March 22, 2010
Business Week writes that Google (and others) are experimenting with developing faster Internet access, from 1 GPS and beyond. This means that in about 3 - 5 seconds you can download and watch the latest movie - no stopping and starting.
While media companies are salivating on the opportunities, YOUR business should be prepared for new possibilities that enable you to get even closer to your customers and partners. While we're doing a lot with current broadband speeds, the experience with even faster broadband means that we can do cheaper video conferences, while displaying and/or working with collaborative video or other bandwidth intensive applications.
I think of a service such as SlideRocket which was a HOT TECH DEMO 2010 winner at the Fifth Annual Small Business Summit.
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tags: broadband, google |
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March 19, 2010
I have a hosted Microsoft Exchange Server from Intermedia in which I use Outlook (as my email client) and Exchange as my server and pay $60 a month for 2.5 GB of storage.
I'm reading more and more about Google Apps and getting VERY tempted to switch to Google Apps. Why pay $60 a month for email hosting when I can pay $50 a year for SO MUCH MORE?
The case against using Google is that it is an engineering firm (pushing out great technology) but not a company serving the needs of small businesses (by offer good tech support for example), this argument is less and less valid, especially consider local techs who can assist and the drastic cost savings.
Many organizations are switching to Google to save money - lots of money. The second reason are the advanced collaboration features that Gmail users have come to love.
Mashable wrote an article on OPEN Forum reviewing the Google Apps for businesses.
tags: google apps, microsoft exchange |
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March 19, 2010
Robert Gorby is AVG's Global Head of Small Business Propositions and has a tough job.
AVG is one of the most popular security products on the market due to its free (that means no money for AVG) computer security software, that's mainly for consumers.
On the other hand, Trend Micro, Symantec and McAfee are its three arch rivals and aggressively targeting the SMB market (that's YOU) as well.
In a recent conversation Robert explained to me that his main focus is very simple, "to make sure that AVG’s protection is focused on the people and not the computers”. This means ensuring AVG products are very easy to use and install.
110 million customers, in small businesses and individual consumers around the world have voted to use AVG, so clearly AVG is doing something right.
I asked Robert, about the free AVG product and why anyone would need to purchase AVG if they can get it for free. He explained that the free product provides strong and good basic protection. However, just like you might have one lock in your home, to protect it even more you might want to install an alarm system, additional lock and even a lock on the back door.
Purchasing the premium AVG software ensures you have more protection than the free version. The small business version, for example, has a remote administration console, web site link protection (so you won't access web site pages that are hacked), it also includes firewall protection and more.
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tags: avg, security |
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March 19, 2010
One of the benefits of using a customer relationships management (CRM) system to segment your customers is that you can provide the most relevant content to each customer. While some customers might indeed want information on your latest sales or coupons (like a mom clipping coupons for her family), more of your customers would probably be interested in hearing from you on insight about how to grow their business, using the service(s) you provide.
Meaning, if you're an accountant, why not send your clients useful tax and/or accounting information throughout the year, instead of just telling them that if they file their taxes with you again, they get 20% off their next tax return.
Vivek Thomas, President, Maximizer Software shares his thoughts on this in the following guest post.
Reaching customers and prospects through optimal marketing campaigns and messages is a primary goal of most small businesses, but the question of how to hit the sweet spot and prompt ongoing responses remains ever-elusive for many. For one, the sheer volume of emails and advertising reaching your target contacts makes it difficult to avoid information overload in favor of focusing on one message at a time. Also, only the most compelling and relevant messages are likely to cut through the clutter. CRM can help businesses effectively tackle this problem with targeted campaigns that reach the right contacts with the hardest-hitting messages—namely thought leadership content rather than just pricing promotions.
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tags: crm, maximizer, segmentation |
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March 19, 2010
At several of the past few opportunities I've had to speak at business meetings, one of the hottest topics has been the use of social media.
I was looking at a recent GetResponse survey which said that over 80 percent of respondents plan to use video emails in 2010 and over 90 percent of SMB marketers plan to integrate social media into their email campaigns this year.
This sounds great, and I think all of us are drinking the social media fruit punch.
But my concern is that while it's easy for businesses to create a Facebook page and a Twitter account, if they do not strategically leverage these tools and get somewhat professional advice (not from some "social media consultant" but at least from someone who knows quite a bit about social media marketing) they are going to waste their time and be frustrated with the results.
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tags: facebook, marketing, social media, twitter |
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March 19, 2010
When disaster strikes, it is important to ensure your data is as fully protected as possible.
Most of us know by now that it's important to have your data stored off site. Using an online backup service makes this process much easier. I use Carbonite.com and other good options include my friend Jennifer Walzer's Backupmyinfo, SugarSync and others.
Furthermore, it is also valuable to duplicate data local and store it in your office, so you have an option to restore the data from the remote site or more quickly restore the data from a local drive.
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tags: business continuity, data, disaster, iosafe |
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March 19, 2010
Why is that retail stores periodically freshen up their stores?
They know that a fresh new look not only LOOKS good, and will increase traffic into their stores, but they also know that periodically upgrading the cash registers, lighting, flow of traffic, carpet, paint and other things even further increases interest in new and current customers to stop by the store.
One of the big things that Chef Ramsey does for his "make over" restaurants is a complete redesign and upgrade of their stores!
For online businesses, upgrading and refreshing your online store is so very important.
Ecommerce software maker Volusion's newest features is a great example of what upgrades you should consider implementing in your web site.
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tags: ecommerce, shopping cart |
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March 19, 2010
On Tuesday, SugarSync was awarded the "HOT TECH DEMO 2010" Fifth Annual Small Business Summit award.
This award, out of over 60 entrants, was given due to the power of SugarSync's ability to easily synchronize data between devices.
They recently added a new and VERY useful feature, enabling you to update synchronized devices via email.
The new feature enables a SugarSync user to sync any email attachment to a dedicated folder in their SugarSync account by simply forwarding it to a special email address. Instantly, the file(s) is available on all synced devices.
In the overall scope of technology, this announcement is not that important. However, for professionals who frequently receive files, and need to quickly share them with a team, this new feature is VERY powerful.
tags: mobile, sugarsync, syncronization |
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March 19, 2010
I just came across a neat online service, ideal for smaller businesses that need to issue and manage proposals, but don't have a system in place.
Many businesses are using Excel or Word to issue proposals, but there has to be a better way. These tools are good, as I've said many times before, but often times its better to use a tool designed for the task at hand.
Proposals are NOT just pieces of paper you send to a client and hope for the best. It is a sales document that can make the difference between getting your next job or contract or not.
Proposable launched on 6th February enables businesses to create proposals, deliver the proposal and enable the reader to post questions and comments alongside the proposal.
James Kappen, founder of Proposable, emailed me about some of the very useful features:
When a proposal is viewed or commented on by a lead, the salesperson is instantly notified via text message and email. Salespeople now have the option to engage leads at the exact moment when they are viewing the delivered proposal. The salesperson can view an in-depth analytics page that displays the lead's viewing patterns and entire view history. This revolutionary proposal viewing data will empower salespeople to effectively gauge interest and focus their resources on the highest value leads first.
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tags: proposable, proposals |
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