How to use IT to Save Your Business Money

Published on: 25 July 2018 Last Updated on: 16 September 2019

In a world that’s focused on making your business fly, ‘return on investment’ (ROI) is a term that’s usually talked about when you’re planning SEO, PPC or social marketing strategies.

In fact, IT can offer a huge ROI for your business – simply by streamlining processes that could otherwise see your team or contractors spending unnecessary time struggling with sub-par systems and devices.

We’ll walk you through 6 of the best ways to save money, with nothing but IT as your tool…

How to use IT to Save Your Business Money:

Explore open-source software :

It’s easy to forget that Microsoft, Google, Adobe and the other huge software and service providers aren’t the only companies out there who create worthwhile resources.

If you’re used to working for a company, you might take it for granted that the typical applications you’ll use (think; word processing, spreadsheets, customer relationship management, accounting – and much more) are just there for you within a few clicks – but actually, those pieces of software cost a significant amount of money.

The truth is, the household names are the ones we know about because they’ve got the budget to market their products far and wide – but in fact, there’s a host of great open-source applications out there that are completely free to use – you’ve just got to know where to look.

Open-source is more than just a money-saving tip though, in fact, there’s a world of developers who believe open-source is the only way you can truly reflect user’s needs in the long term – and many of those developers commit themselves to maintain and adjusting the free software to suit businesses just like yours.

This TechRadar list offers some great open-source applications that’ll definitely help your business save money when compared to full price alternatives.

Let employees work on their own devices :

‘Bring your own device’ (BYOD) such a simple idea – yet so many businesses resist it.

When you let your employees use their own devices to do company business, you’re saving huge amounts of money – and actually increasing productivity at the same time.

Countless studies have shown that employees are more comfortable and more productive when they use their own devices for work tasks – and the maths really adds up: If using a device you’re familiar with only saves 10 minutes each day – that adds up to an incredible 45 hours over the course of a full working year – essentially offering you a free week’s worth of work if you’re happy for employees to use their own machines.

Of course, there are security considerations to be made – and BYOD is likely to be impractical if you’re handling a lot of sensitive client information, but if you’d like to take away a huge chunk of capital expenditure from your budget, these could be problems you’d be happy to work around.

Outsource support :

When it comes to money-saving, good tech systems can give and take in similar measures – but one of the largest costs to consider when you’re installing IT relates to the people who are going to support it.

If you’re a small company, even if you only have a very small number of employees, you’re probably going to need someone to support your IT systems – and if you don’t have that person in place, you run the very real risk of not being able to trade if your IT network goes down.

So, what does the maths look like? Well, you’ve got a $40,000 basic wage for someone who comes with the skills set needed to keep a network up and running by themselves – then you’ve got to factor holiday cover, sickness, maternity/paternity leave, training and what happens if that person decides they’d like to work somewhere else.

All in all, carrying IT staff can be problematic – and extremely expensive – which is why managed network providers (MSPs) are becoming more and more popular with small to medium-sized businesses.

With an MSP, you’ve got the potential of 24/7 access, 365 days a year – plus no need to worry about keeping an individual up to speed with the latest accreditations and training programs. You simply pick up the phone and access the support – which, most of the time, can be applied to your systems remotely.

If you’d like your tech to save you thousands – you could do a lot worse than finding a good MSP and treating them like they’re one of your valued team.

Buy resources ‘as a service’ :

If you’re bringing your IT support onboard as an outsourced service – why not do the same with your applications, platforms, and infrastructure?

In the last 10 years, larger tech companies have realized that there’s an increasing number of small businesses becoming established year on year – and those companies simply do not have the money that’s needed to buy expensive software licenses, development platforms and costly networking infrastructure straight out of the gate.

The solution? Offering all of the above on a subscription basis – pay for only what you use, whenever you need it? A result is an increasing number of people opting to move to solutions like Microsoft Office 365 and Google’s G-Suite – both examples of ‘Software as a Service’ (Saas). That said, it’s not just cloud-accessed software that’s available in this manner, Microsoft now provides email exchange servers on a similar subscription basis too – with the robust security you’d expect from one of the biggest tech companies on Earth.

All these things are made possible by the cloud – the concept of storage and services that are hosted centrally, with your internet connection bridging the gap between your business and the resource. Of course, you’re going to need a connection that is stable and fast enough to allow uninterrupted access – but that’s more than realistic for most internet service providers.

Interestingly – the monetary benefits of SaaS are actually likely to be two-fold, as there’s an increasing body of evidence that suggests people actually work more effectively together when they’re collaborating online, even when compared to sitting next to one another in an office space. If you want to increase productivity and reduce costs with the help of IT tech, you could do a lot worse than to explore which of your required resources could be procured ‘as a Service’.

Read Also :

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Marketing

How to Monitor Your Brand?

On the Internet, to be particular on social media, everyone and anyone can share views about your brand. One thing you need to understand is that this information will reach a vast audience. Most of the information that people share on social media go viral. Brand monitoring is the best way forward if you want to keep on top of this information. What is brand monitoring? