1. IT FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
INTRODUCTION
INFAMIA GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES
2. KEEP THE OBJECTIVE IN FOCUS
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) IS A CRITICAL ASSET FOR ALL BUSINESSES BUT CAN BE A
CHALLENGE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
THERE IS A WIDE ARRAY OF IT SERVICES THAT NEED TO BE CONSIDERED, INCLUDING:
WEB SITES
INTEGRATED VOICE AND DATA PHONE SYSTEMS
OFFICE NETWORKS
E-MAIL ACCOUNTS
DESKTOP AND POINT-OF-SALE COMPUTERS
MOBILE DEVICES
SMALL BUSINESSES USUALLY DON’T HAVE STAFF WITH THE WIDE RANGE OF TECHNICAL
SKILLS REQUIRED TO SELECT, IMPLEMENT, AND MANAGE THE FULL RANGE OF TECHNOLOGY
REQUIRED TO SERVE CUSTOMERS
GIVEN THESE RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS, IT’S CRITICAL THAT COMPANIES KEEP FOCUSED ON
WHAT IT SERVICES ARE REALLY IMPORTANT FOR THE BUSINESS AND THE MOST EFFECTIVE
AND EFFICIENT WAY TO OBTAIN THEM
THIS WORKSHOP HAS BEEN DESIGNED TO HELP YOU KEEP THE PROPER FOCUS.
INFAMIA GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES
3. CUSTOMER TO IT SERVICE LINKAGE
CUSTOMER UNDERSTAND YOUR CUSTOMER BASE
– ARE THERE DIFFERENT GROUPS
YOU’RE TRYING TO REACH?
UNDERSTAND HOW YOU’LL USE THE IT
SERVICE – MARKETING, SALES,
FINANCE, ADMINISTRATION, ETC.
UNDERSTAND THE LEVEL OF SERVICE
YOU’LL NEED – AVAILABILITY (24X7,
WEEKENDS, ETC.), CAPACITY,
CONTINGENCY
DETERMINE WHAT TYPE OF
RESOURCES TO USE – DOING IT IN-
HOUSE, RENTING STAFF, HIRING A
SERVICE
4. CUSTOMER TO IT SERVICE LINKAGE
CUSTOMER UNDERSTAND YOUR CUSTOMER BASE
– ARE THERE DIFFERENT GROUPS
SERVED BY ONE OR MORE YOU’RE TRYING TO REACH?
BUSINESS UNDERSTAND HOW YOU’LL USE THE IT
SERVICE – MARKETING, SALES,
FINANCE, ADMINISTRATION, ETC.
UNDERSTAND THE LEVEL OF SERVICE
YOU’LL NEED – AVAILABILITY (24X7,
WEEKENDS, ETC.), CAPACITY,
CONTINGENCY
DETERMINE WHAT TYPE OF
RESOURCES TO USE – DOING IT IN-
HOUSE, RENTING STAFF, HIRING A
SERVICE
5. CUSTOMER TO IT SERVICE LINKAGE
CUSTOMER UNDERSTAND YOUR CUSTOMER BASE
– ARE THERE DIFFERENT GROUPS
SERVED BY ONE OR MORE YOU’RE TRYING TO REACH?
BUSINESS UNDERSTAND HOW YOU’LL USE THE IT
SERVICE – MARKETING, SALES,
FINANCE, ADMINISTRATION, ETC.
SUPPORTED BY ONE OR MORE
UNDERSTAND THE LEVEL OF SERVICE
YOU’LL NEED – AVAILABILITY (24X7,
IT SERVICE WEEKENDS, ETC.), CAPACITY,
CONTINGENCY
DETERMINE WHAT TYPE OF
RESOURCES TO USE – DOING IT IN-
HOUSE, RENTING STAFF, HIRING A
SERVICE
6. CUSTOMER TO IT SERVICE LINKAGE
CUSTOMER UNDERSTAND YOUR CUSTOMER BASE
– ARE THERE DIFFERENT GROUPS
SERVED BY ONE OR MORE YOU’RE TRYING TO REACH?
BUSINESS UNDERSTAND HOW YOU’LL USE THE IT
SERVICE – MARKETING, SALES,
FINANCE, ADMINISTRATION, ETC.
SUPPORTED BY ONE OR MORE
UNDERSTAND THE LEVEL OF SERVICE
YOU’LL NEED – AVAILABILITY (24X7,
IT SERVICE WEEKENDS, ETC.), CAPACITY,
CONTINGENCY
PROVIDED BY ONE OR MORE
DETERMINE WHAT TYPE OF
RESOURCES TO USE – DOING IT IN-
RESOURCE HOUSE, RENTING STAFF, HIRING A
SERVICE
7. ASK CRITICAL QUESTIONS
FOR EVERY IT SERVICE YOU CONSIDER, MAKE SURE YOU CAN ANSWER THESE CRITICAL
QUESTIONS:
WHICH OF MY CUSTOMERS WILL NEED THIS SERVICE AND HOW WILL IT SERVE THEM
BETTER?
WHAT WILL I USE THIS SERVICE TO DO?
WHEN WILL I NEED THE SERVICE?
