Improve your productivity and profits by using managed technology services

By Ted Werth

As a small business owner, you depend on reliable access to technology to run your business and generate revenue. A technology outage—due to service, network, cloud or device issues—can bring productivity to a painful halt, leaving sales, operations and customer-facing personnel without the tools they need to do their jobs.

To ensure business continuity while also containing technical support costs, you should consider teaming up with a technology services partner.

Cost-effective access to a proven technology services provider maximizes your ability to keep vital business technology up and running and enhances your ability to satisfy customers. A dedicated technology services partner enables you to focus on your core business, improving productivity in a way that drives profits.

IT support services deliver new opportunities

The rapidly evolving world of business technology provides you new opportunities to gain a competitive edge—and technology services play an important part in that. The technology services landscape has changed dramatically in recent years, and new capabilities will continue to alter the way you operate for the foreseeable future.

For example, in years past, a startup company would have to configure and stand up its technical environment, patching together hosting, email, servers, mobile and desktop devices, routers, printers and more, while typically bootstrapping support resources. This need for service prevented companies, especially small companies, from focusing the maximum number of resources and investments on profit-generating activities.

Today, however, the availability of remote managed services enables startups to get up and running quickly. This allows companies to immediately focus on generating revenue and achieving operational excellence. Similarly, the availability of expert mobile and Web services support can improve your small business by ensuring you have access to vital data and productivity tools wherever and whenever you do business.

The backup plan

Another mission-critical need that can be filled via remote technical support is disaster recovery through backup services that protect business-critical data. This is a key component of a sound technology strategy for any startup or established enterprise.

In your small business, it’s not a matter of “if” you will experience data loss, it’s a question of “when.” And given that a very high percentage of smaller enterprises that lose vital data go out of business within two years of the data loss, it’s crucial to make sure you have the backup and recovery capabilities to ensure that your company thrives.

Technology services companies can deliver offsite and cloud-based data backup services that ensure recovery in case of a major technology issue. This type of service can also help you comply with regulatory guidelines that mandate retention of key data. Many small business owners assume their critical intellectual property is protected, but the issue is too important to leave to chance.

It’s a great idea to have a data backup professional conduct a thorough review to ensure you have the resources in place to recover from disaster, whether caused by user error, hacker activities, a technology issue, severe weather impact or fire. This will not only provide the peace of mind that comes with knowing your business is ready to meet the challenges associated with an unexpected technology disruption, it also provides your customers with the assurance that your business will be there when needed, protecting important data and delivering the services they expect.

For you and your customers

As a small business owner, you may be able to significantly increase your company’s efficiency and productivity with a managed technology services contract, which reaches beyond your basic IT or help desk support. In addition to reliable access to the technology tools you depend on to run your business and serve your customers, managed technology services can expand your team’s capabilities.

For example: The ability to securely upload business data from the field can eliminate the need for sales or service teams to capture customer information and manually enter data later.

Up to 95% of technical problems can be resolved via remotely delivered support, which can drastically reduce productivity lost due to waiting for onsite assistance. But the benefits of receiving managed technology services from a technical services specialist extend even further to include proactive maintenance to anticipate needs and address issues before they become problems.

By taking a proactive rather than strictly reactive break-fix approach, you can gain a competitive advantage.

Do a lot with a little

The benefits of having 24×7 access to technology services solutions are clear:

•Higher productivity and efficiency;

•Reliable access to vital business tools;

•A sound backup and business continuity strategy; and

•Greater customer satisfaction.

However, you may be concerned about the costs associated with a managed technical support contract.

Generally, the cost ranges from $20-$40 per computer and approximately $299 per server supported. To put that cost into context, think about the loss of profits that would result from a technical failure that brings all business activities to a standstill—even for a single day.

If you’re ready to position your business for continued growth and success with a proactive approach to technology services and support that allows your team to focus on core competencies, it’s time to think about forming a partnership with a company that specializes in managed technology services for small and medium businesses. As you consider your options, evaluate potential partners’ experience and credibility.

Make sure you find a partner with a strong history in the industry and accounts that will provide references. Ensure your potential technology services vendor can be trusted with your vital business data and has the resources needed to respond immediately with reliable service when you need it. Above all, make sure your potential partner is committed to providing an excellent customer service experience. By taking these steps, you can do a lot with a little.

Ted Werth is founder, chairman and CEO of PlumChoice, a provider of 24×7 online repair and assistance and managed technical support to SMBs and consumers directly and through telecommunications, cable company and retail partnerships. He can be reached through www.plumchoice.com.

Why now is the time for your business to embrace remote working

By Cindy Bates

When was the last time you fielded a work call from the sidelines of your child’s sporting event or while in line at the grocery store? Chances are it wasn’t too long ago, considering the fact that an increasingly mobile marketplace is slowly but surely unraveling the sense of “office hours” and making it possible to conduct business in far more places than ever.

Not only has it become possible for you to work anytime, anywhere, but the ability to work remotely has actually become a business imperative, even for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

A recent survey conducted by Microsoft and Ipsos Public Affairs gauged the opinions and attitudes of 1,285 information workers in 15 U.S. markets toward telework at their businesses. The results indicate that telework is becoming more than just a corporate perk for SMBs.

More than half of SMB information workers (59%) say their companies provide access to tech support for working remotely. Additionally, 39% of respondents report that their company has a formal telework policy, and 72% of those surveyed indicate a positive preference for remote working.

A crucial ingredient for success

The statistics point to a growing acceptance among SMB decision makers that their success depends in part upon their ability to mobilize employees. Indeed, failing to embrace remote working and the technologies that support it could result in lost business opportunities, not to mention dissatisfied employees, clients and customers.

Millennials in particular have come to expect flexible work environments, and this means SMBs will face increasing expectations of telework options from their employees, while external audiences will demand more real-time responsiveness and access to information.

Yet, SMBs do have some catching up to do when it comes to capitalizing on flexible work arrangements and making the most of technologies that support remote working. On average, SMB information workers work remotely 3.2 days per month, even though they would prefer to do so eight days per month.

A win-win situation

When SMBs embrace remote working, it’s rare that one side gains more than the other, since telework provides a host of benefits to employees and employers alike. The primary reason to telework, as cited by the survey respondents, is to counteract transportation challenges, such as escalating fuel prices and long commutes.

Additional reasons for and benefits of remote working included striking a better balance between work and home priorities, increasing productivity and needing to complete unfinished work.

Employers who support remote-working scenarios also stand to gain, since they acquire access to a larger talent pool that stretches beyond their immediate geographies and reap the benefits of more productive employees. Employers also might find that remote-working policies enable them to reduce overhead costs, since having fewer employees in-house can significantly reduce office space requirements and energy expenses.

Furthermore, giving employees the ability to conduct business outside the office often means getting more face time with customers and partners, a bonus that can sharpen an SMB’s competitive advantage.

Developing your telework plan

Each business’s remote working policies and arrangements will vary, depending on the nature of an organization’s services and products. For example, a coffee shop will always need employees present during business hours, as the functions of food service demand the physical presence of employees. But, with the right technologies in place, coffee shop employees also could easily conduct behind-the-scenes tasks, such as accounting and marketing, from remote locations.

Therefore, as you begin or refine the process of developing your business’s remote-working strategy, consider the following, while also keeping in mind that every business is unique and there is no one-size-fits-all remote working scenario:

Does your company have a formal or consistent policy around telework? If not, make steps to form one. Establishing telework policies will help employees better understand their privileges and limitations and will also set a foundation for technology implementation.

What are your business’s internal and remote technology capabilities? For instance, how easily can your employees communicate and collaborate with one another inside the office, and do they experience the same capabilities outside the office environment? Incorporating internal collaboration tools and leveraging cloud-based software that’s accessible anywhere that employees have Internet connectivity will enable them to conduct business with greater efficiency and speed both in and out of the office.

How secure are your internal and remote systems? In an effort to increase accessibility and enable instant collaboration, many business decision-makers err by relying on public networking or social media platforms, even though these solutions are not appropriate venues for the exchange of sensitive ideas and information. Therefore, invest in communications technologies with heightened security protocols, always prioritizing the integrity of your business’s information rather than getting sidelined by free solutions that can’t guarantee the protection your business needs to succeed.

For today’s SMBs, the good news is that technologies that support telework are rapidly advancing and are also becoming increasingly affordable. There’s never been a better or more pivotal time for SMBs to capitalize on the new world of mobile work.

Cindy Bates is vice president of Microsoft’s U.S. SMB organization where she is responsible for the company’s end-to-end SMB sales and marketing efforts, including SMB strategy; business development; regional field sales; and national distribution sales, channel marketing, and customer marketing. Bates is an 11-year Microsoft veteran and blogs regularly at www.microsoftbusinesshub.com, where you’ll find technology tips and resources related to remote working.

How your business may still be in the dark ages

By Pete Lamson

The digital age is in full force and ledger sheets, receipt books and cash registers are a distant memory. Today, small businesses have shifted to accounting software, customer relationship management applications and point-of-sale devices to accelerate operations, improve accuracy, and ultimately to ensure their business runs as smoothly as possible—generating tons of valuable data about their businesses.

Unfortunately, this shift means all this important data is vulnerable to viruses, malicious hackers, physical damage or simply leaving your laptop behind at the coffee house.

The risk of losing your company’s most valuable asset—your business data— is real. And running your business is competitive enough without the hassle of lost files. Losing your data means potentially losing your business. Yet surprisingly, 86% of small businesses are relying on antiquated backup methods (Carbonite Inc., December 2010 SMB Data Backup Study).

Data is vulnerable

A 2011 study conducted by Carbonite Inc. uncovered that 48% of small businesses have lost digital documents or other records—up from 42% since 2010.

These businesses noted that the major ways they lost information were hardware or software failure (54%), accidental file deletion (54%), computer virus damage (33%), and theft of computers or stored data (10%).

Data catastrophe also can occur from fire, hurricane, flood, tornado or earthquake. While buildings are replaceable, lost information about your finances, your inventory, your customers, and even your email often is not.

Protecting business data

Your business’s data is its lifeline and this vital information must be backed up. Though many of you are backing up in some manner today, the reality is that copying your files onto physical devices like external hard drives or USBs is not a complete solution and does not ensure you can retrieve your files if and when needed.

When using devices like external hard drives, CDs, DVDs or USB/flash memory sticks, the backup is actually only the first step. All these drives or disks must also be removed from the business premises every night and returned every morning.

If not, anything that should happen onsite—from fire to theft—could wipe out both your original files and the backup. Even if these steps keep your backups current and separate from the originals, those hard drives and memory sticks are still vulnerable to theft, tampering or loss.

Backup with the cloud

Fortunately, technology has developed a solution, and it resides in the “cloud.” For a small fee, commercial services enable you to store copies of your files online—on tightly secured servers operated by companies dedicated to backing up business files. These services offer more than just storage; they make backing up convenient and time-efficient.

Easy-to-use, cloud-based methods aren’t vulnerable to the problems associated with those antiquated backup methods. Once you realize you need to better protect your data and ultimately your business, you need to choose the right online backup solution.

Choosing the cloud solution for your business

Here are six key capabilities to look for when trusting your files to online services for backup and restoration in case your computers crash, burn or just die:

1. Affordability. The best services may cost only $229 a year to back up an unlimited number of computers in your company. This is a predictable, sustainable cost you can plan for. It’s really the lowest insurance premium you’ll keep on your books, and it protects the most valuable asset in your business—your data.

2. Automatic backup. The files on your business computers should be copied and stored on a cloud-based server without you needing to do anything but register with the service. As you create new files or edit existing documents, the files should back up automatically.

3. Easy restoration. With online backup, you no longer need to worry about transporting your backup files daily. The cloud-based servers are far removed from your location, so if something unfortunate did happen onsite, you could retrieve the data you created on your computers. The service you choose should enable you to simply boot up a new computer, connect to the Internet, visit where your files are stored, and download your files. The best cloud-based backup services will even place your restored files in the same folders in the same locations as they were on your original computer.

4. Anywhere, anytime access. You don’t need to suffer a disaster to be saved by online backup. The best backup services allow you to retrieve whatever files you need by accessing it from your laptop computer or smartphone. Now, when you are with a customer offsite and realize you urgently need a particular file to document an action you have taken or an invoice you sent, you can have it on hand.

5. No extra equipment. You should only need to register and download a small piece of software that lets you retrieve or restore your files. Everything else should happen automatically.

6. Security. Most cloud-based backup companies encrypt every byte of data throughout the complete process—uploading, storing and downloading a file from the cloud. It’s the same secure technology that banks use for their online operations.

Once you have an online backup service in place, you will have safe, certain, anytime-anywhere access to your files. If your business expands, you can extend your backup service to more computers or locations.

Knowing that your company’s data is backed up properly can provide you with the peace of mind you need to focus on running your business. You have a responsibility to your business, your employees, your customers and yourself to consider the impact of data loss and to take action to implement a backup procedure that fits your company’s needs. You can get started in minutes and be protected from whatever lies ahead.

Pete Lamson is senior vice president and general manager of the small business group at Carbonite, a leading provider of online backup solutions for consumers and small- to medium-sized businesses. More than 1.1 million subscribers in over 100 countries rely on Carbonite to provide easy-to-use, affordable, unlimited and secure online backup solutions with anytime, anywhere data access. For information on Carbonite, visit www.carbonite.com.

From glass walls to technology hubs, offices across Northeast Florida embrace the latest design trends

By Keith Tickell

The average American spends more than 2,200 hours at work during a typical year—that’s more time than they spend watching TV, enjoying their families and engaging in leisurely activities. Given the time that is dedicated to a profession, it’s no wonder that many employers want to make the workspace the most collaborative, comfortable and productive environment possible.

Latest and greatest

As technologies continue to change and employees seek an increasing work-life balance, many companies are embracing new office design trends that engage and entice their teams to perform better and more efficiently.

Some of the latest and greatest office design trends to hit the market in recent years include collaboration, open-air offices and floor plans, tech-savvy spaces, going green, and creating custom office spaces.

Collaboration. Gone are the days of the cubicle jungle, where employees are roped off from their co-workers and secluded to their own 7 foot-by-7 foot cube. Today’s employers want their teams to engage with one another in collaborative, open workspaces that allow for constant interaction and brainstorming. It’s the same principle as a classroom or group meeting where everyone is asked to sit in a circle and share thoughts, opinions and ideas.

The best way to create a collaborative work environment in an office is to form team workspaces where desks are grouped together in a pod or common area. This allows co-workers to speak freely, solve problems together and transform ideas into innovative products. Another option is to create low-profile workstations with nice finishes that give the feeling of a private desk but still allow interaction among employees.

Open-air offices and floor plans. Open-air offices are the visual equivalent of the open-door policy employers like to communicate to their team. By creating executive offices with all glass fronts and no doors, team members feel as though they can openly communicate with their leaders. This type of office environment creates a perfect balance of quiet workspace and the ability for employees to feel comfortable interacting openly with their bosses.

Similar to open-air offices, an open office floor plan naturally creates connectivity, energy and the open flow of ideas in an office. This concept also creates a community atmosphere among employees and team leaders.

Tech-savvy spaces. Today’s workplace is drastically different than it was 20 years ago. Laptops, wireless printers and Internet, scanners and smart phones have changed the way we work and the spaces we do it in. Workers need less space to conduct business, but more adaptable spaces that will allow new technologies to be seamlessly integrated.

This means providing spaces that allow for easy WiFi connections and wireless technologies, aflexible information technology structure, collaborative workstations and any additional technology needs specific to the company occupying the space.

Green is good. After waning for a few years during the economic downturn, companies have once again turned their focus toward sustainable efforts. While there are varying degrees of green an office can accommodate, any move toward creating a more sustainable work environment is ultimately better for a company’s bottom line and its employees.

Most companies today have sustainability programs in place. These programs can be wide-ranging, from the types of office supplies they purchase to products used in maintaining their facilities to ultimately creating a LEED-certified office space.

Creating a custom office space. One goal we have is to pair companies with office spaces that fit their corporate culture and technology needs. Most businesses today are looking to promote cooperation and team problem solving, and creating an open environment is a key component to that goal.

The new corporate office for the Flagler team here in Jacksonville was recently retrofitted to incorporate the newest and most requested office features, including open floor plans, glass walls and workstations with low profiles to promote employee collaboration.

