3 ways for small businesses to save money on IT
Regardless of what the government says, most business owners feel we’re still in a recession…
“The recession is cutting into small and midsized businesses’ IT spending, and some industries are hurting more than others, according to the results of the latest IT Effectiveness Index (ITEI) survey.
The ITEI is a benchmarking tool that measures the technology effectiveness of small and midsized businesses. (Small Business Trends is one of the partners of the study.) According to the latest survey, the manufacturing industry has been hit hardest, with 66 percent of people in this industry delaying, halting or canceling IT projects, and a similar number reducing capital expenses.
Also hard hit were the communications industry (at 55 percent), wholesale businesses (52 percent) and service providers with 48 percent reporting an IT spending slowdown. Not surprisingly, the computer industry was the least affected — only a third of the respondents in that industry said their IT projects had been affected by the recession. And the woes don’t end there. Half of the manufacturing industry respondents said their IT operations were either understaffed or critically understaffed. Thirty-three percent of service providers said the same, as did nearly a quarter of the respondents in the computer industry.” Source: SMB IT Budgets and Staffing Hit Hard by Recession | Small Business Trends
From where I sit, most small businesses squander money unnecessarily by not thinking about saving money where possible on IT. Here are three easy ways to stretch your technology dollar…
- Outsource your email and back office collaboration to Google; Google Apps is a powerful, cost effective way to communicate both internally and externally.
- Explore using a Content Management System like WordPress as a website; link it to social media outposts to drive your internet marketing.
- Get off the Microsoft licensing treadmill; no one NEEDS Windows 7, in face, most end users haven’t mastered XP and 2003 yet. Consider buying older computers on eBay, using Ubuntu, OpenOffice, and other money saving strategies and tactics.
These are just a few of the many ways small businesses can stretch their IT dollars and smart business leaders look to months like December when much of the world loses focus to implement ideas like these. Let’s talk about how you can start the new year with more cost effective tools for IT…
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Think social media ROI = zero?
Think different!
“Why are we trying to measure social media like a traditional channel? Social media touches every facet of business and it should be viewed more as an extension of good business ethics. Which, if done properly, will harvest sales down the line. Co-Chairman Alex Bogusky of Crispin Porter & Bogusky puts it best when he states: “You can’t buy attention anymore. Having a huge budget doesn’t mean anything in social media…The old media paradigm was PAY to play. Now you get back what you authentically put in. You’ve got to be willing to PLAY to play.” – Alex Bogusky, Co-Chairman of Crispin Porter + Bogusky” Source: Socialnomics – Social Media Blog
This video from Socialnomics has been viewed over 1 million times…
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8&feature=player_embedded
Now, think about this…
“A big question out there these days is: What is the ROI of Social Media? Or the ever popular how do I measure the ROI of social media? Often when I get this question it’s appropriate for me to retort: “What’s the ROI of your phone?” Other times it’s not appropriate to respond with this answer, which, if done in the wrong tone, or place, can win you a free punch in the face. Then there are the naysayers that adamantly proclaim, “We aren’t doing social media because there isn’t any ROI.”
To borrow from the Conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Benjamin Zander, there are those in life that sit in the back row with their arms folded, judging, and complaining. Then there are those that sit in the front row with a vision and they are spending their energy on making that vision a reality. This article and video have been put together with the hopes of it being a viable tool for those with a vision to get those seated in the back row to stand up and see the social media light.” Source: Socialnomics – Social Media Blog
Now, watch this…
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypmfs3z8esI&feature=player_embedded
You can find the statistics from the Socialnomics video here. When you’re ready to engage, contact me — by virtue of my partnership with MarketingSavant and Envano, no one in the area has more experience in leveraging social media to produce measurable results…
No disagreement from me…
…on this issue!
“It’s 2009. Every business needs a corporate blog to accompany their corporate website, and every individual needs a personal blog to share their thoughts – or portfolio – with the world.