WHAT IS THE IMPACT IF THE SERVICE IS NOT AVAILABLE?
AS YOU COMPARE OFFERS FROM IT SERVICE PROVIDERS MAKE SURE:
YOU LOOK AT COMPARABLE SERVICE LEVELS (FOR ONES THAT MATTER TO YOU)
YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT IS INCLUDED AND EXCLUDED FROM THE SERVICE (HELP DESK,
BACKUPS, ADMINISTRATION, BILLING, ETC.)
THAT PROCEDURES FOR REPORTING INCIDENTS AND ESCALATING PROBLEMS ARE
CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD, AND
THAT YOU MAKE AN HONEST ASSESSMENT OF WHAT IN-HOUSE SKILLS YOU’LL HAVE
TO PROVIDE. DON’T JUST ASSUME IT WILL ALL WORK PERFECTLY!
8. TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP
(TCO)
4,000
THE COST OF PROVIDING A IT COMPONENT (A SERVICE, PIECE
OF HARDWARE, SOFTWARE PACKAGE, ETC.) IS MUCH MORE
THAN THE INITIAL PURCHASE PRICE OF THAT COMPONENT.
THE TOTAL COST INCLUDES AN ACCOUNTING FOR THE 3,000
INCIDENTAL AND SUPPORT COSTS THAT ARE REQUIRED TO
MAKE FULL USE OF THE COMPONENT. THAT TYPICALLY
INCLUDES THE STAFF TIME NEEDED TO:
MANAGE THE COMPONENT, 2,000
PROVIDE SUPPORT TO USERS WHEN THEY HAVE
QUESTIONS,
REPAIR THE ITEM WHEN NEEDED, AND 1,000
Administrative
PROVIDE MAINTENANCE AS REQUIRED.
Continuity
THESE COSTS ARE TOTALED FOR THE ENTIRE LIFECYCLE OF
THE COMPONENT AND THEN AMORTIZED AS AN ANNUAL 0 Maintenance
COST. Total Cost User Support
Purchase Price
WHILE A DESKTOP COMPUTER MAY COST LESS THAN
$1,500 TO PURCHASE, THE TYPICAL ANNUAL TCO FOR A
DESKTOP WILL BE ABOVE $3,000 EACH YEAR FOR MOST
SMALL ORGANIZATIONS.
OUTSOURCING TRANSFERS THE MAJORITY OF THE TCO TO
THE SERVICE PROVIDER (THE SERVICE RECIPIENT STILL
MANAGES THE CONTRACT).
9. TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP
(TCO)
4,000
THE COST OF PROVIDING A IT COMPONENT (A SERVICE, PIECE
OF HARDWARE, SOFTWARE PACKAGE, ETC.) IS MUCH MORE
THAN THE INITIAL PURCHASE PRICE OF THAT COMPONENT.
THE TOTAL COST INCLUDES AN ACCOUNTING FOR THE 3,000
INCIDENTAL AND SUPPORT COSTS THAT ARE REQUIRED TO
MAKE FULL USE OF THE COMPONENT. THAT TYPICALLY
INCLUDES THE STAFF TIME NEEDED TO:
MANAGE THE COMPONENT, 2,000
PROVIDE SUPPORT TO USERS WHEN THEY HAVE
QUESTIONS,
REPAIR THE ITEM WHEN NEEDED, AND 1,000
Administrative
PROVIDE MAINTENANCE AS REQUIRED.
Continuity
THESE COSTS ARE TOTALED FOR THE ENTIRE LIFECYCLE OF
THE COMPONENT AND THEN AMORTIZED AS AN ANNUAL 0 Maintenance
COST. Total Cost User Support
Purchase Price
WHILE A DESKTOP COMPUTER MAY COST LESS THAN
$1,500 TO PURCHASE, THE TYPICAL ANNUAL TCO FOR A
DESKTOP WILL BE ABOVE $3,000 EACH YEAR FOR MOST CAUTION:
SMALL ORGANIZATIONS. A MISTAKE MANY SMALL
COMPANIES MAKE IS
OUTSOURCING TRANSFERS THE MAJORITY OF THE TCO TO
THE SERVICE PROVIDER (THE SERVICE RECIPIENT STILL UNDERESTIMATING THE COST
MANAGES THE CONTRACT). ASSOCIATED WITH PROPER
MANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE
OF THE IT SERVICE.
10. IT FOR BUSINESS
A PRESENTATION BY INFAMIA GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES
INFAMIA GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES
12. INTRODUCTION: MARKETING
BUILDING A COMMUNITY
WHY A WEBSITE?