Vastly different needs

As the economy continues to improve, more companies are relocating, retrofitting or redesigning their office space. It is important to note that there is not a “one-size-fits-all” office design for every company.

Each business has vastly different needs for its employees, from technology requirements and desk space to gyms and social areas. When it comes time to redesign or relocate your office, it is necessary to communicate your needs with the building’s owner or your designer to ensure the new space fits the needs of your corporate culture.

Keith Tickell is executive vice president of Flagler, one of Florida’s oldest and largest commercial real estate companies. He oversees the company’s portfolio of 12 million square feet of Class-A office and industrial space statewide. Tickell is active in NAIOP and serves on the Board of Directors of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce. Tickell can be reached through www.flaglerdev.com.

How to use QR codes to enhance your business

By Mark A. Carillon

The simplicity of the QR code is helping more and more businesses generate leads, bring in more sales, and create long-time customers. With the snap of a camera phone—or one equipped with a QR code reader—consumers can scan your QR code and instantly connect to various forms of digital media or retrieve desired information about your business, product or service.

A QR code changes the consumer experience by making it possible to “scan” instead of “type” to access your information on their mobile device. Think of these QR codes as “hyperlinks” that connect your physical world to the online world.

What are they?

In 1994, Denso Wave, a subsidiary of Toyota Corporation, invented the QR (Quick Response) code—a two-dimensional barcode used to transfer information to mobile phone barcode readers. Where traditional barcodes only held 16-20 characters of data and were very slow, Denso Wave’s 2-D barcode could read up to 7,000 characters very quickly.

In 2002, while exploring ways to add more value and features to their devices, mobile phone manufacturers decided to use QR codes to allow access to website URLs and the Internet—and the rest they say is history. In 2010, the number of scans increased 1,300%—13 times more than 2009.

QR codes are almost always free to create, store a lot of data, and do not require expensive barcode scanning devices to work. Search Google for “QR code generator” and you’ll find tons of sites where you can make these codes for free.

A QR code reader is very easy to download from your app store or marketplace, but many mobile smart phones come with a QR code reader installed.

4 Ms of mobile marketing

When considering the use of QR codes, understand the 4 Ms of mobile marketing: market, mindset, message and mistake.

•Market. There are over five billion mobile phone users in the world today and it is the fastest growing segment on the Internet. Think about your own mobile usage—chances are you leave home each day with three things: your keys, wallet, and phone. If any of these are missing, you promptly return home to get what you forgot. Your clients do the same.

•Mindset. When mobile users are on their phone, they want info now and they want it fast. QR codes make it quick and easy for them to get to your information. They’re also three times more likely to “buy” when compared to someone searching from their desktop.

•Message. The message you give to mobile users must be concise and succinct. This is an excellent opportunity to offer up a coupon or a free report or video to further educate, entertain and engage your prospect as to why they should be doing business with you.

It should complement and add value to their experience and not repeat the same message that lead them to scan your QR code in the first place. A brochure which leads to a YouTube video that shows your product in action is a perfect one-two punch.

•Mistake. The most common mistake is to take customers to your full size website. Why? You’re stuffing 17 inches worth of information onto a 3-inch device. This forces your prospect to scroll left, right, up, down, etc.—making your mobile users work way too hard.

Instead, take them to a mobile optimized site that displays properly on their phone and make it “one-click simple” so they can call you, send you an email or text message, view a video, listen to an audio, import your contact details, etc. with one click.

Popular uses

Some of the most popular uses for QR codes include:

•Building a customer list. Create a QR code that links to an opt-in page where consumers will leave their name and email address in exchange for some type of report or incentive. Once a consumer has your QR code stored on their phone, it also serves as a reminder about your business.

•Enhancing marketing and advertising materials. QR codes can be easily placed on business cards, T-shirts, flyers, receipts, print advertising, signs, billboards, websites, store windows/displays, vehicle wraps, car magnets, menus, receipts and many others. And it’s easy to make changes to your QR’s destination when things change, so you don’t have to worry about changing your ad and then re-printing and re-publishing.

•Linking to social sites. Link to your social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube to create a powerful list-building combination.

•Obtaining reviews. Create QR codes to help get customer reviews on your online directory listings; such as your Google Places, Yelp, Insider Reviews, Super Pages, and the like. Good online customer reviews are powerful in converting prospects into customers and are one of the best ways to help get your website listed higher on search engines.

•Creating electronic connections. You can create a QR code that goes to an electronic version of your business card, commonly referred to as a VCARD or MECARD, and to an electronic calendar entry, commonly called a VCAL. A scan of the code and your contact information is being added to your prospect’s phone contact list or an event gets added to your calendar—making it easy to RSVP.

•Making business better. Service providers can have QR codes that lead to the service history of a particular item, or manufacturers can link to written assembly instructions that lead to a video that provides step-by-step displays through the building of that item.

There are so many different ways QR codes can help you and your business attract and retain more clients, so do yourself a favor and jump in with both feet now. The question is not if you will use QR codes, but rather when—so get ahead of your competitors.

Mark Carillon is president of Web904.com, a company specializing in marketing your business with custom websites, mobile websites, QR Codes, social networking and mobile phones. He can be reached at 904-375-0194, mark@web904.com, or through www.web904.com.

How to read a QR code

Anyone with a camera on their phone can read a QR code, but there are different ways to receive the results. A QR reader on your phone is much simpler and faster, but if you have an older phone, then emailing or text messaging for results will work as well.

• Download a QR reader for your phone. If your phone is nto already equipped with a reader, you can easily download one. There are multiple ones to choose from, with many being free.

•Send an email. Capture the QR code with your phone’s camera and then email that picture to scan@scanlife.com.

•Send a text message. Take a picture of the QR code and send it via MMS text messaging to 43588.

How electronic newsletters and email advertisements promote top-of-mind mentality and raise brand awareness

By Chris Edwards

Driving sales, generating revenue, and growing a customer base are key goals to running asuccessful business. To do all that, consider email marketing as part of your marketing mix of business development activities.

While many business owners already know email marketing can generate new business and retain current customers, it is also important to know that electronic newsletters and email advertisements promote top-of-mind mentality and raise brand awareness.

You undoubtedly have received email from something you signed up for, whether it’s your bank providing a service update, a local sports team listing upcoming games, or your favorite fruit smoothie place announcing a new tropical flavor. That’s the simplicity of email marketing—you target an audience who is generally interested in your product or service.

Begin with a list

All email campaigns begin with mailing lists. If you’re in business, you already have a mailing list—your customers. The next, most common mailing list is your leads, and chances are you’ve got that information available as well. Most small businesses start with these two mailing lists, but as you grow your business and marketing efforts, you may want to employ multiple mailing lists.

For example: If you have a service that is specific to your customers in Jacksonville only and not available to your customers in Tampa and Miami, then you would organize your customers mailing lists based on their location. This control of the relationship between your message and your audience can be critical in maintaining a solid email campaign.

Managing your mailing lists as you expand is important too. You should get permission to send marketing-related emails to your lists whether they signup online or tell you in-person. Providing unsubscribe options and deleting contacts that do not exist or return bounce back emails are more ways to ensure your email campaigns see the best return possible.

Making it count

Your email competes with every email in someone’s inbox, so you need to make it count!

•The introduction. Most people tend to forget this, but the first introduction a recipient has of your email is who it’s from and the subject line. The sending email address should use the same domain as your website, and you should make it so if anyone replies, the emails go to you or a designated email account that you monitor. The subject line should be appropriate in that it’s accurate to the email’s message and it’s interesting.

•The look. The look of your email needs to generate attention and capture interest. After all, the average email user probably runs through several emails every day. Make yours stand out! Colors, graphics, and a well-planned design to boost your message helps grab attention. If you have a solid website design, make your emails look like your website to present your message in a consistent marketing effort.

•The message. The message of your email should be clear. A discontinuous or rambling message will turn readers away while text that drives them to a point or action, such as clicking a link or calling, is the intended goal.

•The links. Links should be available to your website and in some cases, a re-creation of your website navigation menu can be ideal for giving recipients access to your company’s entire website from a single email.

If you have a specific page in your website you are referencing, hot link the text or pictures directly there. A recipient that clicks on a link for a coffee mug is more likely to buy that coffee mug if the link takes them to a Web page where they can buy it versus if the link takes them to the home page forcing them to find the coffee mug purchase page.

•The results. With any marketing, you need measurable results. Whatever platform you decide to use, review the performance of your emails to see how well they did and decide on improvements for future campaigns. Emails can be measured based on how many people open then, and better yet, how many people clicked in them.

You can also break information further down. For example: If you had links to three separate products in your email, a report indicating which links were clicked and how many times will let you know which product is more popular for that market.

Other common reports are bounces (contacts that did not receive your email), spam reports, and opt-outs which will need to be monitored to keep your mailing lists clean and your campaigns doing well. Many programs also report how many people forwarded your email.

Success!

There are many facets to running a business, advertising holding a significant role for many. Within the realm of advertising, email marketing is a relatively cheap method that can be utilized to speak to your market. Like any successfully marketing maneuver it takes planning, execution, and review. Then improve and repeat.

Chris Edwards

Chris Edwards is the director of strategy at Elyk Innovation, a Web development company offering email marketing services for small- and medium-size businesses. Elyk Innovation also specializes in website design, Web applications, and pay-per-click marketing. He can be reached at 904-998-1935, cedwards@elykinnovation.com, or by visiting www.elykinnovation.com.

How you can stay ahead of the curve with digital media

By Melynda Batchelor

Consumption of digital media is second only to television, and that gap is predicted to decrease. Audiences are spending an ever-increasing amount of time with digital media; however, many businesses are still focusing a disproportionate amount of marketing spend on traditional media.

There are three online areas— website, social media, and e-marketing— every business should focus on to stay ahead of the curve and take a leadership position in their market.

1. Invest in your website and get prospects to it

Your company website may be the first and last impression your potential customer ever has of your business. And it’s not just about looking sharp; it’s about the target audience finding your business and having a relevant experience during the research and buying process.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Try this: Search for your product or service (not your company name) on Google. Take note of how many results are returned based on the query. It’s very likely to be in the millions. Every business is vying for those generic searches made by consumers contemplating a purchase. Search engines use hundreds of criterion to determine the most relevant Web pages to include in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Here are a few important factors.

•Domain name: The website URL is a huge factor in ranking high on SERPs. Shorter is not better; more descriptive is best. You can always buy a shorter domain and redirect it to your company’s website if a shortcut is desired, but the primary domain should have a descriptive keyword in the URL. For example: If you sell tires, “tire” needs to be part of your company’s domain name.

•Content: Check out the Web pages ranking well for your target keywords. They are likely to be very rich in relevant content, such as copy on the page or a search-friendly video. Make sure your website is keyword-rich and that search engines can index it. If you look at the source code of your page, which can usually be done by right clicking and selecting “view page source,” you can see what the engine spider is seeing.

•Metadata: This is the file within the page that purposely tells the engines what the page is about. Unique page titles and descriptions are a must-have for every website.

User experience design. You need website visitors to explore your offering, connect with it, and convert from window shoppers to buyers in order to achieve business goals. Guiding users from point A to point Z is achieved by leveraging User Experience Design, a discipline honed by experienced professionals.

It takes only seconds for a visitor to decide if they’ve found the right company or not. Think about that initial experience; make it clear what you offer and what you want the visitor to do. This is likely going to be to contact you or to purchase, so make those options prominently available from all of the points of entry. Note that from a SERP, any page on your website could be the entry point, not just the home page.

When seeking professional help, ask to see examples of websites designed and the analytics on how they are performing. A reputable agency will provide both and explain clearly what they can do for you. Sure, your neighbor’s kid knows how to build Web pages, but would you trust him with designing your storefront? Of course not! Think about your website as your virtual storefront and carefully evaluate the experience you want prospects to have when they come through the door.

2. Think social, get social

The online social phenomenon cannot be ignored. According to eMarketer, in 2011, 63.7% of United States Internet users will use social networks on a regular basis, amounting to nearly 148 million people. Businesses need to get involved to determine the best possible way to leverage online communities.

Listen. First, understand the social buzz about your brand and category. There are many great, free tools out there for doing so. Try www.addictomatic.com to search for business references. This tool will scour the Internet for all mentions of your company and serve them up in an easy-to-digest interface. For category insights, use www.search.twitter.com to tap into conversations about any topic and learn more about your target audience.

Connect. There are almost a million LinkedIn Groups established. At minimum, your business should complete its LinkedIn business profiles, and identify relevant social groups to join. It’s free and the listing gives you more credibility. A secondary benefit is having another Web experience that could rank in SERPs.

Optimize your LinkedIn profile with the same keyword-rich phrases as your website. Don’t be afraid to repeat keywords in your business name, title, and history. Use LinkedIn Groups to learn from others, keep abreast of industry changes, and share business knowledge, which will establish you as a leader and could result in new business.

Engage. Engagement is tougher because a strategy is needed to do it well. Establish how you can leverage social platforms like Facebook and Twitter to achieve business goals. Keep your business objective in mind. You can’t just set it and forget it. After documenting objectives, think about the communication strategy. What do you want to say that’s relevant and interesting? How will you grow your fan base? What’s unique that you can offer that will keep fans interested? Think about why a person would want to follow your company and then deliver that content.

3. e-Marketing

E-marketing is proactively marketing in the digital space, and can include both paid search and paid media, among other tools.

Paid search. The largest and most common type of e-marketing is Search Engine Marketing, which for direct response campaigns is probably the best bet. Think about it—where do people start the buying process? They “Google it.”

Google’s Sponsored Links are generated by businesses bidding on a particular key phrase. This works like a real time auction where the highest bidder gets top billing. You only pay if a user clicks on your ad. And, these are real, qualified leads because users are actively searching for your services.

Check out www.google.com/adwords to learn more. It’s easy to get started, but difficult to be really good at it. There are so many different levers to pull to optimize a paid search campaign, use a professional unless you have time to study the techniques and monitor the campaign daily.

Paid media. If your company or service targets businesses, try LinkedIn ads. If you’re trying to reach consumers, consider Facebook ads. You can learn more about the specific targeting available on each by “Googling it” or going to the specific social networks, www.facebook.com/advertising or www.linkedin.com/advertising. Facebook just started monitoring actual conversations and testing the use of that data for real-time ads. So, someone posting, “I love pizza” could get a real-time offer for $10 pies. Can your marketing be more relevant and timely in traditional channels? No way!

Regardless of the industry, adults in the U. S. are spending 41% of their media consumption time with Internet and Mobile, but marketers are only spending 20% of their advertising spend in those channels, according to eMarketer, March 2011. It’s time to re-evaluate and reallocate your marketing spend to maximize the return on your marketing investment.

Melynda Batchelor is director of digital strategy at Burdette Ketchum, a marketing consulting and communications firm. She develops and implements comprehensive digital marketing programs for the firm’s clients. She can be reached at 904-645-6200, mbatchelor@burdetteketchum.com, or through www.burdetteketchum.com.

What you need to know to connect with the most powerful search engine in the world

“Today, 95% of all products and services bought are first researched on search engines,” says Ronnie Soud, principal and co-founder of Evision Worldwide and Five Rivers Interactive Media and speaker at the Knowledge Is Power workshop sponsored by First Atlantic Bank and Nova Southeastern University.

“Even though consumers might not buy directly from your site, they are visiting your site and they are finding you—and they want to know who you are, where you’re located, and if you are truly going to solve the problem that they have.”

Seek and find

Since Google represents such a big shift in consumer activity, how can you get your small business found when a consumer does a search? Soud says you should take advantage of the full suite Google has to offer.

“Google has, in a way, segmented all the great products that they have and have really put them into three different segments,” says Soud.

Those three segments include:

•Starting your business. This has to do with email, setting up an infrastructure and a website, and Microsoft word style software.

•Marketing your business. This is where Google Checkout, Google Merchant Center, Google Places, as well as YouTube and Google AdWords, come into play.

•Tracking your business and website performance. At this stage, you utilize Google Analytics and Google Website Optimizer.

Start at the beginning

“In order to use the full suite of products, such as Google Places and Google Analytics, Google requires you to set up a Gmail address—that’s what runs the whole show,” says Soud.

