Running a small business is a constant dance between producing a product or service for people at a cost that compares to or beats your competition. One of the costs is information technology or IT. A small business that can find inexpensive and powerful options in this area can create an advantage for their business in their marketplace. Here are 4 IT hacks that can help your small business be more profitable.
IT Hacks: Organize Better Meetings
Increasing a client base can be a challenge for a small business. Meeting with potential clients face-to-face is limited by geography. With technology today, there are simple ways that a business can organize a meeting on teleconference that will allow for face-to-face interaction. There are individual video conferencing tools like Skype that allow for individuals to connect face-to-face across the world. There are also online meeting programs that allow presentations and ideas to be shared over an unlimited number of locations. Low cost products like Go To Meeting or Any Meeting are two meeting software suites that allow for powerful presentations.
Keep Your Office Running Smoothly
Organization is the key to success in any business. Fortunately today there are software suits that can help manage your schedules. For example AdvancedMD is a medical software suite that allows a small office to organize the scheduling of patients, their records, issue bills, manage patient care and measure the performance of your business. The best part is that once this type of system is set up, it runs with very little maintenance. A small office staff can all access the vital information and provide adequate care for all patients. There are similar management software products for almost any type of office as well.
Take Control of Your Web Properties
Managing and developing your own websites may seem like a daunting task but with the technology available today it shouldn’t be. Developing a functional and well-designed site can be done through the use of WordPress with a minimum of training. Having this skill available opens you up to make changes to a website quickly and at a low cost. It will require paying a hosting fee, but this cost is very minimal compared to paying someone to manage your website. HostGator is a great hosting program that is safe and responsive to questions. The investment in this area can save thousands of dollars over the long term and provide your small business with a website that is more representative of your products and/or services.
Build Relationships through Email
Connecting with you customers is vital for any small business. There are many different options available to help manage your email list depending on price and types of communication you desire. Constant Contact is one of the easiest email marketing suites to use although it has some limitations in function. Get Response and Aweber are high-functioning software suits that make it easy to create and run complex chains of marketing emails. The best part about these products is that once you have it set up, it runs on autopilot. Email lists provide a great opportunity to directly contact your customer base and a business can get their product or service in front of the customers.
Running a small business is an exciting endeavor that can become very profitable. Learning to decrease the IT challenges a company faces will clearly make things run more smoothly. All four of these IT solutions can be managed in house with inexpensive and powerful software programs. Allowing a small business to perform big is the goal of these 4 IT hacks for small business.
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