SEO/SEM
SOCIAL NETWORKING
STAYING IN TOUCH
INFAMIA GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES
13. INTRODUCTION: PRODUCTIVITY
BACK OFFICE PRODUCTIVITY
AND COST SAVINGS
CRM (CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT)
VOIP (VOICE OVER IP)
MOBILE SYNCHING
HOSTING, BACKUPS, OUTSOURCING
INFAMIA GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES
14. INTRODUCTION: TRENDS
STAYING AHEAD OF
THE COMPETITION
WEB DESIGN TRENDS
GOING GREEN
ANALYTICS
INFAMIA GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES
15. OFFICE NETWORKING
GETTING ONLINE
PHONE SYSTEMS: TRADITIONAL VS VOIP
INTERNET CONNECTIVITY
WIRING
RESOURCE SHARING
INFAMIA GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES
28. BUILDING A COMMUNITY
SOCIAL NETWORKING
FACEBOOK
LINKEDIN
TWITTER
YOUTUBE
RSS/FEEDS
INFAMIA GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES
29. BUILDING A COMMUNITY
SOCIAL NETWORKING
FACEBOOK
LINKEDIN
TWITTER
YOUTUBE
RSS/FEEDS
INFAMIA GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES
30. BUILDING A COMMUNITY
EMAIL NEWSLETTER
COMPARED TO BLOG
WHY BOTH?
GIVE VALUE BACK
PEOPLE SHOULD WANT TO READ YOUR
NEWSLETTER
INFAMIA GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES
39. PRODUCTIVITY
REAL TIME COMMUNICATIONS
EMAIL: NOT REAL-TIME!
IN PERSON AND PHONE: DON’T DISS IT
CHATS: SKYPE, IM, ICHAT (ALSO GROUP CHAT)
VENTRILLO
INFAMIA GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES
40. PRODUCTIVITY
VOICE OVER IP (INTERNET TELEPHONY)
VIRTUAL OFFICE SOLUTIONS
FREECONFERENCECALL(.COM)
INFAMIA GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES
45. PRODUCTIVITY
BACKUPS!
LOCAL BACKUPS (REGULAR FULL BACKUP OF YOUR
COMPUTER)
INTERNET BACKUPS (BACKUP IMPORTANT FILES
REMOTELY)
HOSTED SERVER BACKUPS
INFAMIA GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES
74. THAT’S ALL, FOLKS
INFAMIA GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES
WWW.INFAMIA.COM (WEBSITE)
WWW.WEBCONSULTINGDC.COM (BLOG)
CONTACTUS@INFAMIA.COM OR 301-996-4646
INFAMIA GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES
Notes de l'éditeur
The primary message to take away from this workshop is that you’re not going to be able to do all the things that are possible to be done. Information Technology has become integral to all aspects of running a business and it’s also the factor that has allowed very small businesses compete effectively with very large companies. Even a one person consultancy can have a proactive web presence and provide services on a global basis. The real questions is Should it?
To determine what IT services are appropriate for a company you need to maintain a very clear link between the capability of the IT service and the business value you’ll deliver to your customers by using the IT service.
The other message to take away from this workshop is that you should learn enough to understand what the IT service does but don’t try to do it all yourself. Most likely you’ll buy the majority of your IT services – it’s too expensive to try to deliver these services with in-house staff. Plus, as the technology changes it’s expensive to keep retooling and retraining. In today’s market there are many low cost options available (and some very expensive options). It’s critical that you understand what you really need and how you’ll use it. You will have to prioritize your options.
This is the linkage you need to have in your mind as you consider buying IT services. You may not write it down or make it very formal but you need to have this thought track down as you make decisions. You will be offered a wide variation in types of services, levels of service, and cost for services. There is no one correct answer for all companies, large or small. It all depends on how you’re trying to serve your customers and what value you’re trying to deliver.
The critical questions to consider are What are you going to accomplish with the service? And How important is it?
Once you understand that it will be a question of which set of IT services comes closest to matching your needs and at what price.
You may find some low cost options (called free-ware or open source solutions) that can provide all that you need. Just keep in mind that many of these solutions will require that you do some part of the work (cleaning up files and doing backups for example). You need to understand how you’ll do your part of the work or you’ll end up with system crashes and dissatisfied customers.
This is the linkage you need to have in your mind as you consider buying IT services. You may not write it down or make it very formal but you need to have this thought track down as you make decisions. You will be offered a wide variation in types of services, levels of service, and cost for services. There is no one correct answer for all companies, large or small. It all depends on how you’re trying to serve your customers and what value you’re trying to deliver.
The critical questions to consider are What are you going to accomplish with the service? And How important is it?
Once you understand that it will be a question of which set of IT services comes closest to matching your needs and at what price.
You may find some low cost options (called free-ware or open source solutions) that can provide all that you need. Just keep in mind that many of these solutions will require that you do some part of the work (cleaning up files and doing backups for example). You need to understand how you’ll do your part of the work or you’ll end up with system crashes and dissatisfied customers.
This is the linkage you need to have in your mind as you consider buying IT services. You may not write it down or make it very formal but you need to have this thought track down as you make decisions. You will be offered a wide variation in types of services, levels of service, and cost for services. There is no one correct answer for all companies, large or small. It all depends on how you’re trying to serve your customers and what value you’re trying to deliver.
The critical questions to consider are What are you going to accomplish with the service? And How important is it?
Once you understand that it will be a question of which set of IT services comes closest to matching your needs and at what price.
You may find some low cost options (called free-ware or open source solutions) that can provide all that you need. Just keep in mind that many of these solutions will require that you do some part of the work (cleaning up files and doing backups for example). You need to understand how you’ll do your part of the work or you’ll end up with system crashes and dissatisfied customers.
