The author lists these 5 tech tools. I don’t completely agree with all of the author’s reasoning, but they are all worth of consideration.

1. Social Media
2. Cloud Computing
3. Tablet Computers
4. Business Intelligence Apps
5. Video Calls

My thoughts on these 5:

Social Media

There is no doubt about it, people are watching much less free-to-air TV than they used to. Some of that time is being spent on Pay TV, some is being spent in front of computer screens. And I’m sure you can guess some popular websites that people are using. (If you can’t, try Facebook, YouTube and Twitter for a start.)

It’s a mistake to treat these websites like an advertising platform. Social Media sites (Facebook, Twitter) are more like a cocktail party or a networking function. Being there is what’s important. You don’t have to “talk shop”. If the opportunity arises, then great, but if you just go in with a full-on sales pitch you’ll quickly find yourself alone in the corner of the room.

YouTube has slightly different rules – it’s a platform for you to create useful, educational content and share it with people. Obviously this is much harder than using Facebook, but the number of hours of video streamed via YouTube every day is astonishing. If you can create (or have access to) video content, you should have a YouTube channel.

Cloud Computing

This is one of those buzz words that has become so overused recently it now means something totally different to what it meant originally!

So I’ll go with the new, broad, buzz-worthy definition: Instead of spending large amounts of money on server infrastructure and buying your industry-specific software, you can now in many instances rent the service from a provider and access it over the web, usually via your Web Browser (think Internet Explorer or Firefox).

No internal servers to maintain, no initial large cash outlay, and it’s totally portable. Access your software/business systems/files in your office, via your smartphone, or anywhere you have internet access.

No system is perfect and there are downsides (if your internet connection dies then you lose access to it until your connection is restored) but we’re using this model for most of our internal systems, including:

• Email, contacts and shared calendars
• Job and project management software
• Time tracking and budgeting software

Tablet Computers

I was initially a skeptic, but am now well and truly a convert. I don’t take my laptop with me any more – be it client meetings or just away – the tablet does everything I need. (In my case an iPad, but there are some very nice Android tablets now made by Samsung, HTC and others.) The battery lasts forever, they start quickly, most have a built-in sim card slot so you can access the internet wherever you have mobile phone reception, and the list goes on. Extremely useful if you’re away from the office in the course of your business.

Business Intelligence Apps

This ties in to the Cloud Computing topic above for me – there are plenty of options out there for keeping records of your customers/clients, what they bought, and a plethora of other datasets that relate to your business.

There’s no doubt it requires some effort and commitment to set up and get some systems in place – but this is one thing that separates smart businesses from the rest of the crowd.

Video Calls

It surprises me how little I use Skype. It’s running down there on my computer, but I just never think about it. A face-to-face meeting is almost always better than a phone call, and Skype (or any video calling application) can facilitate that face-to-face interaction quite easily, but nobody calls me on Skype and I don’t call anyone else on Skype.

We really should use it more often. Is that my new year’s resolution?

The belief is that too much information means people won’t contact them.

But think of it this way: your website is often the first point of contact a customer will have with your business. If your website is helpful, you are being helpful. That creates a positive first impression, and first impressions count. The additional detail you provide can also eliminate enquiries from people who you really can’t help anyway, so that can be an additional time saver.

On the other hand, if the information on your website is overly brief and sketchy, a potential customer may well leave thinking, “That was a waste of time – it didn’t tell me anything!”

Having said this, every industry is different of course, but you really need to consider the end user’s experience. Will it be a good one or a bad one?

More specifically many have an issue with pricing.

Think of it this way: You’re walking through the supermarket and a certain biscuit company has all their goodies stacked up on the end of the aisle. It has cost them a fortune to buy that space for the week, not to mention the extra stock and the time spent in stacking it up.

But there’s no price on anything.

So, when you’re walking past with your trolley, do you put any of those biscuits in?

Chances are you won’t.

At the end of the day, people will want to know the price. So why make that information difficult to get?

And if you’re in an industry where pricing is a bit tricky or complicated, read this advice for a possible solution.

The recommendation?

Don’t let people walk past your site like a supermarket display without crucial information. Put enough there so they do stop, look around, and just maybe you’ll have a new customer!

But someone has taken a different angle and posted a bottle of “genuine” flood water on Ebay.

