river after it navigates power generation channels.

Dominovas Energy’s ORCAS™ platform could be widely implemented in the Republic of Madagascar moving forward and other sub-Saharan countries. The island nation has an “enormous potential” for hydropower generation, with the World Bank estimating capacity for up to 7,000 Megawatts across over 500 potential sites.

For more information, visit www.dominovasenergy.com

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Singlepoint, Inc. (OTC: SING), a leading mobile technology and payments provider, is making its mark in the daily fantasy sports (DFS) industry, just months after officially entering the market with minority acquisitions in two major DFS companies: GoDraft and DraftFury. One of the fastest growing industries at the moment, the DFS market brings together millions of people spending an average of $550+ every year, with 39% of them using a mobile device to pay, according to Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA) statistics.

The minority acquisitions, in particular the participation in DraftFury, will allow Singlepoint to capitalize on this fast-growing market, especially at the height of the NFL season. Singlepoint is currently the only publicly traded company in the U.S. that allows shareholders to be involved in DFS, and it is planning to take a noticeable stake in the industry, according to company CEO Greg Lambrecht. Even a small stake could be game changing, given that the daily fantasy games industry is expected to grow at a rate of roughly 41% per year, reaching $14.4 billion in entry fees alone by 2020. For reference, entry fees were about $2.6 billion last year.

According to FSTA data for 2015 (http://dtn.fm/dda0A), about 20% of the U.S. population and about 17% of the Canadian population over 12 years of age play daily fantasy sports, totaling 57.4 million people. For comparison, there were roughly 15 million players in 2003. Of these 57.4 million, 66% are male and 34% are female, with an average age of 38.6. Also, the FSTA found that daily fantasy sports players are overall better educated, as 66% of them have a college degree or more. Most of them have a household income of more than $75,000, while 67% have full-time employment.

The average spending per fantasy player of 18+ years of age is $556, money spent on league-related costs and materials and single-player challenge games. Statistics also show that a total of 70% of daily fantasy sports participants pay league fees, and the most popular fantasy sport remains football. Additionally, a growing number of players now use some sort of mobile device to play – 39%, compared to only 25% in 2012. Players use their mobile devices for activities such as checking the score of their games or of other games in their league, drafting a team and/or changing line-ups, joining a fantasy sports league, researching players, posting comments, and viewing or listening to fantasy sports media ranging from podcasts and radio shows to TV or online videos.

With its minority investments in GoDraft and DraftFury, and with other planned acquisitions in the DFS vertical in the future, Singlepoint could be primed to become a significant player on the market. Founded in 2006, the company is currently a leading provider of mobile technology, mobile marketing and mobile payment services. Its products target small to mid-sized enterprises by offering solutions that allow clients to conduct business transactions, engage in targeted mobile communication or accept donations.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Singlepoint.com

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iGambit, Inc. (OTCQB: IGMB) started as a software development, customer service, and technology licensing company. Since then, the company has taken a turn toward acquiring and strengthening technology companies by becoming a holding company, focusing its efforts on investing in small and medium sized companies in order to help them grow. In November 2015, the company announced the acquisition of ArcMail Technology, which now operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of iGambit.

ArcMail Technology is a leading provider of email technology solutions for businesses of all sizes. The company works in partnership with its customers to address their needs. ArcMail Technology offers email archiving, archiving appliances, cloud based and physical hybrid gateways and virtual archiving software services, as well as fully-hosted archiving services.

iGambit is in the business of helping organizations grow. ArcMail chose to become an iGambit company because it believes iGambit is supported by excellent leadership, core values, and integrity. These fit well with ArcMail’s vision and mission statement, which it anticipates will allow it to grow more efficiently.

Since being acquired by iGambit, ArcMail Technology has been named one of CIOReview’s “20 Most Promising Enterprise Security Companies” of 2016, which is an annual list showcasing the most promising Enterprise Security Companies. In addition to this, the subsidiary was selected as one of the 50 most innovative companies to watch in 2016 by The Silicon Review.

iGambit’s vision is to acquire and develop small to medium sized businesses that are in the licensing or services industries. The company works on the strategy of facilitating the acquisition of partner companies by offering a range of professional experience and capital, enabling them to mature and increase their profitability.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.iGambit.com

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At the beginning of 2016, 43% of real estate agencies expected competition from non-traditional firms. Although this number was down 2% from 2015, a survey by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) (http://dtn.fm/Fx2Sb) found that 46% of agencies believe the competition from virtual firms is increasing, compared to a small 17% of agencies expecting competition from brick and mortar firms.

With this in mind, it is worth noting that the real estate industry is one of the slowest to adapt to this new digital age. The last few years can be seen as the first real phase of digital development within the real estate industry, as technology has played but a minimal role until now. Thanks to today’s growing technology, people in the real estate industry are able to make faster and more informed decisions.

Until now, the industry has believed in location. However, today people can access and accomplish more through the use of smartphones, computers, and other mobile devices. With technology companies such as Airbnb, people are becoming more accustomed to a sharing economy. According to an article by Wharton University of Pennsylvania (http://dtn.fm/M0Vl6), 86% of Americans believe the sharing economy they are now part of makes life more affordable, 83% say things are more convenient and efficient, and 63% believe it is more fun than engaging with traditional companies.

But why does the technology industry want to play a role in the real estate sector? The answer is simple. Real estate is one of the largest single assets in the United States. The sector is now worth approximately $50 trillion, with residential housing making up approximately $26 trillion of this. As a result, real estate companies are having to embrace the digital world quickly at the risk of letting technology-savvy companies take over.

To do this, real estate firms are having to implement cloud-based Big Data technologies to better serve their customers. eXp World Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: EXPI) is a prime example. eXp Realty, the company’s real estate division, is a fully agent-owned cloud brokerage. The agents and brokers at EXPI work, train, strategize, collaborate, innovate, and build teams across North America from the comforts of home using the company’s cloud office environment.

EXPI believes that, with the advancements in technology today, real estate consumers are equipped with deeper knowledge and understanding than ever before. Many consumers today leverage the company’s cloud-based technology to buy and sell without the aid of brick and mortar offices. EXPI’s primary goal is to become “the first truly agent-owned, cloud-based, full service, global real estate brokerage company delivering around-the-clock access to collaborative tools and professional development for managing real estate brokers and agents.”

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.eXpWorldHoldings.com

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