If you don’t have a Gmail account yet, you can register for one for free from the Google home page in the upper right corner. Soud says you only need one and it should be something you, as the business owner or as head of marketing, owns and has access to.

You then sign in with that Gmail address and can begin creating your footprint by clicking on the “Business Solutions” link below the search bar.

“While this is all free, there is one disclaimer:  When you register for these and see the agreements, you are giving permission for Google to have access to all your data,” says Soud. “They have access to it, but they can’t do anything with it.”

Get marketing

•Google Checkout. Google Checkout is similar to PayPal. It offers a fast, secure checkout process that helps increase sales by bringing you more customers and allowing them to buy from you quickly and easily with a single login.

Soud says that without any heavy coding, you can allow people to purchase consulting hours, register for an appointment, or buy an actual product right from your site. “They give you the shopping cart. You simply have to load in your products and descriptions and then hand it over to your web staff to place the snippet of code to actually publish the shopping cart to the Web, and you are in business,” says Soud.

•Google Merchant Center. “For those that sell a product, Google Merchant Center is a valuable tool,” says Soud. You use the Google Merchant Center to upload your product listings with a description and price for use in AdWords ads, Google Search, Google Product Search, and Google Commerce Search.

•Google Places. Google Places is also a free service that helps get you more visibility. “This is one of the biggest changes Google has made in the last three years,” says Soud. “What Google found through the years was that the majority of searches being done online had some form of local intent.”

“There was such an explosion of localized searches on Google that they decided to build this giant business directory, publish it to the Web based on keyword searches placed in its search bar, and they made it free.”

To register your business on Google Places, simply go to www.Google.com/places, click get started, sign in, and begin listing your business. To ensure the most benefit, fill in every prompt. The description and category are essential to your listing and you will need to upload some sort of a photo or business logo to be considered complete. You can also enhance your listing by placing YouTube videos, links, and customer reviews. In a week or two, you will then validate it all by entering a pin number that you receive on a postcard.

Tracking performance

•Google AdWords. AdWords allows you to display your ads on Google and its advertising network and you only pay if people click on your ads. One of the best ways to utilize AdWords is to look up what consumers are searching for by using its keyword tool. Simply search “keyword tool” in its search bar, type in a word or phrase pertaining to your company, and you can see the search volume of how many people are typing in your search term and variations of it locally (which means nationally) and globally (which means the world).

“You now get to see how many people on average per month are typing in your keyword,” says Soud. “This keyword tool helps you to organize your thoughts and campaign structure. Without doing this, you could be running a very inefficient campaign.”

To get stated, click on start my campaign and give it an appropriate name, fill in the settings, write your ad, include your website, preview it, and select your keywords with match types (click on link “Advanced option: match types” for explanations). Set your default bid, which is up to what dollar amount per click you are willing to pay, set your billing, and your ad is typically live within hours.

•Google Analytics. Analytics is another free item you can sign up to use and it helps you to attract more of the traffic you are looking for and turn more visitors into customers. This helps you learn which online marketing initiatives are cost-effective and see how visitors actually interact with your site, i.e., how many visits (been to site), page views (coming to site and looking at numerous pages), or bounces (how many left under 15 seconds).

You can then use this information to make informed site design improvements, drive targeted traffic, and increase your conversions and profits.

Ronnie Soud, principal and co-founder of Evision Worldwide and Five Rivers Interactive Media, can be reached at 888-957-0002 or through www.evisionworldwide.com.

Ways managed services experts are addressing your healthcare IT challenges

By Mike Stockwell and Ron Holton

The economy is beginning to rebound from its slump, and numerous signals arepointing to even more growth in the coming years. This change has prompted the IT managers of many healthcare companies to undergo audits of their current IT infrastructure, and some challenging trends are beginning to emerge.

The lack of capital in recent years has meant that a number of healthcare companies have had to postpone infrastructure upgrades and prolong technology refresh cycles. Administrators are seeking solutions that will streamline their IT and deliver scalable, efficient results.

Research firm Gartner Inc. recently conducted a survey of IT staffers from 1,004 large enterprises in eight countries to identify their top challenges and priorities as they moved into 2011. Below are some of these challenges and explanations as to how managed services experts are addressing these needs for customers.

Challenge: Space is limited

The Gartner study revealed that 47% of respondents ranked data growth as the biggest data center hardware infrastructure challenge. Data containment initiatives were named the second most common driver for strategic growth initiatives by 37% of respondents.

A growing number of healthcare companies are now utilizing complex hosting services to handle their critical data needs. Complex hosting is a premium managed service that leverages engineering expertise, deep experience, best practices, and enterprise-class infrastructure to deliver peak performance.

Companies that offer these services as part of their managed services portfolio help customers back up data to disk and tape, manage data backup on customer-provided hardware, rotate tapes, and manage customers’ backup library or replicate data to alternate sites.

Certain companies, for example, also offer cost-effective backup and storage, fewer demands on internal IT staff, enhanced tools for online management, improved security and availability, and real-time monitoring to their clients.

Challenge: Building to scale

While a return to growth is a positive trend, when coupled with the escalating popularity of Electronic Medical Records (EMR), the result is an increase in data that brings with it concerns of increased costs relative to hardware, software, associated maintenance, administration, and services.

Gartner’s survey revealed that 62% of respondents said they plan to expand their hardware capacity at existing data centers by the end of 2011, and of these, 30% plan to build entirely new data centers.

As an alternative to building your own data center, consider utilizing virtualization or cloud services from a managed services company. Virtualization services provide cost-effective high availability, quick provisioning of new servers, lower hardware cost, and a smaller data center footprint. These types of services are becoming increasingly popular; 67% of respondents to the Gartner survey said they plan to spend money on virtualization in 2011.

Gartner’s survey also revealed that 37% of respondents named system performance and scalability as the second biggest challenge for them in the coming year, while another 36% cited network congestion and connectivity issues. Cloud computing provides one of the most efficient and innovative options to boost the scalability of an environment.

Continuing to increase in popularity is the hybrid cloud model, which is a custom-designed solution that combines data center services with cloud services in a virtual and physical environment. Such a solution is unique in that it gives businesses in the healthcare industry access to cloud services and expertise that allows them to leverage the power of the cloud based on their specific needs.

Challenge: Playing by the rules

April Adams, research director at Gartner Inc., stated that data capacity on average in enterprises is growing at 40% to 60% year over year. This has been caused by a number of factors, including an explosion in unstructured data that must be stored due to regulatory compliance requirements.

Leaders in providing full-service managed hosting for businesses worldwide aggressively support customers in their efforts to meet the regulatory demands of their industry or governing agency.

For example, certain companies can assist its healthcare clients to be compliant with privacy controls like HIPAA/HITECH in addition to offering expertise in SSAE 16, CyberTrust, Food and Drug Administration, Payment Card Industry, Data Security Standard, European Commission’s Directive on Data Protection, Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), ISO 27001, and Gramm-Leach-Bliley.

Challenge: Forecasting the unexpected

Survey respondents indicated that business continuity and data availability were the chief motivators behind their strategic 2011 plans. Healthcare companies with mission-critical applications or IT operations know they have to be prepared for hardware failure or losing access to their equipment.

Many businesses are now using highly secure data centers in combination with their own IT facilities to provide a more complete business continuity solution. Managed services providers with the best business continuity and disaster recovery portfolios offer world-class data centers and a geographically diverse footprint.

When downtime is not an option and the failover must be as continuous as possible, a managed services company can provision and ensure a complete redundant architecture with automatic traffic redirection and hot site mirroring. Failover to hot sites keeps the additional effort of maintaining a secondary site from overloading the primary IT staff and gives geographic diversity without paying for constant travel to the secondary facility for maintenance.

Mike Stockwell is the vice president and general manager and Ron Holton is the director of customer engineering for the overall operations of Peak 10 Jacksonville. Peak 10 is a managed services company with world-class data centers. It delivers scalable, economical and reliable solutions for hosting and managing complex IT infrastructure. They can be reached at 904-279-1777, mike.stockwell@peak10.com, ron.holton@peak10.com, or through www.peak10.com/jacksonville.

Six steps you need to know to successfully have an online business

By Ronnie Soud

When it comes to developing an online business, there are six things you need to consider for it to be a success. You need to form your business idea, do your online market research, create a business and marketing strategy, develop a website, perform online marketing, and then test, expand, and refine your online business.

Your business idea

Every business starts with an idea, but in today’s world; most business ideas need some refinement. Often times, the best strategy is to create a unique business that appeals to a niche market. Center on the unique features your product or service offers versus the competition, or how your product or service solves a unique problem within a particular market. This makes marketing and growing your business easier because it allows you to concentrate your product, service, and sales/marketing materials to a well-defined market.

Conduct online market research

Online market research determines target audience and online competition within your market. Online marketing research will identify:

•Top competing websites and what each is offering;

•The top search terms entered to find information about your topic/product/service;

•The competing websites that rank for those search terms; and

•The cost of gaining visibility on these related keyword searches.

Keyword research sets the foundation for online marketing strategy and initiatives, which include website design, content creation, search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click (PPC), blogging/article strategy, and social media. A few keyword research tools available include Google AdWords, Wordtracker, and WordSteam.

In addition to keyword research, you should do an online competitive analysis. It looks to answer such questions as:

•How many pages does each competitor have on their website?

•What type of content do they have?

•Are they offering special/exclusive products and deals online?

•What keywords are they targeting?

•What special Web design elements are they using?

Conduct a search for your target keyword phrases and note the sites that show up for those searches. Visit each website looking for answers to the above questions.

Create the strategy

Once a thorough review of the online market and competition is done, create a business and marketing strategy by defining audience demographics, website traffic and sales goals, and an online budget.

A clearly defined market helps develop targeted website messaging, content, and design. Figure out your audiences’ age, gender, ethnicity, geographic location, income level, interests, etc.

You also need clearly defined goals to keep the marketing process on track and well organized. Define short- and long-term goals for your website.

Use the information from the keyword research and online competition analysis to develop a professional looking website and an online marketing strategy. Some areas to consider include website content/copy, SEO, PPC, e-mail marketing, and landing page development.

Develop a website

Now design and develop the business logo, website, and website copy. Market research, keyword research, and the competitive analysis will help define the creative marketing elements and messaging that needs to be incorporated in the creative/branding elements.

Don’t forget who you’re trying to target—make sure you focus your copy and messaging on that audience, and don’t offer website functionality that that particular market segment doesn’t understand. Keep it simple. Keep it targeted.

You will need to develop a unique message, copy, and logo. Your message needs to be about what makes you, your product, and your service unique within the market. Be as descriptive as possible.

Make sure the logo is unique amongst the competition and get a good quality logo because it will be used to make all of your sales, marketing, and advertising materials for years to come.

Your website is your online storefront, and is often the first impression your potential customers have of your business. Make it easy for them to use, read, and buy/contact. Don’t get carried away with flashy design elements—keep it simple.

You also want to get as many visitors as you can to perform some type of action on your website, whether it’s entering their e-mail for more info, deals, coupons, and new arrivals or they leave a comment on a blog, photo, or video. This way, even if they don’t buy during that visit, they have given you information about themselves, their interest, or buying habits. You can then use this information to make edits/additions to your website.

Also, make sure your website will be easy to expand when the time is right. You will want/need to add new pages, photos, and videos; possibly even a blog, forum, online contest, etc., as you grow.

Perform online marketing

If you are concerned about getting traffic from search engines, then SEO and PPC are two areas to pay careful attention to during the initial research and strategy phrases.

SEO techniques are separated into two different areas: On-site optimization and off-site optimization.

On-site optimization is the foundation for all further SEO efforts. On-site optimization factors include keyword research, website content structure, custom title tags, meta description tags and H1/2/3 tags for each page, and internal page linking structure.

Off-site SEO factors help the site gain more visibility through a variety of methods, such as link building, online press releases, and writing articles/blog posts/photo/video on major online publications such as News4Jax.com or Jacksonville.com.

PPC allows advertisers to bid on specific keywords relevant to their products, services, and target audience. The advertiser has full control over which keywords they want to upload, how much they want to bid on each keyword phrase, and full control over the content of their ads.

E-mail marketing is still one of the most powerful online marketing channels. When users submit their e-mail address,  they are giving you permission to advertise to them. Take advantage of this opportunity, but don’t abuse it. Do two or three e-mail blasts per month.

Today, communication on the Web moves faster than ever. It’s quicker and easier to reach a large amount of people than ever before. Most of the speed of online communication can be attributed to social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Ensure you are among the social communities as well.

Test, expand, and refine

A website is a work in progress. Set up website analytics so you can monitor your site growth each week. Analytics gives you great insights to how visitors are finding and using your site, the keywords that are bringing in the most visitors, which search engines are giving you the most visibility, etc. All of which allows you to make any necessary changes to the website in order to boost user engagement levels.

Google Analytics (www.google.com/analytics) is a free website stats tracking system. Sign up for a free Google Analytics account, and Google gives you a code to place on every page of your site. Once that code is placed, you will start tracking your website visitors.

Once visitors are on your site, it’s important to monitor how many pages they visit on average, how long they stay, and what are the most popular/visited pages. From this monitoring, you can refine your website content. Pay attention to pages with high-bounce rates as those rates are an indication that users are not happy with the content or credibility of the page. You can add more relevant/detailed content or images or graphics to the page to help clarify your points.

Websites need to expand their content offerings in order to grow. Continue to add content that your audience will find useful, such as articles or a blog that focuses on “how to” articles, FAQ’s section, or start a forum or online discussion group to connect like-minded users and share information.

Final thoughts

Users choose to interact with online businesses that are a trusted and good source of information (read: they educate the user). Remember, positive credibility and reputation go a long way online. Be the company that educates the most and you will be the company that sells the most.

Ronnie Soud is the Marketing Director for Evision Worldwide. He can be reached at 888-957-0002 or through www.evisionworldwide.com.

Stack

“We look at the future in a very short window because for technology you have to,” says workshop presenter Andrew Stack, principal of My Executive Centers during the most recent KNOWLEDGE IS POWER workshop, sponsored byFirstAtlantic Bank and Advantage Magazine.

“It just evolves so quickly and changes are made so rapidly that looking any further out than that as it relates to the workplace is probably irrelevant,” he says, while referring to the timeline of what we can expect in the next six to 24 months in workplace technology.

What does it mean to you as a business owner or business manager, and how can you leverage the near future of technology into the workplace? You do it by knowing what will drive the future and what will push some of the big companies to innovate technologies that aren’t currently in the workplace.

Future drivers

Those drivers include economic/financial and regulatory drivers, operational drivers, and demographic drivers. Economic/financial and regulatory drivers include things such as the recession, changing accounting standards, wanting to decrease fixed expenses, and the way lending standards have increased.

“We survived the recession, but companies need to be more flexible,” says Stack. “If there’s anything we’ve learned in the last three to four years, it’s that we need to be able to adjust the way we run our business based on the changing economic climate.”  He says businesses need to know how to expand/contract as the market dictates.

Operational drivers are what customers are demanding.  As business owners, you are becoming more specialized in what you do. Enhanced IT/tech capabilities are needed just so you can respond to the changing market. Customers are tech savvy and use the Internet and social sites for information and you need a website and to be on social networks to keep up, as well as reach out further on what customers you can attract.

Demographic drivers represent the change in the makeup of the workplace. Mobile computing/telephony is mainstream, whereas it wasn’t 10-15 years ago and the workplace itself has evolved from hierarchal to a collaborative team. Younger workers are requiring a better work/life balance. “With technology, they are no longer constrained by the tether of an office or 8-5 working hours,” says Stack, “Because they can work on weekends from home or a nearby Starbucks.”

So how do we get there?

Lamey

“Look at the years 2010 and 2011. These are going to be the years that will really change the industry in technology as we know it,” says second presenter Donny Lamey, president of DiscoverTec. “Just like in the mid-1990s, everyone had to have a website. They didn’t know why, but they did.

“That is kind of where we are today as technology is changing and new product and services are emerging. Ten years from now you will look back at this period and see how technology shifted from a ‘you must own and control everything’ to a shared service,” says Lamey.