This is the linkage you need to have in your mind as you consider buying IT services. You may not write it down or make it very formal but you need to have this thought track down as you make decisions. You will be offered a wide variation in types of services, levels of service, and cost for services. There is no one correct answer for all companies, large or small. It all depends on how you’re trying to serve your customers and what value you’re trying to deliver.
The critical questions to consider are What are you going to accomplish with the service? And How important is it?
Once you understand that it will be a question of which set of IT services comes closest to matching your needs and at what price.
You may find some low cost options (called free-ware or open source solutions) that can provide all that you need. Just keep in mind that many of these solutions will require that you do some part of the work (cleaning up files and doing backups for example). You need to understand how you’ll do your part of the work or you’ll end up with system crashes and dissatisfied customers.
This is the linkage you need to have in your mind as you consider buying IT services. You may not write it down or make it very formal but you need to have this thought track down as you make decisions. You will be offered a wide variation in types of services, levels of service, and cost for services. There is no one correct answer for all companies, large or small. It all depends on how you’re trying to serve your customers and what value you’re trying to deliver.
The critical questions to consider are What are you going to accomplish with the service? And How important is it?
Once you understand that it will be a question of which set of IT services comes closest to matching your needs and at what price.
You may find some low cost options (called free-ware or open source solutions) that can provide all that you need. Just keep in mind that many of these solutions will require that you do some part of the work (cleaning up files and doing backups for example). You need to understand how you’ll do your part of the work or you’ll end up with system crashes and dissatisfied customers.
This is the linkage you need to have in your mind as you consider buying IT services. You may not write it down or make it very formal but you need to have this thought track down as you make decisions. You will be offered a wide variation in types of services, levels of service, and cost for services. There is no one correct answer for all companies, large or small. It all depends on how you’re trying to serve your customers and what value you’re trying to deliver.
The critical questions to consider are What are you going to accomplish with the service? And How important is it?
Once you understand that it will be a question of which set of IT services comes closest to matching your needs and at what price.
You may find some low cost options (called free-ware or open source solutions) that can provide all that you need. Just keep in mind that many of these solutions will require that you do some part of the work (cleaning up files and doing backups for example). You need to understand how you’ll do your part of the work or you’ll end up with system crashes and dissatisfied customers.
This is the linkage you need to have in your mind as you consider buying IT services. You may not write it down or make it very formal but you need to have this thought track down as you make decisions. You will be offered a wide variation in types of services, levels of service, and cost for services. There is no one correct answer for all companies, large or small. It all depends on how you’re trying to serve your customers and what value you’re trying to deliver.
The critical questions to consider are What are you going to accomplish with the service? And How important is it?
Once you understand that it will be a question of which set of IT services comes closest to matching your needs and at what price.
You may find some low cost options (called free-ware or open source solutions) that can provide all that you need. Just keep in mind that many of these solutions will require that you do some part of the work (cleaning up files and doing backups for example). You need to understand how you’ll do your part of the work or you’ll end up with system crashes and dissatisfied customers.
This is the linkage you need to have in your mind as you consider buying IT services. You may not write it down or make it very formal but you need to have this thought track down as you make decisions. You will be offered a wide variation in types of services, levels of service, and cost for services. There is no one correct answer for all companies, large or small. It all depends on how you’re trying to serve your customers and what value you’re trying to deliver.
The critical questions to consider are What are you going to accomplish with the service? And How important is it?
Once you understand that it will be a question of which set of IT services comes closest to matching your needs and at what price.
You may find some low cost options (called free-ware or open source solutions) that can provide all that you need. Just keep in mind that many of these solutions will require that you do some part of the work (cleaning up files and doing backups for example). You need to understand how you’ll do your part of the work or you’ll end up with system crashes and dissatisfied customers.
This is the linkage you need to have in your mind as you consider buying IT services. You may not write it down or make it very formal but you need to have this thought track down as you make decisions. You will be offered a wide variation in types of services, levels of service, and cost for services. There is no one correct answer for all companies, large or small. It all depends on how you’re trying to serve your customers and what value you’re trying to deliver.
The critical questions to consider are What are you going to accomplish with the service? And How important is it?
Once you understand that it will be a question of which set of IT services comes closest to matching your needs and at what price.
You may find some low cost options (called free-ware or open source solutions) that can provide all that you need. Just keep in mind that many of these solutions will require that you do some part of the work (cleaning up files and doing backups for example). You need to understand how you’ll do your part of the work or you’ll end up with system crashes and dissatisfied customers.
Keeping the diagram from the last slide in your mind answer these two sets of questions for any IT service you plan to use. The question on the impact if the service is not available is particularly important. It helps you identify how vital the service is to your business and tells you what type of contingency plan you’ll need should it fail. As you customers get used to having a service available they will demand that it be there when they want to deal with you. This will determine what level of service is right for you.
The questions for comparing service providers can be difficult especially since all service providers will pick different aspects of service to tell you about. If the service is critical to your business plan, push the service provider to ensure you understand the level of service included. For non-critical services try to pick levels that are “just good enough.”