My advice? Go with WordPress. Then leverage a database of 4,500+ third-party plugins to make it the most robust, cost-effective, Web 2.0 Content Management System you can get.” Source: 31 WordPress Plugins To Enhance Your Blog and Life | The Daily Anchor | Marketing and Advertising Blog
Go to the source and read the entire article — it’s worth it…
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Parking fail…
…becomes social media success story! A security camera caught this parking ‘fail’ on camera:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do6pmYfNco0&feature=player_embedded
Hyundai Canada [manufacturer of the victim’s car] saw this YouTube video and was quick to turn this into a social media success! The moral of the story? Everyone wins with social media done well…
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyD6arNlTE8&feature=player_embedded
Tactic #4: Use an external blog editor
Last week I covered tactic #3 in the tactics and tools series: blogging. Assuming that all my clients and readers went out and immediately launched a new blog by now you’re thinking to yourself ‘there’s got to be an easier way’. That easier way is to use a blog editor. Not just any blog editor; use ScribeFire. Jon M. of the Affiliate Business Advisor blog writes this:
“I mentioned previously in an older post how I have used various Blog Editing software, some have been good some have been complete crap and some fall, somewhere in the middle.
I just want to mention one that I have been using now for quite some time. Previously I was using software called Post2blog and I worked closely with the designer to add features in that I thought would make it better.
After Microsoft came out with their free Windows Live Writer software, the owner of post2blog decided to call it a day, and with it a number of features stopped working.
So i [sic] moved over to windows writer. I started to find that has numerous issues and was extremely slow to use. Posting videos was a nightmare though I believe they have fixed that now.
At which time I began looking for another editor to use to post to my multiple blogs.. i came across Free Scribefire which at the time seemed excellent but once again I found a ton of issues like you couldn”t align images which was a pain, they also had a number of other issues.. Yet I could see that it had potential if only the creator would fix some of the issues.
Well I have to say that the creator took the feedback from his users very seriously and I kid you not… within a matter of a month or 2 he had output at least 4 to 5 new updates to Scribefire… taking into account pretty much all of peoples requests.
Yet still there seemed to be a few issues that I ran into so i decided to create a video to show the owner..
And once again the owner took seriously the feedback and within a week had a new update out which included some of my suggestions
I stand behind this as its not only FREE but the support is by far some of the best support I have seen provided for a free based application.” Source: Internet Marketing Blog – Making Money Online » Blog Archive » Scribefire Review
Jon also put together a nice video review which you can view here…
Why use ScribeFire?
- You want to easily be able to slurp content from websites you visit.
- You want additional features or enhancements like Zemanta.
- You edit multiple blogs and want a way to quickly update them all.
- You want to actively manage pings and technorati tags.
- You want an easy way to generate ad revenue.
Slurp content? What is that you say? Here’s a video — easier to show than tell…
I’m a little bit rushed today — my focus is on gettings things in order before my trip to Germany Friday so I may have missed a thing or two. You can always ask a question in the comments or via the contact page. One final note; I would have liked to write about Windows Live Writer which had shown some promise, but due to the pissing match between Firefox and Microsoft, the Windows Live Writer add-on for Firefox does not work with the current version. If you’re an Internet Explorer user, you may want to evaluate that solution as well…
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15x
What is 15x you say? 15X is the multiple by which the traffic to the blog increased over 3 months. In July I was serving up a paltry 4 pageviews per day. Then I got serious. In October that number increased to 63. I have no reason to believe that it will stop growing either, unless I get lazy and stop working at it… ;-)
How did I do it? Through an easy, repeatable process that begins with Google Reader, continues with this WordPress blog, and ends with social media integration. Question? Feedback? Leave a comment or use the contact page…
Tactic #3: Blogging. The ‘why’ and the ‘how’…
- Image via Wikipedia
Tactic #3 in the series ‘tactics and tools for tightening your tribe using social media’ is blogging and I’ll be covering not only the why but the how. Admittedly, though, the more obvious something is to me, the harder it is to write about it and blogging falls into the ‘duh’ category as in “Do you blog?” “Duh!” The benefits are that obvious! Let me back off a little though and see if I can make my case…
