Low Tech Has its Place in My Life

            I have to admit, I love gadgets.  And I wish I had the money to invest in a lot more of them, but I spend so much of my time looking at technology because of Web design and teaching online and my membership with the Carroll Technology Council, that I forget to mention low tech tools that are useful that and I simply won’t give up.

Whiteboards

            In our kitchen, I have a whiteboard next to the kitchen door where we write notes to ourselves, list grocery shopping items and the money owed our kids for the chores completed.  I used to clip lists to the refrigerator, but it started looking junky and disorganized, so I went to the whiteboard instead, and we have all been happy with it.  I used a whiteboard in my office too for the same sort of things.

Monthly Planner

            Now, my high tech friends make fun of me for this, but I still have a paper monthly planner that I lug around to meetings and refer to often in my office.  I do make use of Outlook’s calendar and tasks features especially for paying bills and other things I need to remember far into the future.  But I like the old fashioned paper calendar because it give me a visual cue for time – I have a better sense of time when I can see the whole month at once.  I also like how easy it is to erase or cross out a change.  And I love that I can take it anywhere or leave it behind.

Spiral Notebook

            Again, my tech savvy friends mock me, but I find inspiration in spiral notebooks. With a piece of paper, my creativity comes out.  I don’t concern myself so much with how many clicks to get where I want.  Instead, I can scribble, doodle, draw, cross out and just plain creative with a pencil or pen.  I write constantly.  Sometimes a computer will do, but other times, I find myself more peaceful and creative with paper.  That goes for graphic design as well.  My hand is so much more steady with a pencil than it will ever be with a mouse!

Business Card

            Yes, I know all the rage is electronic business cards, but there’s nothing wrong with old fashioned business cards.  One clear advantage that they have over any of their high tech cousins?  You can write on the back of a traditional business card and add any type of information you need on the spot for your new contact.

            None of these low tech tools cost me efficiency or slows me down.  They are all familiar and dear friends, and I haven’t yet found a high tech gadget that works better than any of these.

Google Cloud Print Is a Good Solution for Businesses on the Go

            A friend of mine who runs a landscaping business asked me an interesting question.  Much of their office work is done in their house by her – bookkeeping, billing, accounting… You get the picture.  Much of their business is run out of their shop where they keep most of their equipment.  It is also the place where their crew gathers before the work day begins.  Every morning, she and her husband give out the job assignments for the day, and their workers go out to the job sites and work.

            There are some mornings when she would like to skip going to the shop and give out the written job schedules remotely.  She wanted to know if there was a printer out there that would allow her to print from her computer or iPad at home to their shop.  She had found HP’s ePrint, and the idea was born.

            She was onto something, although as it stands, HP’s ePrint can’t do it alone.  ePrint will let one print from anywhere in the home from any electronic device.

            What she needed is Google Cloud Print.  Google has technology that allows you to print from anywhere with any device to your printer at home or at the office. 

            One of the interesting aspects is that you don’t even have to have the printer hooked up to a PC or laptop.  Google Cloud Print can work with a Cloud Ready printer – a printer that has the ability to connect directly to the Web without requiring a PC.  In fact on Google’s site, they give you a list of Cloud Ready Printers by HP, Kodak, Epson, Canon, Samsung, and FedEx.  The FedEx option is a whole other benefit.

            It looks like these days, there is a solution for just about any option a small business might come up with that won’t break the bank.

Is WordPress Good for Web Sites?

            Although WordPress was originally designed as an open source blogging tool, many companies are now using it as a CMS for their own Web sites.  CMS stands for content management system, and it’s a tool that allows a person to go in and manage the content of his Web site without necessarily having to know the language of Web design.  There are many good things about using WordPress.

            The number one reason that WordPress is so popular is that it is free.  It’s a quality CMS that really does not cost anything.  It also has a lot of support.

            One thing that users can do is change themes easily without changing or harming the content of their site.  That means that a small company can change the entire look of their site without having to go through a major overhaul.  Another thing that WordPress allows you to do is easily install plugins, so you can easily add more functionality to the site such as a directory or a slider graphic.

            One blogger, Don Campbell (http://www.expand2web.com/blog/why-use-wordpress-to-power-your-small-business-website/), feels that small businesses would do well to consider choosing WordPress as the CMS for their Web site. 

            The key as he sees it and I see it, is that companies can easily manage their content without having to learn and know HTML.  So if you have a company that is constantly offering new deals to customers, one person can go in and add the information, and all that’s needed is good content that is error free (that has nothing to do with Web design).  A person can literally type the content on their word processor, proof it, and then copy and paste it onto the site, hit a button and publish it.

            Of course, a company may still want a Web site designer to set it up, but the beauty is that once it is set up, someone in-house can do the updates and only call on the Web designer for more complex updates.

            If you have a need to update your site regularly, maybe WordPress is the way to go.  http://wordpress.com/

Meeting Customer Expectations

            How many of you take the time to figure out what a potential customer would anticipate if he hired your company? Have you taken the time to consider what the customer comes in expecting?

            This past spring, I went to my high school reunion.  It was better than I expected, and I actually had a great time seeing old classmates and trying to catch up.  Like many reunions, we had a photographer who took a class photograph and was selling us copies for $20 apiece.  I thought it was a little pricey, but I bought one.