The only thing to understand from this slide is that there’s more than the cost of hardware and software involved in providing a service. We’ve all had the experience of getting a new piece of technology that we couldn’t make work effectively. For example, just look at the different types of remote control devices we have lying around the house. If you’re going to get value out of the IT service you’ll need to consider all that goes into delivering that value. You need to total all that cost and divide it over the useful life of that piece technology. That will give you a valid method to compare what each of the different service providers are offering. You may not get exact numbers but you can make some estimates to determine which deal is better for you.
You can make the assumption that you’ll do some of the work like making daily backups of data, but remember you also take on the risk of what happens if its not done.
Introduction: Mickey Panayiotakis and IGT
We’ll go through each of these in turn in the introduction section.
*how technical is the group?
*how big/small are the companies?
*what topics are they interested in?
Why a website? This is an easy sell: doing business w/o a website is doing business w/o a business card. A website is the world’s portal to your company. People researching your company will go to your website _first_. Put your best marketing face forward. Here you also get to say what _you_ want about yourself and your company: manage your message. Lastly, FAQs: get rid of phone calls about store hours, directions, areas of expertise, etc.
Search Engine Optimization/Search Engine Marketing: getting found
Nobody looks at the yellow pages anymore: everyone’s searching for your website.
Social Networking: creating a circle of influence, bring people together, bring people to your website. Build a network
Staying in touch: newsletters, RSS
CRM, end to end management from when you first meet a person, to communicating with them as a client, when they become one
VOIP: save on phone bills. Other VoIP services: virtual office, voicemail-to-email, fax-to-email, follow-me calling.
MOBILE, work anywhere
Introduction: Ernesto Gluecksman
Everybody’s doing it! some examples:
Southwest Airlines publishes a blog for employees and customers called Nuts about Southwest.
Mike Arrington’s TechCrunch is one of the top 5 blogs on the web.
Flickr keeps in touch with their fans with the Flickr Blog.
Fox News uses WordPress.com to host blogs including GretaWire.
WordPress powers CNN.com blogs like the CNN Political Ticker.
Everybody’s doing it! some examples:
Southwest Airlines publishes a blog for employees and customers called Nuts about Southwest.
Mike Arrington’s TechCrunch is one of the top 5 blogs on the web.
Flickr keeps in touch with their fans with the Flickr Blog.
Fox News uses WordPress.com to host blogs including GretaWire.
WordPress powers CNN.com blogs like the CNN Political Ticker.
Everybody’s doing it! some examples:
Southwest Airlines publishes a blog for employees and customers called Nuts about Southwest.
Mike Arrington’s TechCrunch is one of the top 5 blogs on the web.
Flickr keeps in touch with their fans with the Flickr Blog.
Fox News uses WordPress.com to host blogs including GretaWire.
WordPress powers CNN.com blogs like the CNN Political Ticker.
Everybody’s doing it! some examples:
Southwest Airlines publishes a blog for employees and customers called Nuts about Southwest.
Mike Arrington’s TechCrunch is one of the top 5 blogs on the web.
Flickr keeps in touch with their fans with the Flickr Blog.
Fox News uses WordPress.com to host blogs including GretaWire.
WordPress powers CNN.com blogs like the CNN Political Ticker.
Why blog: build a community; passive updates to your clients; update content–keep people coming back for more. Blogging is passive marketing: you don’t send updates to people–people come to you. Your blog readers are interested in you already. You have a captive audience, and a vetted group of potential buyers.
Focus: Blogging, and all parts of building your community, should be part of your overall marketing strategy. Your blog should be focused on one area: people who read your blog do so because they’re interested in the subject matter. If you find your blog starts to wander from weather phenomena to historical conflicts, you may need to rethink your audience. Business/corprorate blogs are targeted, on-topic blogs intended to disseminate information about the specific business or topic. You’re welcome to wax philosophic all you want, however…on your personal blog!
There are two ways to get started blogging: Run your own blog platform, or use a hosted blog.
Blog platforms to run on your server: wordpress is the most popular blogging platform. Moveable type is a bit less popular but also well-established. Both are Free/Open Source. These let you do what you want on your blog.
Hosted blogs: e.g. blogger, wordpress.com. Wordpress.com is the same platform as the wordpress mentioned above, but in a hosted solution. Hosted blogs are better suited for personal websites and have some limitations. For example, you cannot run google analytics (more later) on a wordpress.com-hosted blog.
Why blog: build a community; passive updates to your clients; update content–keep people coming back for more. Blogging is passive marketing: you don’t send updates to people–people come to you. Your blog readers are interested in you already. You have a captive audience, and a vetted group of potential buyers.
Focus: Blogging, and all parts of building your community, should be part of your overall marketing strategy. Your blog should be focused on one area: people who read your blog do so because they’re interested in the subject matter. If you find your blog starts to wander from weather phenomena to historical conflicts, you may need to rethink your audience. Business/corprorate blogs are targeted, on-topic blogs intended to disseminate information about the specific business or topic. You’re welcome to wax philosophic all you want, however…on your personal blog!
There are two ways to get started blogging: Run your own blog platform, or use a hosted blog.