According to Lamey, one of the biggest challenges to technology is the high infrastructure cost—large upfront costs, short equipment lifespans, rapid changes in technology, high cost of IT support—and it’s difficult to achieve ROI. He says that’s when companies start choosing what to update and upgrade, and they end up with a mismatch of technology.

The new workplace

How does it all tie together in the workplace? “Workplaces are becoming more team-oriented with people working together, so today’s tools and technology are designed for it,” says Lamey. “The new workplace is being driven by devices such as your phone or tablet—you dock it, and you are there.”

How do you get all the software and files you need when moving from a traditional workplace to this new workplace? Cloud computing. “Cloud computing is really not new as it is the same concept as a mainframe,” says Lamey. “The main difference is you can access things through Web and are able to use everyday product and services.

“Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.”

For example: You are on the Internet and can access your entire network and you are able to access what you are doing at work, then you can access it on your phone after you leave the office, and then access it again at home—all seamlessly; the same file, the same icons, the same desktop, just not the same location.

Cloud benefits

The cost benefit to cloud computing is enormous. “You save a lot of money as a company, which goes immediately to your bottom line, and you always have the latest and greatest to work with,” says Lamey. Other benefits he discussed include:

•Hosted solution saves time and money;

•Universal software used as industry standard;

•The latest version of the complete software suite;

•Enhanced security from hackers, viruses, and spam;

•Easily access and share documents from anywhere;

•All data resides in one location and is backed up daily; and

•Allows businesses to be more efficient in its operations.

EXTRA! To see the entire workshop presentation, visit http://advantagebizmag.com/events/videos, sign in, and learn.

Does your small business need an app to stay competitive?

By Robyn A. Friedman

Brian Young leads a double life. By day, he’s a periodontist with a thriving practice in Jacksonville. By night, he’s a developer of apps for the iPhone.

Young

In December, Young, 36, launched Tracknburn, a health and fitness application that allows users to track the number of calories they consume and burn on a daily basis. This is the fifth app Young developed—and his most successful. Over 24,000 people have downloaded Tracknburn to date, at a cost of $2.99. But Young hasn’t made a profit—yet.

“There are two primary reasons why a company might have an app,” Young says. “It would either be to support their ongoing business or to use it as a business model where they’re generating revenues from the application itself.”

Tracknburn is an example of the latter. Young developed the app as a hobby, he said, albeit an expensive one: he’s plunked down about $50,000 on the project so far.

It’s in the numbers

Apps—custom application software that runs on mobile devices—are all the rage these days. And it’s easy to see why. Just consider the numbers:

The use of mobile devices is exploding—the smart phone market alone is projected to grow 24.5% in 2011, according to International Data Corp. (IDC).

Application developers have churned out over 300,000 mobile apps in the past three years.

Worldwide mobile app revenue will exceed $35 billion in 2014, IDC projects.

In January, Apple announced that more than 10 billion apps have been downloaded from its App Store by 160 million iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad users worldwide.

As a small business owner, it’s tough to ignore these statistics.

Design and development

But developing an app is time-consuming and costly. You need a professional programmer who has experience designing apps—often more complicated than a typical website. Separate apps need to be written for each smart phone platform; Android apps don’t run on iPhones, for example. And even once you develop an app, if it’s for the iPhone, you need to get it past Apple’s tough reviewers, who reportedly evaluate some 10,000 new apps each week.

Is it really worth the time and effort to develop an app? Does your business really need one?

Ennen

“A lot depends on what the small business is,” said Steve Ennen, president of Social Strategy1, a media intelligence firm in Ponte Vedra Beach. “I think it’s a stretch to say they are mission critical at this point, but they offer a set of advantages that are relevant to the digital ecosystem right now—that you can capitalize on if you know how to employ them smartly.”

Better benefits

Some advantages and benefits of having your own app include:

•Mobile apps get you to your customers. Today’s consumer is tech-savvy, better informed, and with high expectations of receiving timely and relevant information. “Today, businesses must reach customers where they are—not just wait for customers to come to them,” said Bernie Brennan, the Ponte Vedra Beach co-author of Branded! How Retailers Engage Consumers with Social Media and Mobility.

•Mobile apps give you visibility and drive traffic to your business. The more people who see your app and use it, the more potential customers you will have.

Gresham

•Mobile apps help you compete. “They level the playing field for small businesses,” said George Gresham, PhD, an assistant professor of marketing at Jacksonville University. It used to be that only large businesses could afford to have their own apps. Not anymore.

•Mobile apps cost less than some other forms of advertising. An app allows a business owner to reach millions of potential customers. Even though it can cost up to $50,000 to develop an app, depending on its technical sophistication, they still can be quite cost-effective when compared to other forms of advertising. Plus, some apps can generate revenues on their own.

Weigh your options

But experts say that apps are not a necessity for every business. “Don’t get blinded by the latest shiny object,” said Ennen. “Just because it’s available doesn’t mean your business is right for it.”

Indeed, there might be other digital creations that serve your company better. A well-designed mobile website, for example, is easily accessible to customers on their mobile devices and provides the information they’re likely to need on the go: address, phone number, directions, and basic information about the products and services you offer.

Plus, a presence on sites like Foursquare, Yelp, and Google Maps can lead mobile customers to your door without the expense of your own app.

Factors to consider

Still interested in developing an app for your business? Here are some factors to consider before taking the plunge:

•Is your app sustainable? In other words, is it something that users will keep coming back to frequently—you know, like Angry Birds—or will usage decline after the initial buzz fades?

“There are lots of stories of people with a gold rush mentality who started building apps thinking they would make a million dollars,” said Ennen. “But usage peaked, and then the app went away because there was no sustained usefulness behind it.”

The best apps are relevant, useful, and encourage users to come back repeatedly.

•Do your customers really access your product or service via their mobile device? If you’re a professional and the bulk of your clients find you on Twitter or LinkedIn, for example, it may not make sense to develop an app. Focus on what works for your particular business—market to your specific customers or clients—and resist the temptation to jump on the app bandwagon.

•What is the ROI? If the app won’t generate business, it isn’t worth the investment.

Do your research

“Find out who your competitors are, and determine what they’re doing right—and wrong,” said Angel Ayala Torres, a computer engineer at CloudYellow in Jacksonville, who is about to release GoTaxiCab, his first iPhone application, which

Torres

allows users to hail a taxi and pay for it via PayPal. “We tried other taxi apps on all platforms—even Blackberry and Android—to make sure we were bringing something to the market that is different and better.”

“Don’t have an app just to say you have one,” said Young, the periodontist. “If you’re going to spend time, money, and effort to not only develop but also manage and maintain an app, it needs to be functional. It needs to serve a purpose. If it doesn’t, then it’s just a waste of time.”

Robyn A. Friedman is a contributing writer to Advantage. She can be reached at robyn@everythingwrite.com.

Why e-banking is the best thing since sliced bread

By Lori Putnam

Those us who have paid attention over the last 25 years have witnessed the emergence of technology at what can best be described as warp speed. If you really think about it, the technology of today was probably obsolete before you evenpurchased it!

In the world of financial services, the technology boom has created the ability for bank customers to obtain immediate and accurate banking information, real-time and online. As e-banking technology began to emerge and improve, the initial fear that online banking would replace branch banking was quickly replaced with a desire to offer as much information to our customers through online portals as possible.

When you can sit at the computer at midnight in your pajamas and learn about the products and services your bank offers, it’s a better educational experience than sitting at your banker’s desk, trying to decipher “bank-speak” and knowing there are four people behind you waiting to be seen. This doesn’t mean you never need to go into a branch, but many things that used to be done in branches can now be done electronically, which can save you time and money.

Extended services

Most people log onto their bank’s website to balance their checkbook ledgers. They’ll look at their current or recent activity, maybe look at the detail of some checks they forgot to enter into their ledgers, transfer money to or from savings, and originate electronic bill payments through their bank’s online bill payment site. But e-banking is much more robust than just paying and receiving.

Need to stop payment on a check? Chances are you can initiate a stop payment from your bank’s website. Got a kid in college who needs money? You can initiate a payment to them through your bank’s online bill payment system. In fact, most banks’ online bill payment products can not only accommodate payments to credit cards and utilities, they can now accommodate payments originated electronically to individuals, and business owners wishing to make electronic payments can attach invoices and even apply discounts to electronic bill payments.

E-banking also extends to the lending arena, with a variety of information available through not only your bank’s website, but the links they most likely provide. These links can include calculators for loan payments so you can determine how much a payment will be and how long it will take to repay, as well as detailed information on the variety of loan products available to you, whether you are a business or an individual.

Many financial institutions offer online loan and credit card applications, and even current rate information for their most standard loan products. The e-banking application is virtually the same as what you would complete in a branch office; in fact, many banks no longer use paper applications, but instead originate in-branch loan and credit card applications through their internal electronic systems.

What about investing and retirement? Your bank’s website most likely offers a retirement planner so you can determine how much to invest and at the current rate of savings, how much you will have when you retire, and even asset allocation information so you know how to build a more balanced investment portfolio.

Want to keep up with the current news on your bank? Check out the website. News and information about your bank is readily available for your reading pleasure.  Many banks also offer the option to begin the new account opening process through their electronic sites, and some offer “switch kits,” which can help ease the pain of establishing yourself at a new financial institution by making the process a little more manageable.

New services

With the movement toward “paperless” transactions, many banks offer a terrific service, generically referred to as Remote Deposit. Remote Deposit allows business customers the ability to make non-cash deposits through a secure website using a desktop scanner.

Users simply scan their checks to be deposited, correct any errors that may occur during scanning, and then submit the deposit for practically immediate credit to their bank accounts. The images of the items are stored electronically and can be viewed anytime. While most banks do have processing cut-offs for credit for remotely deposited items, the system itself is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; deposits can be originated and transmitted to the bank and images of deposited items can be reviewed anytime, day or night.

Along these same lines, electronic bank statements, or e-statements, are gaining popularity as “go green” becomes the rallying cry of reducing paper waste. Statements are delivered through a secure system and retrieved at your convenience. All e-statements include transaction details, and most e-statements include the images of the items transacted on your account.

Wire transfer remains one of the most popular methods of moving funds swiftly between banks, and with the ability to originate wire transfers through electronic banking, customers can save a trip to the bank and even gain a reduction in the cost of wiring funds. Payments initiated or received through the Automated Clearinghouse (ACH) are the preferred method of handling payroll and expense reimbursements. Most banks even offer a “self-service” ACH product, which allows the end user to process ACH payments without the use of an intermediary, such as a payroll company.

Another e-banking service gaining popularity is Positive Pay. Check fraud is one of the most common reports of fraud among businesses. Positive Pay offers one of the most effective methods of deterring check fraud by allowing users to compare the checks they have issued against those being presented for payment on any given day.

Items that do not match the checkbook register raise a red flag and the user must decide if these exceptions represent fraudulent activity. This gives the business owner control over the items being presented for payment against their account, which in turn helps control costs by minimizing the risk of check fraud.

Your e-banking site also offers a wealth of information regarding FDIC insurance, the bank’s officers and directors, identity theft and fraud protection, and more. Many bank sites offer a tool that allows you to pull all financial information into one site for money management purposes. There’s even a good chance that if you visit your bank today, there are e-banking kiosks available for your use, right at the branch site! And we never even discussed the variety of electronic functions that are available now through ATMs and mobile banking. That’s best saved for another article.

It’s probably safe to say that advances in technology have not quite given us the time or cost savings that jet-packing to work or traveling by transporter might have offered us. But taking advantage of the many products and services offered by your financial institution’s e-banking site can certainly make it easy and convenient for you to manage your daily financial needs.

Lori Putnam is vice president, commercial deposit manager, and cash management officer for FirstAtlantic Bank. She can be contacted at 904-446-2567 or lputnam@bankfirstatlantic.com.

Procurement and technology do mix!

By Tony Lego

Lowering supply cost can be a daunting task for organizations even if its operations are lean and mean. The cost of operating a company continues to rise while getting new customers is harder than ever. Add to this the cost of providingemployee benefits, which are also rising, and it is becoming more difficult to operate a financially healthy business.

But you can increase profits by reducing the costs associated with expenses and overhead by cutting supply cost or reducing HR cost. Reducing supply cost can be an arduous and time-consuming assignment. A supply program running at peak efficiency requires time, knowledge, resources, and dedication. However, by focusing on what is most within your control, you can achieve substantial savings.

Reducing through technology

Several ways to use technology to address the issue of supply cost reduction include Internet shopping, inventory control systems, RFQ systems, spend aggregation/management systems, and hiring a purchasing partner.

Internet shopping: The Internet brings the supply industry to the desktop. It can be a great source for product research and pricing, but can become time-consuming if shopping time is not structured. Internet purchasing saves money by eliminating overhead such as warehousing, sales representatives, advertising, etc., and in turn the savings are passed along to the consumer.

In many situations, you deal directly with the manufacturer or an authorized distributor, but use caution when using the Internet as some of those great-looking sites may be out of someone’s garage. Orders should only be placed from trusted sites and never send personal information, such as your Social Security number, bank account numbers, or credit card numbers, over the Internet if you are not absolutely certain the vendor is legitimate or if the website is secure. Many websites display a SSL (secure socket layer) logo at the bottom of the landing page as their assurance you are on a secure site.

Inventory control system: Inventory control systems can be as simple as a pencil and pad of paper, Microsoft Excel worksheet, or more robust systems using software and bar code scanners.

In electronic inventory systems, re-order point inventory levels can be set to trigger re-ordering, and minimum and maximum inventory levels can determine reorder quantities. This reduces necessary stocking levels and minimizes unnecessary ordering of supply items, which translates into a more effective and efficient supply system—giving you greater control over where supply dollars are spent.

Ask your distributor representative if they have such a system available for your use. Some distributors will supply a basic system for little or no cost if you ask.

RFQ system: RFQs (request for quotes) are used to determine the best price for the same or similar item from different manufacturers/suppliers. There are providers that offer the capability to conduct RFQs via the Internet, which saves you time in administering the RFQ process. Some provide ways to rate each suppliers bid on various factors such as capacity, quality, product offering, flexibility, and terms. This helps you quickly hone in on the supplier that will be the best fit.

Before creating the RFQ, you need to know what you want in the product (specifications, tolerances, performance levels) to meet your application of the product. This is very critical to obtaining the right product at the best possible price, and can save a considerable amount of time in product selection.

If you are unsure of the product specification or capability required to perform the intended application, you can invite suppliers to educate you as to why their product/service is best suited for your needs. But beware—getting three bids is not the end of the procurement/strategic sourcing process, it is the beginning. This assumes that you have selected the correct/best suppliers and defined your requirements accurately.

Spend aggregation/management systems: Many businesses that start out small and grow into sizeable organizations with multiple locations usually are missing a way to aggregate their spending across items and services. These companies have hundreds of supply items and overhead items, and the “spends” quickly grow when you look at your spending at a category level.

For example: A telecommunications company with three locations and 20 associates at each with 10 telephone lines and 10 people using the Internet per location. If you look at this at a location level, they are only spending a couple hundred dollars per month. Not a really big dollar cost. But if you aggregate the spending on this across the locations, now you are talking in the $1,000 plus per month. You can see how expense items/services can quickly add up.

There are many systems and solutions in the marketplace to help you accomplish this, such as Google Spend Aggregation. But before you take this route, make sure you are ready to do what is necessary to categorize your purchases into the correct/accurate categories, and keep them maintained as you move forward.

Hiring purchasing partners: Business has become more complex, offering a variety of products/services under one roof, largely in response to customer demands. The result is that direct materials purchasing consumes a vast majority of the purchasing organizations time and effort. This complexity now requires a greater range of skills and knowledge to navigate a sea of suppliers and products/service to get to the best value, and usually comes with a reduced focus on indirect expense items/services, which should not be the focus of limited purchasing resources.

However, the indirect area of purchases can and has produced significant savings for businesses. The issue here is, “Are the savings significant enough to justify hiring a staff of full-time procurement experts?”

In response to this need, several organizations offer purchasing expertise and technologies on an as-needed basis to help businesses maximize value and harvest savings in the indirect expense area. These technologies include price benchmark and supplier databases, which help the partner to quickly identify opportunities in your indirect expenses. They also deploy advanced negotiation techniques using Web-based tools to ensure a competitive environment is created for your purchases.