In the olden days — the days when my boys tell me I grew up — freedom of the press belonged to those with a printing press. Now, anyone who can fill out a form on a website can have a blog. Seriously, it’s that easy — why do you think there are so many bad blogs out there? ;-)
A good blog, however, is a powerful tool for establishing thought leadership in an area. My good friend Dana VanDen Heuvel @ MarketingSavant describes it this way — the difference between a thinker and a thought LEADER is that the thought leader has a public point of view. That public point of view leads to share of voice, which leads to share of mind, which leads to share of market and that improves your bottom line! Personally, I know of know better way to make your point of view known than using a blog. Continue reading “Tactic #3: Blogging. The ‘why’ and the ‘how’…”
I’ll be in Germany…
…[and you won’t ;-)] in the beginning of November covering the Agritechnica trade show for my client AGCO…
“This biannual fair is considered the world’s largest and leading trade fair in the field of agricultural machinery. It is a rather specialised fair in terms of products, visitors and exhibitors. Over the past 10 years, Agritechnica has been growing rapidly, doubling its number of exhibitors. In 2007, 1,268 companies exhibited their products, of which 920 where from outside Germany. Over 340,000 visitors visited the fair, some 71,500 from outside Germany.” Source: AGRITECHNICA 2009 | CBI
The bright folks at AGCO are using social media as a breakout strategy to connect with customers. If you want to track our preparation and progress from the very beginning to the end of the show, you can do it here…
“If I started today”…
- Image by petermello via Flickr
…is an insanely great post by Chris Brogan on the topic of where I would start today if I wanted to use the internet and social media to promote my thought leadership position — NOW I understand why people like Darren Rowse of ProBlogger rave about him!
I came across it looking for the killer article for a prospective client that I really want to land and I couldn’t have picked a better one to help him make the right decision…
“Okay, so you’ve heard from someone that this social media and social networking stuff is great and you should get involved, and it’s really going to help you out. Maybe it will help you in the economic downturn. Maybe you have heard how you can use Twitter for business. But there’s a lot to it all.
Where would you start? What would come first? How might you think about getting out there and joining in on the experience?” Source: If I Started Today
You’ll have to go to the source to get the answers but it’s well worth the trip — and let’s hope that client ‘gets it’ whatever it is… ;-)
There is no ‘easy button’…
- Image by spackletoe via Flickr
…for social media, but there are some good, fast, and cheap tools that are simple to use and support the social media lifestyle. Unfortunately, most companies are taking a different approach. My good friend Dana VanDen Heuvel scratches his head here…
“I was in a meeting recently where I witnessed a demonstration of a very well developed internal social network for a fairly sizable, though not very well known company. This particular tool was (almost) completely custom coded by the developer and web design shop for their client. While I sat through the meeting, I wondered “why did they build this from the ground up? isn’t there an off the shelf package to do this?” Which, being one of outsiders, I asked “so, why did you build this from the ground up? isn’t there an off the shelf package to do this and didn’t the client ask for an evaluation of best-of-breed software before giving you the go ahead to do this?”” They chose us because we have passion…
Here’s what I have found. You don’t have to have a spectacular website to dominate as a thought leader, but having a good blog with good content and social media connections helps! Most important? It’s not expensive dollar-wise, but it does take a certain mindset. My formula for using a blog for thought leadership? Good system and process based on a couple of free tools! Questions? Feedback? Leave a comment or use the contact page to reach me…
5 ways social media is changing our daily lives…
This one’s a keeper…
“It is hard to know sometimes how our life has changed until we stop for a moment and look at how different it is from ten or even five years ago. In recent years social media, likely more than anything else, has significantly impacted most of our daily lives. Envisioning the global conversation that has developed over the past few years because of tools like Facebook (Facebook) and Twitter (Twitter) might have been unimaginable for most people at the beginning of this decade.” Source: 5 Ways Social Media is Changing Our Daily Lives
Please go to the source for the rest of Soren Gordhamer’s excellent post…
Tactic #1: Master Firefox!
- Image via CrunchBase
First, what’s this nonsense about ‘Tightening your Tribe’? Well, it’s a reference to Seth Godin’s social media masterpiece ‘Tribes‘. As I read the book, I really enjoyed the strategic discussion but found any reference to practical, tactical tools was missing. I therefore decided to create a series of posts on tools that could possibly accompany the book. This is the first post — there are 9 more. I hope you enjoy them all!