Blog platforms to run on your server: wordpress is the most popular blogging platform. Moveable type is a bit less popular but also well-established. Both are Free/Open Source. These let you do what you want on your blog.
Hosted blogs: e.g. blogger, wordpress.com. Wordpress.com is the same platform as the wordpress mentioned above, but in a hosted solution. Hosted blogs are better suited for personal websites and have some limitations. For example, you cannot run google analytics (more later) on a wordpress.com-hosted blog.
Why blog: build a community; passive updates to your clients; update content–keep people coming back for more. Blogging is passive marketing: you don’t send updates to people–people come to you. Your blog readers are interested in you already. You have a captive audience, and a vetted group of potential buyers.
Focus: Blogging, and all parts of building your community, should be part of your overall marketing strategy. Your blog should be focused on one area: people who read your blog do so because they’re interested in the subject matter. If you find your blog starts to wander from weather phenomena to historical conflicts, you may need to rethink your audience. Business/corprorate blogs are targeted, on-topic blogs intended to disseminate information about the specific business or topic. You’re welcome to wax philosophic all you want, however…on your personal blog!
There are two ways to get started blogging: Run your own blog platform, or use a hosted blog.
Blog platforms to run on your server: wordpress is the most popular blogging platform. Moveable type is a bit less popular but also well-established. Both are Free/Open Source. These let you do what you want on your blog.
Hosted blogs: e.g. blogger, wordpress.com. Wordpress.com is the same platform as the wordpress mentioned above, but in a hosted solution. Hosted blogs are better suited for personal websites and have some limitations. For example, you cannot run google analytics (more later) on a wordpress.com-hosted blog.
Wordpress and Drupal are two examples of Content Management systems. Both of these are Open Source, as are many others. Joomla/Mambo is another popular CMS.
Although Wordpress is mostly known for its blogging engine, it is evolving into a CMS (Content Management System). Albeit less powerful than some others, it’s a good system for a mostly static “calling card” website with a blog. We have done and seen some good-looking websites on Wordpress, and if your content is mostly static except for your blog, it’s a good way to go.
Drupal is a full-featured CMS. Drupal experts go as far as calling it an application framework. It is very powerful but needs more customization out-of-the-box. we build large community websites with Drupal.
From scratch: initial cost savings but a long-term hassle. Hard to update. Unless effort is put into upkeep, sites built from scratch will soon become outdated.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) are similar but slightly different concepts. We won’t delve into the nuances of their differences: they work together to do one thing: put you “above the fold” on google/search engines, or as close as you can to the top. Searching on Google is how people look for you, your services, etc. You don’t want to be buried on page 57.
Keywords: You’ll also want to pop up near the top for keywords related to your business. Keywords are tricky: general keywords (e.g. “restaurant”, “lumber”, etc) are too generic…you will be fighting against thousands of other sites with similar keywords while people searching for the generic keywords may not be looking for a product you are providing. It does little good for a restaurant in DC to show up first on a search for “restaurant” when the searcher is somewhere in California. Tailor your keywords, monitor them, test conversions. It’s an ongoing process.
Also, the keywords _you_ would pick for your site are not what your prospective clients may pick. Experiment with multiple keywords.
Note under “local business results” we end up on the top
Also our blog shows up as the first result in web results.
Social networking website (facebook, linkedin) help your contacts and clients stay in touch with you. Facebook is more B2C and C2C oriented; Linkedin is tailored to business professionals. They help build a community around you and/or your business.
Twitter and youtube help get the word out about your business and service.
RSS (Real Simple Syndication) “feeds” help your audience keep track of updates to your website and social networks.
Social networking website (facebook, linkedin) help your contacts and clients stay in touch with you. Facebook is more B2C and C2C oriented; Linkedin is tailored to business professionals. They help build a community around you and/or your business.
Twitter and youtube help get the word out about your business and service.
RSS (Real Simple Syndication) “feeds” help your audience keep track of updates to your website and social networks.
Social networking website (facebook, linkedin) help your contacts and clients stay in touch with you. Facebook is more B2C and C2C oriented; Linkedin is tailored to business professionals. They help build a community around you and/or your business.
Twitter and youtube help get the word out about your business and service.
RSS (Real Simple Syndication) “feeds” help your audience keep track of updates to your website and social networks.
Social networking website (facebook, linkedin) help your contacts and clients stay in touch with you. Facebook is more B2C and C2C oriented; Linkedin is tailored to business professionals. They help build a community around you and/or your business.
Twitter and youtube help get the word out about your business and service.
RSS (Real Simple Syndication) “feeds” help your audience keep track of updates to your website and social networks.
Newsletters and Blogs both get the word out. The big difference is that with a newsletter you’re “pushing” information to your audience; with your blog, the audience comes to “pull” information you’ve published.
* Different audience: some people may not be avid blog followers or users of RSS feeds and prefer the old-fashioned newsletter
* People come to your blog because they like what you have to say. Reading your blog is “Free”
* On the other hand, people “pay” to read the newsletter with their email address and inbox real estate. (both of these are valuable commodities these days) . Make sure you’re giving them value for their investment
Spam: another four letter word.
avoid getting spammed: through your blog (Akismet is one tool) and through email (don’t publish your email address: use a form instead)
Avoid spamming others: blog comments should be relevant. Newsletters should be informative. Newsletters should always be double-opt-in and have an unsubscribe link.