Take control

Each of the previously mentioned points, when implemented, can help you take control of supply purchasing. Each action by itself will achieve positive results, but each also has a trade-off associated with it: time utilization, use of material resources, human resources that might be better utilized performing increased revenue activities, or importance of saving a few dollars relative to other matters.

Time and other valuable resources expended to save money may eliminate any savings at the expense of something else; in reality, it may actually cost you money. Businesses have always relied on purchasing departments with dedicated men and women who understand sourcing and negotiation practices to conduct product/service research, supply market/supplier research, and presenting RFQs or RFPs (request for proposals and other procurement techniques).

Unlike the person in customer service, sales, production, marketing, accounting, or new product development, the purchasing department is dedicated to knowing how to purchase. Purchasing partners and departments dedicated to a business’ bottom line provide a service that can yield significant savings with improved business efficiency.

Tony Lego is an entrepreneur and franchise owner of Expense Reduction Consulting (ERC). He can be contacted at 904-401-1235, TLego@ERCsaves.com, or through www.ERCsaves.com/TLego.

The next generation of business computing is cloud computing

By Stephen Commorato

Traditionally, a small business would consist of several desktops, laptops, and servers networked together on the premises.

But one challenge small businesses are currently faced with in a traditional platform is the upcoming end of life on the XP operating system. Yes, XP will continue to work on your PC, but without the support and patches from Microsoft, the security risk of your network and information will diminish significantly.

Another challenge is the industry’s move to 64bit hardware instead of continuing 32bit, and how upgrading desktops and servers are essential for compatibility with a new operating system for the best performance in your organization.

Because there are so many options available today you should consult with an IT company to analyze your business goals and objectives. There are many factors and the most important is current infrastructure, so choose an IT company that has knowledge and experience in data networks (transport) and not just local switching and sharing of computers.

Business advantage

Cloud computing is a natural evolution of the widespread adoption of virtualization, service-oriented architecture, and utility computing. By using software hosted in the cloud rather than on-premise, cloud computing can deliver significant business advantages.

There are several deployment methods to get to the cloud and the first component consistent with all methods is a cloud client. The client computer hardware and/or computer software that relies on cloud computing for application delivery, or is specifically designed for delivery of cloud services, and, in either case, is essentially useless without it. Examples include some computers, phones and other devices, operating systems, and browsers.

•Public Cloud or external cloud describes cloud computing in the traditional mainstream sense, whereby resources are dynamically provisioned over the Internet, via Web applications/Web services.

•Community Cloud may be established where several organizations have similar requirements and seek to share infrastructure so as to realize some of the benefits of cloud computing.

With the costs spread over fewer users than a public cloud (but more than a single tenant), this option is more expensive but may offer a higher level of privacy, security, and/or policy compliance. An example of a community cloud includes Google’s “Gov. Cloud.”

•Hybrid Cloud has been used to mean either two separate clouds joined together (public, private, internal, or external), or a combination of virtualized cloud server instances used together with real physical hardware.

The most correct definition of the term “hybrid cloud” is probably the use of physical hardware and virtualized cloud server instances together to provide a single common service. Two clouds that have been joined together are more correctly called a “combined cloud.” A combined cloud environment consisting of multiple internal and/or external providers “will be typical for most enterprises.”

Another perspective on deploying a Web application in the cloud is using hybrid Web hosting, where the hosting infrastructure is a mix between cloud hosting and managed dedicated servers— this is most commonly achieved as part of a Web cluster in which some of the nodes are running on real physical hardware and some are running on cloud server instances.

A hybrid storage cloud uses a combination of public and private storage clouds. Hybrid storage clouds are often useful for archiving and backup functions, allowing local data to be replicated to a public cloud.

•Private Clouds still have to buy, build, and manage them and thus do not benefit from lower upfront capital costs and less hands-on management, essentially the economic model that makes cloud computing such an intriguing concept and IT organizations use their own private cloud(s) for mission critical and other operational systems to protect critical infrastructures.

Components of cloud computing

The two most significant components of cloud computing architecture are known as the front end and the back end. The front end is the part seen by the client, i.e., the computer user. This includes the client’s network (or computer) and the applications used to access the cloud via a user interface such as a Web browser. The back end of the cloud computing architecture is the “cloud” itself, comprising various computers, servers, and data storage devices.

Cloud application services, or “Software as a Service (SaaS),” deliver software as a service over the Internet, eliminating the need to install and run the application on the customer’s own computers and simplifying maintenance and support. People tend to use the terms SaaS and cloud interchangeably, when in fact they are two different things.

Application delivery typically is closer to a one-to-many model (single instance, multitenant architecture) than to a one-to-one model, including architecture, pricing, partnering, and management characteristics.

For a small business owner, the benefit, first and foremost, is to lower your initial capital costs and predictable recurring expenses. The second is to have greater agility and scalability to add and subtract depending on the needs of your company. The third is to have access to more advanced software and capabilities.

The big three!

Amazon, Google, and Microsoft provide shared (public) or hybrid solutions, but for this purpose, the focus will be on Microsoft because it is the most common business solution in the workplace.

Microsoft offers a comprehensive set of cloud-based business solutions that complements the portfolio of on-premise solutions that customers already know and trust.

With the Microsoft platform, you can choose when to run solutions in the cloud (public or private), on-premise, or a hybrid model. Microsoft Online Services in world class datacenters are delivered to customers as subscription-based services, reliably delivered with 99.9% scheduled uptime, and carry a financially backed service level agreement.

Customers who purchase the Microsoft Online Services realize a 40% discount over purchasing standalone services.

Microsoft’s online solution suites

The deployment of Microsoft Online Services (MOS) is generally accomplished with a 24-hour turnaround to the customer.

Small businesses typically may use Microsoft Office, and use of a file server or Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange mail is generally replaced with a third-party POP3 or webmail because the cost of ownership of an exchange server maintaining software and hardware is a burden to their budget.

MOS provides enhanced services affordable to customers unable to afford a collaborating work environment.

Microsoft Office Professional Plus: The world’s leading productivity tool now seamlessly connected and delivered with cloud services—for the best productivity experience across the PC, phone, and browser.

Microsoft Exchange Online: This provides cloud-based e-mail, calendar, and contacts with the most-current anti-virus and anti-spam solutions.

Microsoft SharePoint Online: This provides cloud-based service that helps businesses of all sizes create sites to share documents and insights with colleagues, partners, and customers.

Microsoft Lync Online: This provides cloud-based instant messaging services, online meeting experiences with PC-audio, video conferencing, and screen sharing.

Stephen Commorato is the senior engineer for Tec on Call Inc., a company with a core team that helps clients solve intricate challenges in implementing small-to-medium scale, complex, and business critical IT development and integration programs. He can be reached at 904-880-2355, steve@tec-on-call.com, or through www.tec-on-call.com.

Learn six ways you can stay connected to your small business and improve its productivity when you have to travel

The American Small Business Travelers Alliance (ASBTA) says that in today’s society, small businesses can’t afford to conduct business solely from their offices. The ability to stay connected to the office, business partners, and customers is vital to success.

The effective responsiveness of small businesses means more than just having a business cell phone and making an occasional call from the road. It means collaboration, sending and receiving e-mail, and keeping calendar and businesses documents updated wirelessly by synchronization among other tasks.

Learn how you and your employees can stay on the go with business travel or personal obligations and still conduct business as usual.

Six productivity trends

According to the ASBTA, there are six productivity trends that will play a major role in how small businesses stay competitive with larger corporations, reduce costs, and better meet customer needs.

ASBTA’s research identifies the following top six travel productivity trends that will have the biggest effect on small businesses in the next two years:

• In-flight Wi-Fi: Now offered in-flight, Gogo Wi-Fi (www.gogoinflight.com) allows you to stay connected to your business while flying. Each paid Gogo session includes full Internet, VPN, and e-mail access. Gogo Wi-Fi can be pre-purchased or paid for inflight, and can cost as little as $4.95 for short trips, $12.95 for single flights three hours or longer, and $34.95 for unlimited.

•GPS Technology: A GPS unit is absolutely invaluable if you’re trying to navigate an unfamiliar city. A GPS unit will ensure you’ll get to your meeting, even if you miss a turn. The GPS unit recalculates routes and revises directions based on your location, no matter where you are.

More advanced GPS units include the option to download local attractions, gas stations, stores, and restaurants. To maximize GPS productivity, look for a GPS unit with a traffic receiver accessory to give the most recent route updates.

•Security: Security continues to be a significant issue for small businesses.  Wireless connectivity increases that concern for everyday activities. Companies must defend against viruses, spyware, and system intrusions.

According to Chuck Sharp, president of ASBTA, “Internet security often is a vulnerability many small businesses haven’t adequately addressed. If businesses are not proactive by implementing anti-virus, firewall, and spyware solutions, the result may be disrupted productivity. Begin immediately and be proactive by continuously updating the virus and spy definitions”

•Technology adoption and life cycle: The adoption of new technologies has been a vital component to the increased productivity of small businesses. According to ASBTA surveys, more small business employees are traveling with a laptop. “Technology continues to evolve, so it is important to set realistic goals and schedules to purchase new technology,” Sharp said.

•Wi-Fi Hotspots: Rapid growth, diversity in technology, and the widespread deployment of Wi-Fi Hotspots have greatly increased business traveler productivity. Businesses utilize Wi-Fi connections at Hotspots, airline clubs, hotels, coffee shops, and restaurants as well as utilizing Google or Yahoo to find Wi-Fi enabled locations.  The need to stay connected has led to an increased demand for laptops, PDAs, and smart phones.

“Small businesses have readily embraced the concept of the Extended Office,” said Sharp. “The ability to conduct business wherever you are, whenever you choose, with the same capabilities significantly improves productivity.”

•Airport conference facilities: Productivity advances during travel begin at the airport. Major airlines and the airports themselves are making it possible for business travelers to effectively utilize any wait with greatly improved and easily accessible facilities.

For example: American Airlines enables businesses to save valuable time and travel expense by meeting onsite at the airport, utilizing state-of-the-art meeting facilities at Admirals Club Executive Centers. Executive Centers are fully equipped with everything from computer data ports and speakerphones to slide and data projectors, and customers have access to other necessary office equipment, such as paper shredders and copiers.

Embrace the new

These are challenging times for small businesses. Sharp suggests, “Recognizing and embracing new productivity trends for everyday activities will keep small businesses relevant, while affording them the opportunity for incredible impact and growth in their industries.”

American Small Business Travelers Alliance (ASBTA) is a national organization serving small business travelers by providing information regarding resources and services, savings on air fares, car rentals, and accommodations, as well as technology designed to improve and enhance your travel experience. For more information, visit www.asbta.com.

How technology can help you improve efficiency, cut costs, and increase revenues    

By Robyn A. Friedman

Still using paper and pencil to keep track of your fleet? How about a telephone?

If you’re not using technology to manage your fleet operations, then Paul Norse has a message for you: You could be making more money.

“The technology now for fleets is amazing,” said Norse, vice president of Jacksonville-based Security Center USA, a security solutions provider. “We put money back in your pocket through cost savings and time savings. And we’ve got the return-on-investment calculations to prove it.”

Fleet technology solutions, such as vehicle tracking systems, are no secret to large organizations. But as prices come down, smaller businesses with fleets, such as plumbing and electrical contractors, pest control companies, and courier services, are now adopting this technology, which can help them operate more efficiently, reduce costs, improve safety, save time—and ultimately increase revenues.

“By using technology to track the location of vehicles, companies can monitor the efficiency of a particular route or determine at any given time if one driver is closer to a customer than another—both saving time and money, which is good for the business owner and the customer,” said Cathy Hagan, area director of the Small Business Development Center in Jacksonville.

Hagan said that companies with large fleets or those with a lot of contract drivers probably get more out of their investment in technology than do smaller firms. But companies with small fleets can start with a simple GPS system to help drivers find their destinations faster—and even that measure can help save time and money.

Tracking your fleet

Norse is a distributor of technology manufactured by C3 Location Systems called the “Great Communicator,” although there are similar systems available from distributors across the country.

Here’s how it works: A small “black box” is installed underneath the dashboard and hardwired to the power supply of the vehicle. The box acts as a transponder, providing vehicle status updates and reports via satellite and cellular signals. Anyone who has access to the Internet can log onto a secure website to pinpoint the location of the vehicle, see if the ignition is on or off, the speed of the vehicle, where it’s been—and much more.

The Great Communicator can locate, track, and recover vehicles; monitor vehicle diagnostics and let you know when the oil needs to be changed; and notify an administrator if the vehicle has been in an accident, is speeding, leaves a certain pre-defined geographic boundary, or is stolen. It’s kind of like an OnStar system on steroids.

What can it do for you?

Here’s what fleet technology can do for your business:

•Reduce costs. The ability to track vehicles allows you to create more efficient routes for drivers. It also enables dispatchers to send the closest driver to emergency calls or track when the vehicle is idling. That reduces fuel expenses.

“A lot of workers will sit in a parking lot at Publix and eat lunch while the air conditioning is running and the vehicle is idling,” said Norse. “With an idling alert, you can designate a particular time—if the vehicle is sitting still and running for five or 10 minutes, for example—and you’ll receive an e-mail and text alert.”

Norse said that his own company, which has a fleet of eight vehicles, has saved $600 to $800 a month in fuel costs since installing this technology. Using the system to help monitor vehicle diagnostics and ensure that vehicles get oil changes and other preventive maintenance on a regular basis can also help reduce overall operational costs.

•Save time. Technology can save time not only for a business operating a fleet, but also for its customers. That can help improve the competitive position of a company and increase customer loyalty. Harold Boyett knows this firsthand. Boyett, president of Jacksonville-based Blue Streak Couriers, spent 20 years working for UPS before purchasing the company.

“UPS went through a major technological transformation over that two-decade period, so I had the luxury of seeing firsthand how technology can be leveraged to improve efficiencies and to drive costs out of the equation,” he said.

Boyett uses Xcelerator Dispatch Software in his business, a Windows-based software solution designed for the courier, messenger, logistics, and warehousing industries. Drivers use handheld devices that do barcode scanning, capture customer signatures, and allow dispatchers to track them in real time.

It’s an integrated solution, allowing customers to request package pickup online, and streamlines the entire life cycle of a particular package, from pickup to delivery to paying the driver, invoicing the customer and receiving payment. It also allows customers to track their packages.

Boyett said that the software costs him “a couple of thousand dollars a month,” but saves him many times that in operational efficiencies—such as allowing him to operate with fewer order-entry employees.

•Increase revenues. Norse’s customers purchase his technology on a 36-month term for $50 per month per vehicle after putting $100 down and paying a one-time activation fee of $49. But most recoup that cost by cutting idle time, reducing overtime expenses, and eliminating downtime. That translates into more streamlined operations.

“Unfortunately, employees in the field aren’t heavily supervised, so you get a lot of downtime, playing around and time in between calls that we have been able to eliminate,” he said. “We can usually increase calls by a minimum of one or two per week. The revenue you’re generating from those calls is more money in your pocket.”

Larry Teague & Sons Plumbing in Jacksonville, a customer of Norse’s, has shaved time off its routes since installing the technology in its nine Ford vans, said Melanie Darlington, the company’s office manager.

“We work on every side of town, even in St. Augustine, so when we get calls in during the day, we can distribute that work more efficiently,” she said. “That saves us time, money, and gas.” Darlington also verifies drivers’ timesheets using the technology, helping her manage payroll better.

Norse said that lately, his product has been purchased by not only business operations, but by consumers.

“Surprisingly enough, a lot of husbands want to make sure their wives are safe—or make sure their teen is abiding by speed limits,” he said. “But it’s really suited for fleet operators—painting companies, electrical companies, plumbing companies, you name it. If you have a fleet, you need it.”

Robyn A. Friedman is a contributing editor to Advantage. She can be reached at RAFWriter@att.net.

5 small business blog tips that make a big difference    

By Pete Michaud

Success with a business blog means attracting and retaining customers. Blogging is also an excellent way to prove your industry expertise and expand your network.

You probably already know you’ll need to write sharp prose and update your site regularly, but do you know how to add that extra pizazz that takes a blog from ordinary to outstanding?

Read on to learn the five critical elements that every blockbuster business blog shares.