With about 3 days left on the auction there are already 18 bids!

It just goes to show: if you’re quick enough, there are opportunities everywhere!

I read this article on email and customer service about 6 months ago but while I was looking at some goals for 2008 I thought it was worth revisiting.

So how do you stack up in those figures? If I’m not careful I tend to find myself amongst the 70% who fail to respond within 24 hours. Definately something I’ll be fixing for 2008.

A good tactic is mentioned in Mike’s first point:

Automatically respond to all emails received: People will be more willing to wait for a reply if their initial communication has been acknowledged. Include a commitment to act on the issue and when you will respond fully.

I think people will generally understand if you can’t address the issue immediately – but it’s important to acknowledge the email and set an expectation of when you will be able to do so.

It also ties in to something I wrote back in 2004 about controlling your email (instead of the other way around!) – it’s as relevant now as then.

So, my top tips:

1. Choose when to check your email – don’t let your computer decide for you
2. As you’re going through your messages, fire up your diary (or whatever time management tool you use) and mark a time to actually attend to the task or issue
3. Respond to each email as soon as you read it (even if it’s only a brief response) – and at that point you can let the other person know when you’ll attend to is as well

Of course, if it’s an emergency you may need to deal with it straight away and all the above advice is null and void, but we don’t live in a perfect world, do we?

Sure, the up-front costs were less. But then the unexpected bills started coming in. Not to mention hugely inflated web hosting fees.

When considering your options, it pays to look at the bigger picture. What are the ongoing costs? How much are updates going to be? Can you update it yourself?

To make matters worse, when the firm chosen to do the website found out that the hosting was been transferred over to us they turned everything off there and then. Website. Email. The lot. And they can’t or won’t tell us the details to access the domain name either, so we can’t even actually initiate the transfer!

Some things to check:

1. Make sure any domain names are registered in your name, with your contact details (not the web designer’s).
2. Find out how much is being charged for web hosting. Depending on how much space you need, anything more than about $300 per year is probably too much.
3. Double check before proceeding if there are any other ongoing costs besides these 2.

While we’re on the subject of domain names, we charge $90 every 2 years for a “.com.au” and $30 per year for “.com” names. See what’s available here.

It happens all the time – in the supermarket you might be a bit unsure about buying a brand you’ve never heard of as opposed to one that’s familiar. Is the ‘known’ one any better? Not necessarily. But you recognise it, and feel more comfortable buying it.

If you doubt the subliminal effects in play, watch this video from Derren Brown, an English psychological illusionist who focuses on perceptual manipulation and persuasive techniques.

You need be consistent with your branding, and use your logo everywhere you can.

We have just got a super duper new digital printer copier (need a pilot?s licence to operate it mind you) -however it is brilliant. We can now produce high quality full color prints, single or double sided on either A4 or A3! On top of that, we can convert ordinary documents to booklets.

So…

• Need that short run colour print done?
• Need a duplication of your procedures manual?
• Run out of your brochures and waiting for the next lot?

Email it over, or pop in? We’ll have it done in a jiffy!

Many businesses do nothing extra for their clients. This is a simple and inexpensive way to do that little bit more than your competition!

Did you know that we can print pens for you as well? And for this month only, we are running a special on one particular sort of pen – colours are blue, red, green, purple or orange, with a soft grip and a metal pocket clip. If you order 1000 of these pens, printed with your company name/website (in silver), we can offer a $100 saving – they will only be $530 (incl GST) for 1000 pens! (For March 2005 only).

“The Windows security updates for January 2005 include several important updates for Microsoft Windows and some installations of Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1, a component of Windows. If you have any of the software listed on this page installed on your computer, you should visit the Windows Update Web site to install related updates.

Visit their security bulleting for more information.

Here’s more good news – search engines like blogs.

An example from this website: After Anna Mears won her gold medal at the Athens Olympics, I posted this short note of congratulations. Within days I was recieving a lot of traffic courtesy of people searching Google for “Anna Mears”. Within days. And even now, I still rank Number one:

The reasons why are outlined in the link above – but whatever the reasons, I can vouch for the result!

Do you have news you could share with clients on a reasonably regular basis? Maybe you could benefit from a blog too. It can be integrated with your existing website, and we can also use it to form the basis of an email newsletter.

Sharing your news with clients has never been easier!