How Technology Can Help Your Business

How Technology Can
Help Your Business
October 26, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011

Our Technology Focus Today
Obvious,
well-known
technologies
Less obvious,
less well-known
technologies
YESNO

What We Won’t Discuss

Nothing I Discuss Will Break the Bank
Low cost
No cost
Free!

Lots of Technology Buckets

How Technology Can Help
Productivity
BI Better HiringEfﬁciency
Employee
Retention
Customer Acquisition
Appearances
Proﬁtability

Reduce Costs

[ ]
eBay Business
• Launched 2003
• 10-15% of all eBay volume comes from SMBs
• Get new/used/refurbished equipment/stuff
• Often 20¢, 30¢, 40¢ on the dollar
• Small business owner’s secret weapon
11

[ ]
Cut Credit Card Processing Costs
• Processing fees can be huge cost for
CC-reliant businesses
• FeeFighters is a comparison shopping site for
CC processing
• Sort of like Lending Tree
• All processors vetted
• FeeFighters saves businesses 40% on average
• Annual saved sums can be as high as $50,000
14

[ ]
Portal-Based Discount Programs
• AMEX OPEN the grandaddy
• Discounts from 2,000+ partners for
business card holders
• More and more technology providers
building SMB portals with similar discounts
• Some will be adding “deal” programs
• AMEX OPEN also offers lots of BI
and AMEX OPEN FORUM
15

Better Hiring

[ ]
LinkedIn
• Make your company discoverable
• Use for free to search and connect
• Pay $50 a month to get free InMails
• Use Groups and Answers
• Check out DIY text advertising
• Hire employees
17

Business
Intelligence

[ ]
Google Alerts
• Google Alerts is content detection
and notiﬁcation service
• Taps content changes in news, web,
blog, video or discussion sites
• Matches set of terms users select
and program
• You can monitor pretty much
anything, no matter how granular
• Can be notiﬁed by email, web feed,
or via iGoogle
21

[ ]
Twitter Aggregator Sites
• Business intelligence tools
• My main use of Twitter
• Know what’s being said on the
“real-time” web
• Track yourself, customers,
competitors, trends
• Tweetdeck, Hootsuite are the biggies
23

Increased
Efﬁciency and
Productivity

[ ]
Google Docs
• Everybody should be using Google Docs
• FREE
• Ultimate in sharing and collaboration
• Spreadsheets, documents, presentations,
forms, drawings
• Easy conversion of MS docs—and back
to MS and PDFs
26

[ ]
Cloud Computing
• SaaS business apps found in cloud
very compelling for SMBs
• You can now run previously
“too expensive” solutions
• You can now run your business as
efﬁciently as larger companies
• New SMB guide from Dell: Bringing
the Cloud Down to Earth
• But security (malware, phishing, viruses)
is one of top 3 SMB concerns
• http://www.dellcloudapplications.com/
resources/ebook-bringing-cloud-down-earth
27

[ ]
Tablet/Smartphone Apps
• We all now use Apps...maybe a lot,
maybe a few
• World of tablet/smartphone apps is
vast...probably a million+
• Best aggregator/advisor is Chicago-based
Appolicious
• Guide to iPhone, iPad, Android and
newer video apps
• 2,500 apps alone reviewed in
“Business” section
28

[ ]
Mobile Sites
• 58 million Americans browse the Web on
mobile devices
• Almost as many shop the Web that way
• If we want to be fully discoverable online,
no longer enough to have a website
• We all need an easy to read and navigate
site on mobile devices
• Good news is, it’s faster, easier and
cheaper than building websites
• Great SMB guide at: http://bit.ly/mQT4UH
29

[ ]
B2B Deal Sites
• B2B versions of Groupon
• Small business are the buyers (not sellers)
• Sellers are ﬁrms that provide products and
services SMBs need ton run their businesses
• Generally weekly offers
• Products, services, software
• Our Bizy is one of 5-6 out there
30