Tip #1: Focus on your real customers

Small business owners like you are experts in at least two areas—not only your business domain, but running a small business as well! Maybe you run a dog grooming business. It would be easy to get caught up writing about how to run a dog grooming business, which would be fine if your customers were other dog grooming business owners. If your goal is to get dog grooming customers, then you need to write about grooming dogs.

The difference is subtle, but the effects of shifting focus from you and your business, to your target customers and their needs will transform your blog into a marketing powerhouse.

Tip #2: Add value with every post

If your blog posts are all about you and they don’t address the needs and interests of your visitors, then people won’t stick around for long. They certainly won’t convert into customers.

Don’t bloviate about your latest product release, price change, or customer acquisition. That’s all about you, and frankly, your customer doesn’t give a damn.

Ask yourself before writing and posting, “What is in it for my customers? Does this post help them solve a problem they are facing or give them information you know they need?” If the answer is no, then don’t post it!

Of course, you want to promote yourself and your business to your customers, but droning on about yourself will make you look like a boor. So how do you announce a new product or service in an interesting and useful way?

For example: A successful blogger started a company that helps people build a following on Twitter. He wrote a post about wanting a following on Twitter, and the exact steps he took to build that following. The process was slow, painful, and monotonous. For that reason, he said, he built a piece of software that could help him by doing everything he did manually, only faster. And he also made his tool available to the public.

The response was huge. By sharing that step-by-step guide that addressed one of the very specific needs of his target customers, he positioned himself as a credible expert in his market and convinced hundreds of people that their problem was worth spending money on.

Tip #3: Don’t oversell

What the blogger did with his Twitter article was clever because he added value with his post that doubled as an explanation of and advertisement for his business as well. Business bloggers are always thinking of new ways to convert visitors into customers. That’s a great skill to have, but it’s easy to go overboard.

No reader is going to stick around for a hard sell every time you post an article on your blog. If you bombard them with popups when they enter your page, and all they get out of the deal are thinly veiled infomercials seducing them to give you money, their defenses will go up and they will run, not walk, away from your blog and your business.

Blogging works because it gives you a platform to communicate with your customers, who, over time, begin to associate you with your market. When the time comes to make a purchasing decision, you’ll be on their mind.

Blogging works much like a Coca-Cola advertisement. When is the last time you saw a billboard that said, “Buy Coke right now!”? Instead you’ll see its colors and logo with a tag line like, “Life is good.” Those advertisements exist to keep Coke on your mind and to connect the concept of Coke to the good life.

That way when you’re standing in the supermarket aisle a week later and there is a red package of soda right next to a blue package, you’ll choose the red package without thinking too much about it.

Blogs work the same way, by making you visible to your customers and associating you with trust and expertise in your niche. When the time is right for them to buy, they will think of you first.

Tip #4: Show your personality

You have thoughts, opinions, and goals and the best thing for you to do is show yourself as you really are on your blog. People want to connect with other people, and if you try to maintain a dry, corporate style in your blog writing, you won’t give your readers anything to connect to.

There is some controversy about how formal you should be on your blog. Some people say that staying business-like lends you credibility, and warn that sharing too much of yourself might offend some readers.

Ask yourself, “Do you trust your accountant because he’s a stone-faced rock of a person, or is it because you like him and think he’s competent?” We don’t choose doctors or dentists based on how serious they can act or how “professional” they seem. We choose based on a good bedside manner, who we feel we can trust and be honest with.

Another important question to ask yourself is whether you really want to work with people who are offended by you. Maybe it would be for the best if those who don’t like you don’t try to work with you.

Tip #5: Stick to It!

Finally, even if you’re talking to the right people in the right way, you’re still susceptible to the number one reason business blogs fail—bloggers give up too early.

You may feel discouraged early in the life of your blog because it seems like no one is reading it, and that is perfectly normal. Even expert bloggers start blogs that get almost no traffic for months. In fact, you can expect it to take between six months and a year to take off.

The reason is that growing blog readership is exponential, not linear. Instead of straight diagonal line going upward, the graph of your blog’s popularity is a curve that borders near zero before it finally explodes upward around month eight.

Don’t give up before that explosive growth hits. If you stick to writing sharp, personal content that your customers really appreciate, your blog may soon become one of the driving forces behind the growth of your small business.

Pete Michaud is a veteran Internet entrepreneur who has started businesses in the technology, marketing, and healthcare spaces. His current venture is Kenrose Media, a publishing company specializing in health and wellness titles (on the Web at www.KenroseMedia.com). Pete helps entrepreneurs meet and exceed business goals by training them to connect with core principles, overcome uncertainty, and plan effectively. Pete’s blog is on the Web at www.PeteMichaud.com and you can reach him at pete@kenrosemedia.com.

By Andrew Stack    

Just the other day, there was an employee telling her colleague that she was leaving the office early so she could go home and “get some work done.”  

She continued to tell her workmate that the office had become a distraction and, for her, having the solitude of a quiet space in the spare bedroom was better than the office.

That in itself is incredibly profound in the sense that how and where you define your work environment is not so much about location or design as it is about your ability to produce.

That tired phrase of “thinking outside of the box” has taken on the figurative meaning of unorthodox or creative, but in this case, literally means thinking outside the box—the box being the four walls of your office and what you define as your workspace.

While you must still recognize the need for a formal place to gather so you can plan, organize, and collaborate on work projects, you can alter your perspective on your workplace to one of “just in time and just enough” versus having a reservoir of resources sitting idly on standby.

Increasingly, thoughtful business leaders are doing just that.

Office evolution

There was a time not so long ago that “the office” was not only a place for work, but was a symbol of status. You knew your company had arrived the day you signed that seven-year lease or completed the final touches on the executive boardroom.

In many cases, that time has come and gone. With the commercial real estate industry struggling with double-digit vacancy rates and warehouses upon warehouses of used office furniture, there should be a new exhibit at the Smithsonian on the evolution of the American office.

It could start circa 2006. On display, the curator shows a 400-square-foot executive office (with a 50-inch big screen TV); a 20-person boardroom table with a state-of-the-art, HD projector that works with every model of laptop, except of course, yours; a $30,000 copier/scanner/fax/printer/aggravator; and a wax figure of the post-modern administrative assistant.

The very next exhibit would show the “future office” and how it will evolve by fast forwarding to 2011. There, a business owner is seated in a nondescript, 12-foot by 12-foot office, firing up his iPad, plugging in his DA-Dongle, and opening MS Office 365.

He’s able to do this because of something called the Cloud. All of his applications, file folders, documents, and drivers reside nowhere near his computer, but in a bunkered SAS 70 data facility thousands of miles away, owned and operated by a third party.

What’s in it for you?

 All of this should not be too hard to imagine because in many cases, it’s true. Software as a service (SaaS) allows business users to tap the computing resources they need real time without the expensive hardware, maintenance, upgrades, and support that come with traditional enterprise systems.

With such a system, you can basically operate from anywhere. You can work from home, on the road, at a coffee shop, or share a workspace—perhaps even “share” a seat. For example: When a business owner sits down at a workspace to conduct his business, he may notice that the seat is warm. That is because just moments earlier, a sales representative that he neither knows nor ever will was conducting a product demonstration via ISDN videoconferencing in that very same chair.

This type of set-up allows you the freedom to work from wherever you are and when you need to without having to pay for equipment, services, a building, and overhead. You have the liberty to set aside a block of time, head to a workspace, conduct your business without distractions or other items getting in your way, and then leave when you are done, while still maintaining and running your small business.

Many workspaces come fully equipped and furnished with state-of-the-art technology, meeting and training facilities, and business support services. Because of these services, you may find a group of folks working at an open workstation area collaborating with people from a multitude of different companies, where they share best practices, leverage past experiences, and bring critical mass to the idea-generating process that is necessary in today’s chaotic marketplace.

Or, you may hear a woman listening to her voicemail on her laptop in the office coffee lounge. She’s able to do this not because her company bought her the latest iPhone, but because she was provided with unified messaging services via her office business center shared-services membership—a system that sells for tens of thousands of dollars is now available to her for a few dollars a month.

The future

The future may show your accountant reviewing the P/L statements for the last two years, looking a bit befuddled because on your 2009 statement, he sees rent expense, tenant insurance, office furniture and equipment, IT systems and support, and the full-time salary of an administrative assistant.

However, no such line items appear in your 2010 statement and the percentage change in net income is astounding. What radical change in standard operating procedure could produce such results?

Whether you need these services for one-time training and meeting events, once in a while for big presentations or videoconferencing, or more frequently as a place to “get stuff done,” your business needs can be met or enhanced at a workspace as many are a one-stop-shop for office services.

With a workspace or office business center, you can enjoy the state-of-the-art services they offer without the hassles of purchasing and maintaining the systems yourself.

Andrew Stack is the president of My Executive Center LLC. He can be reached through www.myexecutivecenter.com.

By David Goad   

With the proliferation of webinars as a common communication vehicle for business, odds are you may eventually be asked to present in one—maybe as a featured speaker or as a panelist sharing the virtual stage with others.

There is plenty of advice on how to be a good moderator, but not as much on how to be a good panelist. 

So here are three tips that will help you pull off successful webinar appearances.

Tip #1: Prepare

Since you already know your subject so well, is it really necessary to rehearse? Unequivocally, yes! Even before you get to the “dry run” or dress rehearsal, you should have prepared the key messages that you want to rise to the top during the live session.

Write out an introduction, a closing, and at least three to five key supporting points. Rehearse them out loud until they come out in a confident and conversational tone.

If you express them passionately during your dry run, your moderator is more likely to ask you about them during the live event. Encouraging your moderator to ask you transitional questions between your slides will help you sound more natural and conversational.

You might also find it helpful to ask to see the presentations from your fellow panelists in advance. It’s awkward to show up at the prom with matching dresses, and painful to be blindsided with controversy.

Tip #2: Project

Present with more power than you think you need. Typical webinars with audio and PowerPoint slides are a lot like doing a radio show. Listen to a radio talk show host in your car and note the pace, energy, and vocal variety used to keep your interest. Without body language to help you engage your audience, your voice must do all the work.

Instead of sitting at your desk with your phone to your ear, put on a good, quality headset and stand up to present. Don’t hold back on gesturing with your hands, even if your office mates begin staring at you.

Your energy and airflow will be much stronger, and the audience will hear the difference.

Tip #3: Pay attention

This seems obvious, but there are great speakers who are so focused on their own words that they repeat something already said by another panelist. It is also more interesting to the audience to hear a conversation or debate instead of a one-voice lecture or product pitch.

Pay attention to courtesy—take care to let other panelists get in their equal share of “air time.” You can even ask them what they think about your last point to get them talking. This is also a great stalling technique if you need a drink of water.

Help your moderator during the question and answer (Q&A) period by suggesting commonly asked questions the audience may be interested in. With certain webinar programs, you can send private chat messages to the moderator about questions you want to be asked or corrections you would like to make.

Pay close attention to what is being asked during the Q&A and give short, but impactful answers. If needed, use the “defer and segue” technique for tough questions, perhaps adding in a valuable point you wanted to make. 

For example: “That’s a deep dive question that would be better answered by one of our engineers, and I can connect you with an expert after the session. But your question is part of a larger issue we’ve heard from others in your industry… how much time and money should you spend on customization for your end-users? We have deployment experts who can help guide you in that decision.”

Prepare, project, and pay attention

Follow these tips to ensure your message is well-delivered, even if your moderator is not quite up to par. The audience will appreciate it and seek you out for more information after the webinar. And the skills you develop for online presenting will be just as helpful for face-to-face presentations. A webinar may be virtual, but it’s still stage time.

David Goad is a speaker, writer, and Cisco marketeer based in Tracy, Calif. Learn more about his approach to business communication and inspiration from his blog, Short Stories with a Point located at http://davidgoad.wordpress.com.

To hear more…

•You can listen to customers discuss how they were able to demonstrate complex software demos, launch new products, and present to virtual audiences from anywhere to anywhere in the world by visiting www.webex.com/m/ShowcasePodcast-Events.mp3.

 • You can also learn about customized solutions that can help you transition your traditional face-to-face events to online events by contacting Cisco WebEx Collaboration Solutions Expert, Gretta Spaulding, at gretta.spaulding@webex.com.

By Robyn A. Friedman  

As technology changes, so does the way businesses operate. Can you remember how you worked with customers before computers, the Internet, or e-mail? Smartphones and iPads have more recently revolutionized the way to keep in touch with clients. And some small businesses owners are incorporating technological innovations—specifically 3D visualization— into their presentations as a way to close deals.

Visual house tours

Like many other homeowners, Clair Funk toured her new coach home at Laterra Links in St. Augustine before she purchased it. But Funk never left the comfort of own home to do so. Instead, she took a virtual tour of the unit, viewing its floorplan and individual rooms on her computer. That virtual tour piqued her interest enough for Funk to visit the community and ultimately make a purchase there.

“I’m a very visual person, and the more pictures I can see, the better I feel in making a decision even before going out to view a property,” said Funk, a real estate agent. “Laterra Links is a nice area, and the homes can speak for themselves. But you’ve got to get people there—and if you don’t have a virtual tour on the website, which is where everybody goes, you’re not going to get the market share.”

Virtual tours are a type of 3D imaging technology that lets potential buyers view a home or other product before they buy. For a prospect who has trouble visualizing what a finished product may look like—whether it’s a house, new pool or finished garage, for example—3D imaging technology can be a godsend. It can also help clinch a sale. 

“This is your first impression on the customer,” said Dave Hall, vice president of marketing for St. Augustine-based Listing Solutions, an online marketing firm. “Virtual tour technology allows [a business] to create some ownership before customers ever step foot on your property.”

Pamela Anastasia, vice president of Homes by Deltona at Laterra Links, said that virtual tours have helped the developer increase sales. Not only do the online tours attract prospects to the development to see the units in person, but Anastasia also hands them a CD of the virtual tour when they depart. “Then they can go home, come up with design ideas or decide on upgrades,” she said. “It’s probably one of the most essential tools I use today.”

While the real estate industry has been using virtual tours for years—and some may argue they are a necessity for any agent who markets online—3D technology is now being utilized in an increasing number of other industries as well.

Virtual reality pool design

Kevin Carroll, owner of Swimcraft Pools in Orange Park, has been using Pool Studio, a type of 3D swimming pool design software, for the past few years and said it has made an impact on his sales. “It makes us look like we are a custom builder,” he said. “It takes all the guessing out of a client’s mind and shows them that we’re putting money back into our company and are at a higher level than our competitors who aren’t using this technology.”

Here’s how it works: Carroll meets with a potential client at his or her home and familiarizes himself with their family, lifestyle, backyard and how they plan to use the pool. Then he returns to his office, where he has an in-house designer. About a week later, the client is invited back to Swimcraft’s offices to see a presentation of their pool on Carroll’s large-screen monitors.

“Based on the measurements we take in the field, we can draw the house, the pool, the outdoor kitchen and the screen enclosure,” he said. “We can even draw the neighbors’ homes or put blue tile around the pool.”

Inevitably, the client is wowed. “Most of my clients are visual people,” Carroll said. “Unless you’re working with an engineer, they can’t see a 2D rendering on paper and imagine it. So this gives them as close to a realistic point of view as they can have.”

Carroll pays a license fee of $6,000 to $8,000 per year to use the software—and he’s about to kick it up a notch by upgrading to a program that incorporates actual photographs of a client’s house and yard. “The rendering looks so true that it really gives them a final impression of what the pool’s going to look like,” he said.

Instant garage organization

Tim Blin uses another type of 3D technology to help clients of his Jacksonville garage organization company, PremierGarage [CQ] of Northeast Florida. When he and his designer, Katie Lakey, meet with a new client, they take measurements of the garage, including all the windows and doors. Lakey feeds that information into 3D imaging software provided by the firm’s franchisor, incorporating cabinets, shelves, any special storage needs, flooring and colors into the mix. “She makes sure the garage is designed to fit the needs of the homeowner,” Blin said. That means including a workbench for a woodworker or special cabinets to hold golf bags, for example.

About an hour later, Lakey hands her iPad to the clients and shows them the finished product—a 3D rendering of the fully decked-out garage. “The detail is just unbelievable,” Blin said. “It helps a lot of people to make a decision while we are at the home, as opposed to having to make follow-up calls.”

