CleverStart

Whether you are tech savvy or not, whether your industry revolves around technology or you sell toilet paper door to door, the universal truth today is that technology plays a vital role in your business. 

you may be surprised to learn that technology solutions are more within your financial reach than you may realize, as the costs continue to decline as technology improves, so you have no excuse to get up to speed in today’s business environment.  First, you NEED a website.  but today, you need to go one step further, you need a GREAT website.  your competitors have websites, so don’t throw something up that you paid $50 bucks for that your neighbor built for you, or people will continue to work with your competition and not you.  Second, communication.  Do you know how easy it is to keep in touch with your clients and your prospects through email marketing?  if not, then google it, you’ll find several great companies on the web who can provide you email marketing for as little as $9.95 per month.  this is worth its weight in gold, if nothing else, for the time it saves you from writing letters, writing individual emails, or calling to check in and communicate with every single prospect or client you have.  Third, your website needs to be seen to be effective.  Work with someone who can optimize your site and provide you ongoing support and optimization work.  find ways to creatively promote your website through non tech methods, such as flyers, banners, car stickers, business cards, etc…Fourth, engage your customer.  This begins to creep into the web 2.0 definition of technology, where a website is more than a landing page to read some stuff you wrote about your company and then look at a picture of your office or product with the phone number and email address listed.  Engaging your customer means getting them to interact with you.  allow them to post a comment or make a request on a product, allow them to search for product support from your customers, provide links to relavant industry articles that you collect, and write a blog.  writing a blog and posting relevant articles gives your audience a reason to engage and learn more about you or the industry in which you service, read: they will come back if you can successfully engage them through your witty banter on your blog, or your display of your superior product knowledge. 

Logistics: just about every service you possibly need to manage your business is now relatively cheap and it’s online.  from bookkeeping, to shipping solutions, to inventory tracking, to managing ad campaigns, it’s all there.  technology is made to make life easier, so take advantage of it.  you can now conduct meetings online through GoToMeetings, where you are able to walk someone through a presentation without being in the room with them and showing them your laptop.  You can provide customers with the ability to participate in a webinar, another great tool for sales and for training/support.  there are also VOIP phone systems that can provide you with professional sounding answering services, which will link your main office number to your work line, your cell phone, and your home line, so you never miss a call.  make life easier! 

you know that my MO is to get business off the ground and always shoot for profitability as early as possible.  so don’t freak out if you don’t have a website.  at the very least, order some free business cards and change the voice prompt on your cell phone.  if you’re nervous or enjoy playing life ultra safe, then go out and take face to face meetings and invest your time in sales and marketing the old fashioned way.  Once you get your revenue up, begin making plans to invest in your website as soon as possible.  make a list of technologies you would like to incorporate over time and why you think they will increase your revenues, your productivity, and your bottom line.  i wouldn’t jump into everything all at once, you can get by and continue to grow without technology, but to reach the goals you set for your business, technology will be a very important part of whether or not you get there.