Double-opt-in: users verify their email address when added to a newsletter.
CRM systems allow you to do all these tasks. Some packages allow you to add plug-ins or modules to increase functionality. CRM systems are tailored around a standardized sales process but have evolved to add company-wide functionality.
Highrise contact manager…note “tasks” on the right, communications via email below.
Some popular CRM tools. (like all other example tools in this slide show, we do not have any affiliation with these but can help you install them and get started using them).
Highrise and SF are SAAS (Software As A Service) subscription-based services. SugarCRm has both a SAAS offering and a self-hosted option.
SugarCRM and SF have extensive plug-in libraries
HighriseHQ may not be extensible but its power is the trademark simplicity of the 37signals products
tools to help organize your business, manage your projects, communicate with clients, share knowledge
Egroupware: an Open Source project that incorporates shared contacts, calendaring, a wiki, file storage, ticketing system and much more.
MS Sharepoint: Microsoft’s browser-based collaboration and document management suite.
Basecamp: mostly project-based group communications. Simple to use, allows to post files, messages, etc. but not a full back-office platform.
Wikis: Several options, both open source and proprietary, hosted and as software. Above products incorporate wikis or similar functionality.
Email is not real time. Acceptable response time is usually 12-48hrs. A lot of people expect quick responses these days however: if you don’t get to email on a regular basis, consider adding a note to your email signature or an auto-responder to make people aware of your email response time.
In person and phone: accomplish a lot, get the full attention of every party.
chats: skype, IM: “instant” but nonintrusive communications. Video ability. Great for remote offices but also local staff, good for quick questions, impromptu meetings
skype, IM, etc. offer group chats, like virtual meeting rooms.
ventrillo: push-to-talk technology. Need to run your own server or pay for one. Not generally useful but can be handy for teams that need a lot of real-time communications.
Virtual office solutions: route your calls to anywhere from anywhere. Have virtual mailboxes and greetings. Get your mail delivered to any phone or even your email. (did you need more email?)
roll-over, follow-me calling
call routing (menu system)
voicemail-to-email.
Synch your contacts, calendar, access your email through your cellphone/PDA.
Ask chacha any question (chacha.com)
T1 speeds over wireless networks.
Need a document at the office? services like gotomypc.com to the rescue.
It doesn't make sense for most small businesses to run their own servers. The days of sticking a tower in the closet and plugging in an ethernet cable have long been replaced by shared or dedicated servers in world-class data centers. These are cheaper.
Server requirements: Multiple things to consider, work with your IT vendor. Define your requirements, then find a package:
Packages: The packages small businesses are interested in fall in three categories:
web hosting: this service is cheap but powerless. It allows you to upload some files, and in some cases run some common software. If your requirements fit within what’s available, this may be a good start for you.
VPS: the next best thing to a dedicated server: you can do whatever you want to the server, but you still share the hardware with others. A user-friendly interface allows you to manage your own server, and a little help from your IT vendor can go a long way. under $100/mo
Dedicated: you have your own dedicated machine, built to your specs. $150/mo and up.
Self hosted: Your server vendor will likely tell you that email is included in your package. And you can easily configure email addresses through the server management interface. Resist the urge to do this! There are highly-paid people in the world whose job it is to manage email every day. Unless you can afford someone to spend 25% of his/her time managing your email server, outsource your email. Dealing with spam alone will turn you prematurely grey, let alone undeliverable emails, SPF records, client complaints, large attachments, quotas, archiving, routing, viruses…
Outsourced options:
MS Exchange: easier to integrate with other MS products
Google: integrates well with most products. Incorporates Postini, a enterprise-grade archiving and messaging
Outsourcing IT makes sense for small businesses, even if they can afford to hire a full-time IT staff member. The benefits of outsourcing include:
* expertise and experience in diverse fields (servers, networking, databases, etc)
* support
* cost
Inshore outsourcing makes the most sense: Hire a local company to design and host your site, etc. Can meet face-to-face, call locally at regular work hours, etc.
Near-shore or offshore outsourcing can be cheaper but don't be fooled by the hourly rate alone: having remote teams requires much more time in project management, much more detailed specifications and documentation.
Backups are not a one-time thing, or a some-time thing. Create a simple backup plan and stick to it. Automate it, and test backups regularly. Simplicity is key: if it's too complex, you won't do it. I like a two-stepped approach…things that are likely to happen (e.g. your computer crashes) should have a quick and simple remedy; things that are unlikely to happen can have a more time-consuming remedy:
1) Full backup for single-computer recovery
Backup all your computers locally using a local hard drive and software, such as Apple's Time Machine for the Mac and a myriad others available for the PC. You can take a backup home once in a while and start anew if you like, in the event of an office-wide failure. When you fix your computer, you can be back up and running without skipping a beat (minus the time it takes to restore, usually 2-10 hours).
2) remote backup of important documents for office-wide crashes.