That’s why Blin would recommend that other small businesses incorporate 3D technology into their own sales efforts. “When clients see this technology, they’re like, ‘Wow, that is impressive,’” he said. “It really helps establish that confidence and professionalism that we’re going for.”

Robyn A. Friedman is a contributing editor to Advantage: The Resource for Small Business. She can be contacted at RAFWriter@att.net.

 WEB: More on technology trends. Go to http://advantagebizmag.com/archives/4364

By Larry Levy    

Each year, the amount of data stored on business computers grows at a rapid pace. In a typical business, this involves capturing mission- and nonmission-critical information—including financial, contact management, e-mail and various other forms of data—placing them on servers or devices designed to store this information.

In addition, many companies have transitioned to a paperless environment. This transition utilizes document imaging and scanning systems to transform documents into digital formats and saves them on the same storage devices. In most cases, a high percentage of this information is critical to the survival of the business.

The problem

What happens to all that information when you have an unexpected data loss? Unless you have a strategic backup and recovery plan, that information is gone. Data can be lost or destroyed in many ways, but the most common data disasters are:

• Hardware or system failures,

• Human error (accidental deletions),

• Software failures or viruses, and

• Natural disasters.

Recent studies have concluded half of all companies that lose their data to some type of disaster will not survive beyond six months, and of those who do survive, 90% will be out of business within two years. The question is not if, but when will data loss occur In your business? It is inevitable.

Solutions

Backup and recovery solutions have evolved over the years and various technologies have come and gone. Tape backup has been the workhorse for many years with businesses using a variety of tape technologies. For most businesses, this outdated solution has become time-consuming and cumbersome.

A growing number of businesses have moved to disk backup strategies. The method involves attaching an external hard drive to a computer or server and backing up the data up to this device. This solution works as long as the drive is available in the network, and does not experience failure or damage due to an unforeseen disaster. There is no benefit to backing up data to a device and have that device unavailable when you need it the most!

The next generation

A relatively new and blossoming technology is off-site or “cloud” data protection. Off-site protection is the process of transferring data from the source (generally one or more business servers) to a secure datacenter where the information is protected from natural and person-made disasters, including intentional and unintentional deletion of information. The data is transmitted securely using advanced encryption techniques, which protects the information from those who do not own it.

Until recently, off-site storage technology has been available only to large enterprise organizations. However, with the recent introduction of secure cloud storage technology, the availability for off-site data protection has reached the small business sector in terms of both availability and cost. A number of companies provide off-site data protection, all with varying degrees of simplicity and complexity. In addition, some companies offer an additional level of protection that actually lets you recover the entire computer system. This technology is widely known as disaster recovery (DR). The application takes a snapshot of the entire server or workstation and allows the computer to be restored to a particular point in time.

The next step

When researching on-line backup companies, look for a company that is solely focused on protecting your valuable data and can provide the necessary service and features to meet your specific needs. Do not rely solely on price. The old saying “you get what you pay for” bodes well here. Electronic business information is one of your most valuable assets. Without it, it is only a matter of time before a company is not viable. As you begin your solution search there are some key elements to remember:

• Test your backups. This is critical. It is one thing to back up your data, but you cannot stop there. You must make sure your information can be restored. Too many companies think they have accurate and current backups only to find the tapes do not work or the external storage device is damaged. Companies spend millions of dollars annually and countless person-hours trying to recreate data they thought was backed up.

Make sure you can restore quickly, easily and reliably. The speed at which you can restore your valuable data is very important. The faster the recovery, the less the financial impact to your business.

• Double-check what you are backing up. Make sure your data backup and recovery strategy covers all the information you need it to cover. This includes but is not limited to, e-mail, applications, operating systems, document files, and database records such as customer contact information and all financial transaction data.

• Back up frequently. Daily backup is best, but do it no less than weekly. Thoroughly search your computers and servers. Some data can be stored in obscured places. If you are not sure, contact your IT department or IT provider.

• Know your Internet speed. The bandwidth (speed) of your Internet access affects how fast your data is backed up. An initial backup can take several days to complete, but future backup jobs should only take minutes or a few hours.

• Backup in more than one location. Some, but not all online data protection providers have multiple data centers or servers protecting their clients’ data. You, too, should store your information in more than one place. If this is your disaster recovery strategy, make sure these facilities are protected against all types of disasters and intrusion.

• Make sure data is encrypted. Data encryption is critical to protecting data on local external devices and to a secure cloud storage facility.

Whatever backup and recovery solution you choose, make sure it is capable of protecting all of your valuable data—not just some of it! You or your data backup service provider should test your recovery strategy often. A secure and reliable data protection service or solution is the best assurance your business can have for long-term survivability!

Larry Levy

Larry Levy is the director of sales and product development for YottaXpress, a small-business data protection service. YottaXpress is offered by Yotta280, Inc.,

www.yotta280.com, a leading provider of complete data protection solutions. He can be contacted at llevy@yotta280.com or 904-674-2110.

By Dawn Josephson    

 To say that technology has transformed the way we work over the years is definitely an understatement. From faxes, e-mail, and the Internet to smart devices, cloud computing, and social media, technology has touched virtually every business, both large and small. And despite the stereotype of hip, young entrepreneurs being the only people to embrace today’s technology, the fact is that even the older baby boomers are seeing the value of technology and are jumping on the bandwagon so they don’t get left behind.

Randy Elias

Randy Elias, “Guru”/Owner of TechSync, Inc. (www.techsyncpros.com), a full-service technology solutions provider, has helped business owners as old as 70 implement new technologies into their organizations. “Five years ago I would have said that the older generation still downplayed the role of technology and how it could automate their business,” says Elias. “But today, they realize they need technology if they want to stay competitive.”

Part of the competitive advantage today’s technology offers is the ability to be mobile and work remotely. “Many companies are cutting down on the number of physical employees in the office and letting them work from home as long as they’re getting the job done,” explains Elias. “In my own company, I have three employees, but none of them work in my office. We’re scattered across Florida and stay connected with various online collaboration tools.”

Such tools, including Google Docs and Microsoft Office Live Workspace, enable two or more people to work in a document simultaneously and see each other’s edits in real time. This means co-workers can collaborate on projects at the same time without having to be at the same desk or even in the same state. Called “cloud” technology, these collaboration tools are Internet-based computing whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand. Think of it as working on a virtual server over the Internet.

A new sales paradigm

Ben McDonald, CEO/Owner of Londonberry, LLC (www.londonberry.com), a company that

Ben McDonald

offers strategic technology advice, says that online collaboration tools and video conferencing have completely changed the sales process in many businesses. “The old mantra used to be, ‘If you’re a salesperson and you’re in your office, you’re not doing your job,’” says McDonald. “That’s not the case anymore. Salespeople can do deals over Twitter, direct messaging, video conferencing, Web-based meetings, e-mail…the possibilities are endless.”

One tool that McDonald sees as revolutionizing the sales process is Skype, a software that enables free video and voice calls, as well as the ability to send instant messages and share files with other Skype users. “With Skype, you can show people what you’re talking about rather than just try to explain it verbally,” he says. “You can also create a much tighter bond with someone because you get to see them, not just hear their voice.”

He admits that video conferencing and collaboration tools such as Skype are not a substitute for face-to-face communication; however, they are much more intimate than a phone call. And when it comes to smaller deals or creating the first part of the relationship, you can get much further with video technology than you can with a phone call. “With companies having to trim expenses, Skype is a great alternative to having salespeople travel to a prospect’s or client’s location,” says McDonald.

Effective advertising options

Henry Ford once said, “Half of all advertising is a waste of money; we just don’t know which half.” Today, technology is taking care of that dilemma too.

Les Hill

“In the past, people would build ads without the expectation of getting feedback,” says Les Hill, software developer with Hashrocket (www.hashrocket.com), a Web design and development shop. “Now with the technology of Facebook fan pages, Twitter, and other online advertising outlets, companies can target their advertising and track what the public thinks of their company, products, or services.”

Hill cites an example of a local restaurant tweeting their daily specials each morning. “This is something very simple and that doesn’t cost anything,” he says. “Yet it’s something that enhances the business and the customer experience.”

Additionally, companies can do a Facebook ad, which is more targeted than a typical pay-per-click ad. “This kind of advertising is not the realm of big corporate giants,” explains Hill. “It’s designed for small to medium sized businesses. You can create a pay-per-click Facebook ad that’s specific, such as people in Jacksonville who like pizza. You can even limit who sees the ad by age, gender, education level, and more. There’s a rich demographic targeting scheme that’s available to business owners on Facebook. So it’s no longer mass marketing; it’s now about niche marketing…all thanks to technology.”

Future trends

The one thing we know for sure about technology is that it will continue to evolve. Things that we can’t live without today will become obsolete tomorrow. Elias predicts that the fax machine will one day be obsolete, as will desktop computers. “We’re selling more laptops and mobility devices these days,” he says. “Even the new iPads have enough functionality for the day-to-day business tasks. And as they evolve, they’ll be able to do more.”

McDonald says we’ll also see rise to some new technology-oriented industries, such as technology consulting. “Tomorrow’s consulting services will cater to teaching people how to get up to speed quickly on a certain technology,” says McDonald. “Business owners will see it as more cost-effective than having their employees try to learn the technology on their own.”

But to get a true sense of what will be hot in the business sector tomorrow, Hill suggests that people look to what is popular in the consumer market today. “Technology tends to start in the consumer sector and then migrates to business use,” he says. “AOL came out as personal e-mail accounts, and Facebook started as a way for college graduates to keep in touch. So look at what’s popular among consumers and then start planning for it to extend to the business world.”

The good news is that most of the popular technology tools for business are free or very low cost. Therefore, there’s no reason not to go high-tech. “Remember that change is always good,” says Elias. “If you want a successful business for the long term, you have to embrace change, whether it’s a change in your staffing or your technology.”

Dawn Josephson is a contributing editor to Advantage: The Resource for Small Business. She can be reached at dawn@masterwritingcoach.com.

 SIDEBAR

Check out these free tech tools

Although name brand productivity software titles often cost hundreds of dollars per license, you can find some bargains in Cyberspace that will up your output. And some of those bargains are actually free (at least for a trial period). Check these out:

Online collaboration:

• Google Docs, www.docs.google.com. Free online document collaboration.

• Basecamp, www.basecamp.com. Free trial for online project management software.

• Project2Manage, www.project2manage.com. Free (with limited options) project management software.

• Office Live Workspace, www.workspace.officelive.com. Free collaborative projective management workspace.

Videoconferencing:

• Skype, www.skype.com. Free phone calls and videoconferencing to other Skype members.

• ooVoo, www.oovoo.com/, free video chat.

• Palbee, www.palbee.com, free online service for video meetings and recording and storing your own presentations online.

Social media:

• Facebook, www.facebook.com

• Twitter, www.twitter.com

• LinkedIn, www.linkedin.com

• Plaxo, www.plaxo.com

By Andrew Mametz

One of the most talked about—but least implemented initiatives—concerning information technology (IT) infrastructure is the design and execution of a disaster recovery (DR) plan. Whether man-made or natural, disasters of all shapes and sizes represent costly disruptions to business practices.

Fortunately, their long-term effects can be diminished with a well prepared DR plan. An especially crucial business tool in today’s increasingly electronic world, a DR plan enables you to coordinate people and resources to mitigate downtime or any other interruption to services and operations in the event of a disaster.

Why a DR plan?

A University of Texas study revealed that half of the companies that lose their data through disaster never re-open, and of those who do re-open, 90% will be forced out of business within two years. That’s a compelling reason to prepare a plan now.

Disasters—such as hurricanes and tornadoes—are inevitable and can strike at any time. When it comes to anticipating such an event, expect the unexpected. Natural disasters may churn up conversations about DR, but statistics show that adverse situations resulting from simple human error or technical failure are far more likely to take place. These events can result in a crisis that is just as great a threat to your business’ mission-critical data.

A DR plan offers a proactive solution for times of instability. Having a DR plan creates flexibility within your organization since it requires identifying alternatives for resources, strategies, and solutions. A good plan is one that has been tested over and over to ensure effectiveness. Its success depends on high level of collaboration, initiative and ingenuity.

To calculate the true cost of downtime to your company, perform a risk assessment. This will show you the value of a DR plan, and it will help you determine your business’ level of disaster preparedness and identify potential areas for improvement.

Designing a replication strategy

Companies that have ever experienced any type of downtime recognize that having data backed up at a secondary site is a powerful form of defense against data loss. Offsite data backup at a secondary site is vital, but is only a one piece of the puzzle.

A full replication strategy includes planning for how you will restore your data from the secondary site to the workplace after the crisis has concluded. In order to enjoy such a complete business continuity solution, consider these steps:

• Design a current, written, and tested DR plan;
• Inform hardware, software, facilities, and service vendors of the plan and their expected roles at that time;
• Back up data on a regular basis at a geographically remote, hardened data center;
• Have a firewall and virus protection in place monitored regularly by expert engineers.

Data center networking

Simply storing your mission-critical data at a secure data center represents a large step toward avoiding the ill effects of disaster. A world-class facility is capable of providing IT infrastructure and resources that many companies are unable to duplicate in-house. Selecting the right data center partner is an important consideration because it can provide facility integrity, connectivity, and even technical support that is crucial for disaster preparedness.

When considering a data center partner, consider these questions:

• Does the data center monitors conditions such as temperature and humidity?
• Does it ensure you have fully conditioned power to all of your hardware and redundant power with a UPS and generator?
• Does it test critical systems regularly and perform scheduled maintenance frequently?
• Does it have multiple connections to a network service provider and multiple Internet Service Providers (ISPs)?

The data recovery team

Perhaps the most overlooked and underrated aspect of a successful DR plan is the people in your company. During a crisis, the typical volume of calls and transactions increases threefold. Employees who can approach a disaster with preset expectations will be more likely to handle the situation with flexibility and composure. Their positive energy and attitudes will go a long way toward helping your company to recover as quickly and efficiently as possible.

To successfully prepare personnel for disaster, consider the following:

• Design a DR plan with your employees in mind, making sure that roles are clearly outlined and communicated;
• Assign a designated recovery site for your people and determine whether or not staff members would be willing to relocate;
• Test your DR plan to ensure that all initiatives and expectations are clear;
• Provide each staff member with a clearly documented version of the written DR plan for reference.

The Best defense: A good offense

Being prepared in advance makes a world of difference when it comes to managing your business in the face of disaster. Having a DR plan will keep your IT infrastructure from being compromised and your company up and running. It is essential to design a plan that is appropriately tailored to your company and leverages the best methodology for your business and type of data. Pre-consideration of your company’s priorities and best practices allows for clear, logical thinking when disaster does strike. Proactive measures like these will allow you to implement the best solution when it comes to avoiding business interruption caused by disaster.

Andrew Mametz is director of operations and engineering at Peak 10 Jacksonville (www.peak10.c9m), a data center operator. He can be reached at andrew.mametz@peak10.com or 904-807-4310.

Incorporating these elements into your Web site will get you noticed    

By Joseph Murphy    

Building a Web site for your company—whether you do it yourself or outsource the work—can be daunting. But, building the Web site is just the first step. Now the work really begins, because a Web site that does not reach its market does you no good.

To reach the market, you need to do things to your Web site to assure it shows up at the top of a search engine results page (SERP). This preparation is called search engine optimization (SEO). If SEO is done correctly, it will drive traffic to your Web site—and that should lead to revenue.

SEO consists of including a number of different elements into your Web pages:

• Keywords. Keywords are phrases people would use to search for your company, service or products. Place relevant keywords throughout your site, including your Web page titles, content, URLs, and image names.

• Sitemap. Once you have keywords identified and placed, add a sitemap. A sitemap is literally a map of your site. It lists and links to all other pages within your Web site. A sitemap makes it easy for search engine “spiders” to crawl and index your Web site.

• Image ALT tags. These tags, added when you upload images, should be keyword-rich. Alt text is the line of text you see pop up when you place your cursor over an image. It also displays a text representation of the image when the user has images turned off in their browser (this is the intended behavior). It is highly recommended that you utilize this area, since it is required under accessibility laws and is indexed by the search engines.