Just in time for the first major entry in my series ‘Top 10 Tactics and Tools for Tightening your Tribe’, Google was kind enough to do a short video on the topic of browsers…
They even launched a new site called What Browser? for people who are unclear on the concept. The truth is there are dozens, maybe hundreds, of different browsers you can use to view content on the internet, but most people never venture beyond the familiarity of Internet Explorer. Personally, I go back and forth between the 5 browsers [Internet Explorer, Firefox, Flock, Chrome and Safari] I have installed on my computer and many times I have multiple browsers open at the same time because not only is it possible, but also desirable, to use a certain browser for a specific task.
I have joked before that Firefox is my wife and Chrome is my mistress, but my wife does not think that analogy is very funny. Maybe it’s better said that Firefox is my workhorse and Chrome is my show pony. In either case, I do most of my work in Firefox, although I am using Chrome more and more — especially with web-based Google products. So why do I love Firefox so much? Let me break it down for you… Continue reading “Tactic #1: Master Firefox!”
“What the *tweet* is social media…
…and what can it do for my business today!?” was the name of the presentation I delivered at the Kewaunee County Power Breakfast on September 29 while filling in for MarketingSavant Dana VanDen Heuvel. Bottom line? Those companies that actively engage their customer base through social media stand to reap a rich harvest in terms of lasting loyalty and increased profits. Dana’s presentation [with a couple of slides I added from an Envano presentation] is included below…
Questions? Feedback? Contact me or Dana VanDen Heuvel…
Facebook for Fun and Profit…
Over the past 10 days I’ve had the opportunity to speak twice on the topic of ‘Facebook for Fun and Profit’ to LinkedIn groups Link Greater Green Bay and Link Appleton [thanks again, Mark and Stacie]. Here’s a post I wish I had in my aresenal before I did the preso — it includes some great tactical and practical advice I would have liked to include…
“Facebook’s not just for keeping tabs on friends and filling out quizzes — it can also be used as a highly effective business tool. It’s great for marketing your products, landing gigs and connecting with your customers.” Source: 32 Ways to Use Facebook for Business
Click the link to go to the source. For those of you from the group who requested it [Rich? ;-)], here’s a copy of my preso with a hat tip to Dana VanDen Heuvel of MarketingSavant.com and David Sauter of Envano who contributed thoughts and slides…
Happy Facebooking!
I love to see my customers succeed…
Kudos to Steven Allen Adams who was recently named the top political blogger in the State of West Virginia by the Washington post…
“Who is the best political reporter in the Mountain State? That would be Steven Allen Adams, of West Virginia Watchdog, according to a Washington Post Top-50 list. We would like to congratulate Steve on a job well done.
“I’m am humbled to be chosen by the Washington Post for this honor,” said Adams. “West Virginia Watchdog is only two-weeks old, so that fact that someone has taken the time to nominate our website and my writing tells me that we’re doing something right. Now I must work to live up to the honor bestowed upon me.”” Source: Washington Post Names West Virginia Watchdog State’s Best Political Reporter
Steven’s West Virginia Watchdog site is proudly powered by e1evation, llc! Special thanks to my team of Heather and Jesse who did all the heavy lifting…
I had a great time…
…at the Green Bay Net social media copnvention [thanks Elliot and Gina!] and thanks to my ‘board of advisors’, I revised the ‘tactics and tools’ mindmap and I had a great time with the folks who sat in on the preso. The content was well received so I’m planning on making an ongoing blog series out of the ‘Social Media Tactics and Tools [TNT? ;-)] mindmap. Stay tuned if you want to know all I do about effectively leveraging the same tactics and tools that I do each day…
Add as Friend…
I looked up an old friend in Facebook yesterday and clicked ‘add as friend’ as I have hundreds of times before. The difference this time is, I know he’ll never accept. Why? Zach’s life was cut tragically short on Tuesday while he was doing what he loved best on this earth; flying…
Firefighting News covers it here, although his name is not mentioned. Details on the accident are sketchy…
“The Lockheed P2V-7 aircraft on the way to drop retardant on a California wildfire was between 100 and 300 feet off the ground when it crashed less than 2 miles from the Reno-Stead Airport on Monday evening, said Tom Little, lead investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board.