Suppose a power surge fries all your computers, and your backup drive. Then what?
hosted backup services (examples include mozy.com at $0.50/GB) will let you back important documents over the internet. You'll still skip many beats trying to reinstall all your software on your computers, but at least your important documents will not be lost forever. You will not want a full backup of your computer on these, but they are a great place to backup your important documents. These services, like email hosts, do backups right, and your documents will be available even after catastrophic events.
Accidental backups: If your email is stored on a server, you won't lose it. If you synch your PDA, all your phone numbers will be there. If you use a hosted CRM/contact management product, your contacts and history will be untouched. All these technologies that enable the \"mobile office\" also mean that you have less to worry about in terms of backups.
In brief:
If you're selling widgets, it makes sense to sell online.
If you're selling homemade banana splits or sushi, maybe it does not make so much sense to sell online.
Does it solve a problem? does it make you more efficient? does it help your bottom line? Things to consider:
* will your existing clients buy (or buy more) if you sell online?
* can you attract a new client base by selling online?
Over the next few slides we'll show some of the design trends we've noticed in 2007/2008. When designing your site, think about your client base, and the corporate image you want to portray.
the notes/handwritten designs seem more friendly and inviting, but also less business-like.
What else can we say about \"grungy\"? Again, it's about your audience.
half disco, half high-tech! It's loud, inspiring, action-oriented. But in a lava-lamp sorta way…
This design is for those who like it simple and to the point. If you want to publish hundreds of articles, this may not be the way to go. If you're a brochure site and want a clean site, this is it.
* Websites are no longer screensful of text. Bold, crisp designs that make it clear what your next action is are \"in\".
* Monitors have grown as well…maybe not in inches but in pixels. More designs are 1024px now. But we still see some narrow ones, especially useful if you don't have a lot of content.
* Who is your audience? Your design should be friendly to your visitors.
A few things can go a long way towards showing your clients that you care. (If you don't care, skip this slide).
* double-sided printing. A few extra bucks on your all-in-one printer will let you print double-sided.
** goes well with recycled paper.
* fax-to-email and other \"paperless\" services save money and paper.
* online and email communications over papering the town.
* digital signature haven't caught on yet, and I'd leave them alone unless you and your client base is tech-savvy
* encourage employees to metro, walk or ride!
* consider energy usage, carbon offset etc.
These may not do much to your bottom line, but \"conscious\" consumers may be persuaded to use you instead of a competitor. Success story: whole foods! But the consumers won't know what you do if you don't tell them:
Let your audience know that you're green: Booze-Allen-Hamilton business cards say that they are printed on recycled paper. I get more and more emails with a signature reminder to \"think before you print\" this email. (I added one to my own email).
Analytics let you track your online marketing efforts.
* See where your users are coming from, how long they spend on your site, what they do there, and where they leave your site
* Examine your site traffic and trends.
* track video traffic as well through google analytics
* link adwords to GA account, to see what keywords perform better.
* Establish “goals” and “funnels” on your website to see if visitors are going where you want them to go.
traditional pbx systems need POTS or channelized lines. (1 T1=24 phone lines; break-even around 15-20 POTS lines). (POTS: plain old telephone service.) Most also need specialized hardware…a regular phone will not work
VoIP pbx: great cost savings especially on long distance. some allow you to integrate traditional lines for redundancy. need specialized hardware.
On-site PBX systems are expensive. Consider whether you need a system and why; whether a virtual office solution may work for you.
Virtual office: great for distributed offices. Much cheaper. Works with any phone. great feature-set, especially for those who work a lot with email (voicemail-to-email, fax-to-email, “Find me” feature, etc)
keep it simple: or at least start simple. No need to pay up-front for complicated networks. Start with a connection and wireless/wired router similar to what you have at home. Upgrade systems and functionality when you need to.
Dual load-balanced connections, for example, create more complications, hassles, and require more expensive hardware to do “right”.
Get a DSL or Cable line…DSL and cable give you much better speeds over a T1 on downloads. However, upload speeds may be limited and in some areas DSL/Cable lines are less reliable.
Firewalls: most wireless devices now come with a built-in firewall and most firewall features you can use. Exception here are requirements for VPN etc. A lot of people add VPN and heavy firewalls and sleep easy at night…but then email their passwords unprotected. Consider a security policy rather than throw hardware at a problem
Printers and faxes, or preferably an all-in-one device are easy to share. I prefer ones that have Network capabilities rather than just a USB port.
Network servers, although they are not necessary for small offices, are helpful in any size team; a small networked storage drive is cheap and can do the job. It’s important to build a culture around using the shared drive, and back it up “early and often”.
We talked about backups earlier, and backing up “important documents”…the network server is a great place to keep a folder for documents that need to be backed up remotely. Better yet, back up the entire network server remotely…that’s where your important documents are.
capture thoughts, create to-dos and reminders. access through your cellphone.
get an SMS transcript of your voicemail!
get an answer to anything over SMS
super-simple lists
analytics for your money
more email! yay! (fax-to-email gateway).
lots of people do this…
and…check out the 80s design. would you use this or (next slide)
also vmail-to-email and fax-to-email
Full-featured “virtual office” provider