Search engine spiders can only search text, not text in your images, which is why you need to make the keywords associated with your images as descriptive as possible. Be sure to add captions to all your images and make all visible text around your images as descriptive as possible.

• Search-friendly URLs. If you are selling widgets, a search-friendly URL would be “www.yoursite.com/worlds-best-widgets.asp” (or whatever file extension is appropriate based on programming language used). Don’t give your internal pages cryptic names. Instead of naming your page something like “pagename.asp,” name it “lowcost-widgets.asp” or “blue-widgets.asp.” Always use hyphens to separate the words in your page names, and be frugal in their usage. Use all lower case for file naming, including naming images.

• Page titles. Use a page title for each of your pages, and make sure the text within your title is also within the body of the page. Page title elements are normally three to nine words (60 to 80 characters) maximum in length, with no fluff; they are straight to the point. This is what shows up in most search engine results as a link back to your page.

• Consistent text for your H1 tags. H1 refers to the primary (largest) headings used on pages. The tags tell visitors who click to your page from a search engine results page that they have clicked on the correct link. Search engine spiders also like these tags because they show a relationship between the title of your page and the headline. Don’t use the same titles on all your Web pages; make them relevant to the copy on the Web page.

• Meta description tag. A meta description tag usually consists of 25 to 30 words and uses from 160 to 180 characters total (including spaces). The meta description shows up in many search engine results as a summary of your site, so it’s important to make sure your description tag is relevant to the content of the page.

Directories such as Yahoo and the ODP (Open Directory Project—www.dmoz.com) show the page title and description that you entered (and the editors modified) on their manual submission forms.

• Link-building. Link-building is a very important part of search engine optimization. To get rankings for your targeted terms, keyword-rich anchor tags from similar or authoritative sites are key because search engines place a high value on them.  Conduct searches with keywords that you use on your site and contact the Web sites that offer relevant content so you can begin to get those important link backs.

Once you have all of these elements in place, don’t forget to monitor your traffic. If you use a tool such as Google analytics, check where your traffic is coming from and what keywords people are using to find you, and then adjust accordingly.

Joseph Murphy is creative director at Red Balloon Agency (www.redballoonagency.com,) in Jacksonville, FL. His firm focuses onmarketing through interactive tactics, including social media, the Internet, and mobile technology. He can be reached at jmurphy@redballoonagency.com

SIDEBAR 1

SEO don’ts

You may not think it is possible, but search engine spiders are smart! So smart, in fact, that there are a number of things you should not do on your Web site, because the search engines will “see” through your attempts to get noticed, and will hold them against you.

• Do not engage in keyword stuffing. Keyword stuffing is overloading the content or meta tags of the Web page with every possible keyword or phrase that relates to the site. Keyword stuffing doesn’t work because when the search engine crawler examines your site, its algorithms can quickly determine if keywords are used an unreasonable number of times.

If your site contains an unnaturally high density of one single keyword, your site will actually drop in the rankings rather than rise.

• Do not over-comment on blogs. Some Web owners visit and comment on hundreds of blogs in order to get links back to their sites.The majority of blog comments won’t do you much good from an SEO perspective because most blogs utilize the no-follow attribute on their comments. This means that search engines will simply ignore your comment link. Thoughtful comments on relevant blogs, however, can certainly get you more exposure from interested visitors clicking through to your site. Just don’t expect them to do much for your rankings.

• Do not start a link exchange.  Although a link exchange at first looks like a great way to get links back to your site, search engines are not stupid. Reciprocal links don’t hold nearly as much value as one-way links, because people use them for reasons just like this one. You’ll be lucky if you see any ranking improvement at all by starting a link exchange.

• Do not pay people to link to your site! This tactic is risky, and search engines are able to detect paid links so well that if you don’t know what you are doing, you are likely to do more harm than good for your site. If you get caught buying (or selling) links for SEO purposes, your Web site can get penalized and actually suffer a drop in rankings. If you are willing to spend money to get exposure, try a Google AdWords PPC (pay-per-click) campaign instead.

 SIDEBAR 2

Social media use and SEO

Twitter has agreed to give specific search engines unlimited access to its data. This means that any time Internet users look for information using a search engine, relevant results may include tweets. What this means to you and your SEO is that your social media presence is directly linked to your SERP (Search Engine Results Page). Now more than ever it is important to include social media as part of your overall marketing strategy.

How to build a foundation of security for your electronic files

By Ashley Feit

Although most small business owners don’t have the budget for an information technology (IT) department, computers are essential for almost all businesses. Keeping them running is one thing. Keeping your files and information safe is another issue all together.

There are a variety of ways to ensure your computer files are safe; Some of them are very easy and basic, and the others require some diligence and a good computer consulting firm.

Daren Dillinger, vice president and operations manager for MacPC Tech Pro in Jacksonville, equates computer security to building a house. You have to have a good foundation before you can build and put shingles on the roof.

“Most small businesses find a way to budget for advertising to grow their business, but they should also have an IT budget to build a solid foundation and maintain the security long term,” Dillinger said. “Really good security is only good for about a month. Things change so quickly that computer security cannot be a once and done type of investment.”

Know your computer tech

The key to computer security is establishing and regularly maintaining the security, but first you have to know who is working on your computers. When you are looking for an IT firm to maintain your computers, it is important to ask about their hiring process.

“The Better Business Bureau is always a good place to check before contracting with an IT firm, but you should also ask what kind of background checks they do on their employees,” explained Dillinger. “You want to make sure they do extensive background checks that are not just limited to one county, and that they administer drug tests.”

From a business and electronic standpoint, Dillinger said that we live in a far more dangerous terrain than people understand, and most of us have a false sense of security. Even with the high usage of computers by so many businesses, it is the No. 1 most unregulated industry. He emphasized that anybody could be working on your computer and it’s up to you to make sure it is somebody trustworthy.

Virus protection

Software for virus protection is a must, but it only works when it’s updated and run frequently. Most software has an automatic update default of every four hours; if the default is different, it should be run at least once a day.

Some virus software will automatically check Web sites to ensure they won’t download malware. This is good to have if you are on a lot of different Web sites for your business.

The most important way to avoid phishing through e-mail is to avoid clicking on any links or opening any attachments form senders that you do not know. This is especially crucial when it has anything to do with your bank or financial accounts.

“If you do banking online, the best way to protect your bank accounts is to do all of your banking on a computer that you do not use for other Internet use or general e-mail,” explained Robert Jones, executive director of Mulholland Forensics. “We’ve had numerous cases just this year of money stolen out of bank accounts through phishing.”

Because phishing is so common with financial accounts, you should always confirm with you financial institution before responding to any e-mail asking for account information.

Internet security

If your business has more than one computer and they are networked, look at putting in another layer of security beyond software.

“A business grade internet security appliance provides additional protection beyond antivirus software,” explained Dillinger. “It has a firewall with gateway antivirus and other features. This type of device will shut down a network rather than allow an attack on the system.”

Consumer grade network equipment doesn’t do the trick for a business environment, according to Dillinger. The least expensive internet security appliance will cost about $350, and SonicWALL, WatchGaurd and Cisco are a couple of the brand names to look for.

Password protection

Once you have the foundation of internet security and anti-virus software, the simplest thing you can do is have a very secure password on your computer. A strong password should have a minimum of eight characters, three or four of which should be different characters. For example, if your name is Barbara, a good password could be: b#Rbar?7.

“You would be amazed how many clients we’ve helped who have had “password” as the password for their computer,” says Sean Mulholland, president and CEO of Mulholland Investigation.

You should not use common words or phrases for a password, and you should change it frequently. Mulholland recommends changing passwords every 45 to 60 days.

“Being cognizant of where your equipment is, goes along with password protection,” said Jones. “Logging off your computer when you go to lunch or leave it for any reason is a simple way to keep people from getting to your files.”

The physical locks that are available for laptops are easy to overcome and shouldn’t be counted on according to Jones.

Encryption

Many small businesses are unique and are known for certain products, features, or services that set them apart. If that’s the case, you may be looking for a more advanced way to protect your electronic trade secrets.

Encryption is a way to enhance the security of a file by scrambling the contents so that it can be read only by someone who has the appropriate encryption key to unscramble it. “It’s kind of like a house key,” explained Mulholland. “You have to have the right house key to unlock the door.”

Encrypting File System (EFS) is a feature on some versions of Microsoft Windows that allows you to store information on your hard drive in an encrypted format.

Vulnerability assessments

Once you have all of your security measures in place, you can’t rest on your laurels. Mulholland suggests having a quarterly or bi-annual check of the vulnerability of your system.

“Periodic penetrations tests should be done to see how easy it is to get into your system. You have to make sure you are protecting your company secrets and any personal credit information you have,” said Mulholland. “In the event that you have a breach of security in your system, you are in a much more defendable position if you have performed regular assessments.”

Security is a fact of doing business. “I know people see computer security as inconvenient, but you can’t afford to not constantly review it,” said Mulholland. “Cyber criminals are always looking for opportunities, and you want to make sure you don’t give them one.”

Sidebar

The Mac security Myth

Many people are under the impression that Mac computers are not susceptible to viruses. Dillinger says that’s not true.

 “Because Macs are not as prevalently used, they can be less susceptible to viruses simply because the cyber criminals are focused on doing the most widespread damage possible,” Dillinger explained. “PC’s are more widely used so most of the viruses and malware are developed for those, not Macs.”

Dillinger suggests that Mac users should follow all the same suggestions for computer security as suggested for PCs. Don’t fall into the trap of a false sense of security because you have a Mac.

Search engine optimization is the key to local visibility    

By Charles Zittin    

Remember the “good old days” when all you needed was an ad in the Yellow Pages to make the phone ring in your business? Now prospective customers rarely use the Yellow Pages. And they’re not reading local newspapers either. So how can you help them find you?

The best way to reach out and touch your prospects is through your Web site. According to a recent survey by, the Kelsey Group (www.kelseygroup.com), a marketing research company, more than 70% of U.S. adults let their fingers do their walking on the Internet when seeking a local source. 

In fact, more than 1 billion local searches take place every month online. Search engines are now the No. 1 resource used by consumers looking for products and services from local businesses. Comscore (www.comscore.com), a digital marketing intelligence company, reports that 82% of local searchers follow up offline via an in-store visit, phone call, or purchase.

Think about it. If you could get more visitors to your Web site, especially targeted visitors who are searching for your product or service, wouldn’t you generate more sales? 

SEO delivers new customers to your Web site

Comscore reports that Americans conducted 14.7 billion searches in December 2009 on the leading search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, and Ask.com. It’s a massive audience, one that offers a wealth of opportunity for businesses that know how to target it. 

Sure, you can buy ads on the search engines, but paid sponsorship (pay-per-click ads) isn’t nearly as effective as natural (organic) ranking. More than 85% of all clicks resulting from a search go to organic listings with only the remaining 15% going to pay-per-click ads.

Because 91% of people won’t go past page one of search engine results, your site must rank at the top for its main keywords. Web sites on that first page get the most traffic, and presumably the most sales.

It’s reminiscent of the old days when businesses with names starting with “A” received the most calls simply because they appeared first in the Yellow Pages.

On search engines, you can rank high regardless of what letter your business name begins with. What matters is the quality of your Web site and how well its optimized.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of making your Web site appear at the top of the search engines to increase the quantity and relevance of traffic it receives.

How search engine ranking is determined

To understand ranking, you first have to consider the mission of search engines. Their objective is to return results that best answer the search query. If your Web site is the most relevant to the search request, it will rank high.

The Internet is primarily a word-based medium. Every Web page tells its own story and should be relevant to one or more search keywords or phrases. If you’ve optimized your pages correctly, your Web site should come up when someone types those keyword phrases into a search engine.

Clear and compelling content that incorporates keywords on your pages will appeal to the search engines. However, that content should also engage your visitors, as you never want to forget their needs. Consider outsourcing the content writing if that’s not your strong point.

Stay local for success

If your business depends on local customers, then your Web site should target your local area. Focus on your city, region, or state. When people use a search engine to find a product or service, they often type in their location with a search phrase. 

For example, ReachLocal (www.reachlocal.com) measured 2,800 searches for “Jacksonville dentist” in January 2010. If you are a dentist, wouldn’t you want your Web site to come up for all those searches? The company also reported 21,427 searches for “Jacksonville auto repair” in January 2010. If you are a local auto mechanic, your Web site needs to come up for those searches or you are losing business to competitors.

Furthermore, targeting a keyword phrase such as “Jacksonville dentist” or “Jacksonville auto repair” is likely to be much more successful than optimizing your pages for “dentist” or “auto repair.” Generic and popular keyword phrases have too much competition. So, focus on your geographical area when creating content for your Web site.

Link building is next

Link popularity refers to the number of links pointing to your site from other sites on the Web. Adding links is one of the most important factors in getting top placement on the major search engines. Generally, a site with more inbound links will be positioned higher than a similar site with fewer links.

Try to obtain links from various types of relevant Web sites, including social media sites, directories, and article Web sites. Those links should go to different pages, not just your home page, in order to promote your entire site. The best technique is to spread the links around and gradually build up the number of links over time.

Web sites are dynamic

Unlike the ad you once placed in the Yellow Pages or the 10,000 brochures you printed a few years back, your Web site should not stay the same. Once built, it should forever be growing and improving. The Web sites that rank best are continually adding new content and gaining more links.

If you don’t have the resources in-house to work on your Web site, consider hiring a search engine optimization (SEO) company to assist you.

A search engine optimization company will first analyze your Web site and generate reports that show how it is currently performing. It should identify any opportunities for improvement and suggest the keywords you should be targeting.

The results of search engine optimization are tangible and measureable. Once the SEO process gets underway, you’ll be able to see progress as your site moves up on the search engines. You’ll also be able to compare your site’s positioning with that of your competition.

The search engines are where your customers are. Very simply, if your Web site doesn’t rank high on the search engines, potential buyers won’t find you. But they may find your competition.

Less expensive than most print, broadcast, or Internet advertising campaigns, search engine optimization is extremely cost effective. Best of all, it can have a lasting effect, often producing results in the form of increased Web site traffic for months and often years.

Of course, the true return on your investment in optimizing your Web site will be the new customers and sales that result from your improved search engine position.

The long-standing dominance of the Yellow Pages may be over, but in its place is a more efficient and affordable alternative to promote your business – the Internet. The potential is truly unlimited.

If you are not taking advantage of every opportunity to increase your Web site’s visibility, you might as well be the unfortunate company in the Yellow Pages whose name starts with “Z.”

Charles Zittin is the executive vice president of SearchXcel, (www.searchXcel.com) a Jacksonville SEO company that specializes in affordable local search marketing. To contact him or find out more about local search engine optimization, call 877-400-0252, ext. 302 or e-mail info@searchXcel.com.  

If you spend any time on the Internet, you should be concerned about safeguarding your personal information. Anybody who does e-commerce, personal banking, bill paying, or social networking on the Internet is exposed to identity theft, according to ProtectMyID.com, a, provider of identity theft detection, protection, and fraud resolution.

The company says the best line of defense against identity theft attacks is the one thing people give the least amount of thought to: their username/ password combination. Statistically, most people create username/password combo’s that are easy to remember. They tend to be associated with obvious personal data, such as

• A partner, child, or pet’s name, sometimes followed by a 0 or 1;
• The last 4 digits of a social security number;
• Numerical sequences like 1, 2, 3, 4;
• The word password;
• Hometown, city, college, favorite sports team or;
• Date of birth – partner’s or child’s.

Compounding the problem is the fact that many people use the same username and password for all their online accounts. If a hacker uncovers your password, identity theft and credit-card fraud may not be far behind.

The company says that password hijackers go through trash, mail, or the pages of social-networking sites—a key source for this type of information— to dig up the information they need to crack a password.

Password hijackers sometimes use software designed to crack security to find passwords. Although little can be done to protect against that type of theft, you can use a number of methods to minimize threats and protect passwords:

• • Indiscriminately trade out numbers and symbols for letters: h@ck3rs ;
• • Use random caps: h@Ck3Rs;
• • Use something from the past: a random place, a favorite toy, etc. Don’t use names of friends or classmates, old address or phone numbers;
• • Vary username/password combinations among accounts.

Source: ProtectMyID.com, www.protectmyid.com