[ ]
Skype for Business
• You may already use the basic Skype
• Skype for Business recently launched
• Added services: caller ID, Skype WiFi,
voicemail, online number, SMS, group video
• Can load $$$ and assign to speciﬁc employees
34

[ ]
Cloud Back Up
• Cloud back-up essential today
• But adoption at small business level
surprisingly low
• Data protection and security are
key issues
• But anti-virus protection is not enough
• Cloud back-up eliminates hardware,
software costs
• Generally, dirt cheap (as low as $59/year)
35

[ ]
Online Payroll Management
• Already a pretty low-cost service
• Convenience, affordability main beneﬁts
• Chicago’s SurePayroll, now owned by Paychex
• Silicon Valley’s PayCycle, now owned by Intuit
• Traditionals...ADP, Austin Gregg...catching up
36

[ ]
Live Virtual Receptionist
• So many businesses have eliminated receptionists
• We call ours, the “Director of First Impressions”
• We’re bigger, so we can afford one
• Many very small businesses looking at virtual
receptionists
• Providers are both off-shore and all over U.S. (Iowa)
• Especially useful to businesses where service
is a priority
37

Customer
Acquisition

[ ]
AMEX’s Small Business Saturday
• In 2nd year
• Nov. 26 in U.S.
• Encourages communities to shop
at local businesses
• Google and AMEX also sponsoring
“My Business Story”
• A tool to help Small business create
professional quality videos
• Check out AMEX OPEN, too
39

[ ]
Using Social Media
• Facebook helps humanize your business
and create community
• Fill your business page with more candid,
personal, friendly content
• Save unique things like ﬂash sales, special
announcements, etc., for Facebook only
• Boosting "likes" is key because these people
are more likely to buy or recommend
• Facebook polling is a secret weapon to
get feedback from potential customers
40

[ ]
Telemarketing to Prospects
• For many, customer acquisition means
cold calling
• How good are you and your staff at
cold calling?
• Consider testing outsourcing services,
including Ofﬁce Goblins
• They’ll script calls, train employees or
do it themselves
• You supply prospect lists, or they can ﬁnd them
• Pay for effort or for results; plans vary
41

[ ]
Clone Your Customers
• From Experian’s Small Business unit
• Called “Clone My Customer”
• Upload data on your 50 best
customers
• Get “X” similar prospects in your
area in return
• Great for very local, store-based
businesses
42

[ ]
QR Codes
• QR stand for Quick Response
• Originally designed by Toyota for vehicle tracking
• Now used everywhere and especially by people
with smartphones
• Take customers directly to your landing page or site
• Use on ﬂyers, store signage, trade show booths,
business cards, ads, promos, etc.
43

[ ]
Video Sharing
• YouTube now 2nd largest search engine
• 50%+ of searches are b2b focused
• Video use by all businesses is exploding
• Lower production values OK these days
• Editing tools at your desktop
44

[ ]
Groupon Now!
• New service from Groupon
• Real-time consumer discovery service
• Works best for retail, store-based
local businesses
• Schedule deals at slow times when
you need them most
• Signed-in consumers see nearby
deals while on the go
• Shopping, meals, classes, sales, etc.
47

Employee
and Customer
Retention

[ ]
Employee Feedback Tools
• Are your employees happy or have one foot out
the door
• Replacement costs can be high
• Many employers scared or shy to seek direct input
• Input Ladder is an early warning system
• Helps employees convey feelings anonymously
• System gathers, analyzes and displays ﬁndings
50

[ ]
Customer Feedback Tools
• Customer research often expensive
• But we still need to know what our
customers want and think
• Boxwire is the equivalent of an online
suggestion box
• Gather and analyze customer feedback
• Does so privately and anonymously
• Online dashboards/displays
51

[ ]
What We Didn't Discuss, But Could Have
• Online banking
• Mobile payments
• Other VOIP solutions
• Other video conferencing solutions
• Email marketing
• Digital advertising
• Webinars and virtual events
52

Thank you

How Technology Can Help Your Business

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