Little said nothing indicates pilot error played a role in the crash, which brings to 27 the number of deaths in fatal crashes of firefighting air tankers in the U.S. since 1991.” Source: Official: Jet engine on fire before tanker crashed – USATODAY.com
My buddy Craig Hairrell and I were talking about this yesterday as we pored over the reports across the internet over the phone. You read this stuff in the headlines every day, but once in a blue moon it means something to YOU personally.
Zach was a young man of the most exceptional character and potential. We both attended Morningstar Community Church in Aurora, IL when I lived there and we would still visit from time to time when we came back to town to visit family. Later, when I was engaged by LoPresti Aviation on a couple of projects and he was a student at Moody Bible Institute’s Aviation School we would seek each other out after services and talk flying. He was living my dream; young, handsome, gifted, a bright career in aviation ahead of him. His eyes would shine as he shared details about the program and I would hang on every word. All that is over now…
All except the eternal part — the part that really counts. You see, Zach knew Jesus Christ in a personal way and it showed in everything he did. His salvation and eternity are secure. Still, my heart breaks for his parents, Marci and Steve, and the temporary loss they most certainly feel until they are reunited with him in glory. Until then, I imagine that Zach will be testing a new set of wings — one that will never fail him…
Moral of the story? You’ve heard it before. Life is short. As Shakespeare said in Hamlet “Those friends thou hast and their adoption tried grapple to thy soul with hoops of steel”. In other words, ‘add as friend’ while you still can…
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I love ‘Joy of Tech’…
…it’s rapidly becoming one of my favorite comic strips along with Dilbert and Calvin and Hobbes! I love the artwork AND the pithy geek humor. Enjoy…
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Are you a ‘friend ho’?
Apparently I am or my college-aged son thinks I am because I’ll friend ANYONE in Facebook! My selectivity actually comes at the list level where I manage all kinds of subgroups. Here are my thoughts on the topic…
‘Socialize’ your email…
No, I’m not talking about a plan for government to provide free email for all — that’s Google’s job! What I’m talking about is using your email to drive people to your home base or social media outposts. I advertise where I hang out online, what chat channels I use and what my latest blog post is with every email and all it takes is one, maybe two, free tools…
The first one is called Retaggr. Mashable says…
“What’s great about Retaggr is that it acts as the ultimate business card 2.0 for internet users who want to let people know who they are on the web as well as expand their personal brand. Likewise, Retaggr works as an ideal tool for bloggers who want their community of readers to get to know each other and participate more frequently.
With Retaggr, there is context around the comments on any given site. Names now become links that expand the Profile Card widget and showcase each owner’s virtual information without ever having to leave the site. Plus, blogs and sites that use Retaggr also get the photo tagging functionality which is similar to Facebook and Flickr, but takes it further by letting you see the names and Profile Cards of people in a picture all at one time.” Source: Retaggr: Stepping Up Online Activity with Super Business Card 2.0
Now here’s the cool part. Once you enter all your information into your ‘Super Business Card 2.0’, Retaggr gives you the embed code to create a cool signature file for every email client you use — Windows, Mac, Linux — makes no difference!
I have tested it with Office 2003, 2007, Thunderbird and Google mail — both Google Apps and Gmail — and it works like a charm. One catch, however, Google’s products don’t support html signatures so you need the second free tool which is a free Firefox addon called WiseStamp. The developer says…
“WiseStamp Firefox extension empowers your email signature on any webmail service (Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL, Hotmail, Google Apps…) Easily customize, Include IM & Social profiles, Automatically share your Blog posts, Quotes, News, Bookmarks and more… Enhance your personal and business email interactions” Source: Drive Traffic to Your Blog Simply by Using Your email Signature | WiseStamp Email Goodies
Using this approach not only makes it easy to reach me but also drives people to my social media outposts and ultimately draws them into my home base. Question is, why aren’t you ‘socializing’ your email?
Bright, shiny objects! 
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