            What was my expectation?  Well, I expected a clear glossy photograph of all of us.  I actually didn’t put any thought into it when I paid for it at the reunion, but for things like this, I did have an expectation because I had bought photos in this manner before.

            What did I get?  I got a photograph on 8.5 X 11 sheet of paper – matte finished.  It was obviously printed on an ink jet printer.  It wasn’t centered and in fact a little crooked.  Many of my classmates had an orange cast, and it was a little dark.

            I was deeply disappointed and felt like I had been ripped off.  Correction:  I had been ripped off.  This photographer didn’t meet my expectations, and I won’t be recommending her in the future.  I spoke with a few of my classmates, including one of the organizers, and they felt the same way.  They certainly won’t recommend her to anyone either.

            What did her product do for her business?  It did worse than absolutely nothing.  She actually damaged her business.  There are some 30 people who probably feel as I do about that photograph, and they won’t be recommending her to anyone.  In fact, they may even spread the word not to use her services.

            At some point in that small community, her business will dry up because she isn’t giving people what they expect when they purchase a photograph from her.  Sure she saved a couple of dollars per photograph, but she has damaged her reputation by being penny-wise and pound-foolish.

            So when you offer a product or service, take time to think like a customer and ask yourself if you were purchasing that exact same thing, what would you expect as a customer, and that is exactly what you should deliver.

Put Your Toe in with a One Page Site

            I am sure that many of you have been scared off from having a website.  Cost may be one thing that scares you away, but another may be that you just aren’t interested in the Internet.  After all, you have plenty of business as a brick and mortar business, and plenty of people know you exist.

            Let me assure you that you should have a Web presence.  Let me also say that you do not need more than a one page site if you truly have a brick and mortar business that depends more on referrals and your physical location.

            Think of your one page site as a one page brochure that tells a visitor who you are, what you do, where you are located and different ways to get in touch with you.  You can even see it as a complex business card that says more than your business name, name and phone number.

            For instance, maybe a customer of yours mentioned you to someone and gave a recommendation.  Maybe that person is one to check things on the Internet – everyone is different.  Or maybe that person lost the phone number but still remembered the name.  If you have a site, that person can find you and see your basic information as well as contact information.  The website works much like an ad in the Yellow Pages.

            Some people will say that they certainly do not want to get email.  That’s fine.  My dentist told me that he is totally against giving out emails.  He says that he has enough people cancel at the last minute by phone, and he doesn’t want them to use email as an excuse, and he just isn’t interested in dealing with email.  I can’t say I disagree with his philosophy when it comes to his practice.  If you too feel that way, still get a website.  Just don’t put your email address.  Instead list your phone number and office hours.  You still have given your visitors a way to contact you – your preferred way.

            Don’t turn your back on new technologies that come up in the business world.  You need to accept them, but you can accept them on your terms.  Consider a simple Web presence for your business.  You never know how a small investment can benefit you in the future!

Aggregators Help Manage Your Social Media

            Aggregators for social networking have been one of the best things I’ve learned about in the last year.  These services allow you to schedule content to your social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.  For a small business owner, this is a powerful tool that allows a person to manage her time much more efficiently.

            Although there are many out there, the one that I have used is Hootsuite (http://hootsuite.com). After setting up an account, I then let Hootsuite access my various social networking sites/accounts.  Once I had that accomplished, I could simply go into Hootsuite, type in my messages and links, and tell it which social networking sites the information should go to.  Then I picked the dates and times when my information would post.

            What is nice about Hootsuite besides its ease of use, is that its free version allows you to put your toe in the water and test the aggregator, so you get a feel for what it can do for you.

            Using a social networking aggregator has improved my productivity tremendously.  Now, I can choose to work on my social media postings once a week or once a month.  Occasionally, I do have to go in and post something that came up unexpectedly, but for the most part, I can work more efficiently, putting a batch of time into social media instead a portion of my time every day.

            Here are some popular ones according to InventorSpot:

1.      Microsoft’s Spindex

2.      Convo Track (helps tracks comments on blogs)

3.      YackTrack (helps monitor social media)

4.      FlavorsMe

5.      Social Radar

6.      Hootsuite

7.      Netvibes

8.      Profilactic (helps protect online identity)

9.      Flock (through its web browser)

Whatever one you choose, you will find that you use your time more efficiently.  It’s one of the best things that I can recommend to anyone venturing out into social media marketing.

Let me know which aggregator you use and why!

Get a Website

            It surprises me how many people don’t have a website for their business.  I know that there are many successful businesses that do not have sites, but in general, in this electronic, Web 2.0 age, businesses need a site.

            Ask yourself a few questions.  When was the last time you used a phone book to look up a number?  Where do you look when you want to learn more about a business?  Where do you go when you want to find directions of a business?

            Chances are that you answered the Internet.  More and more, the Internet is becoming part of our daily life whether you use a PC, tablet or phone.  If you are using those devices a lot, don’t you think others are as well?

            If you are worried about making a big investment, don’t be.  You don’t have to have a fancy website with many pages.  You can even have just a simple page with your logo, a description, address and contact information.

This is what I want you to really agree to:

·         You need a site.

·         You need it to look professional.

·         And you need it to have at least the information necessary for visitors to find you or contact you.

You are missing valuable leads without it.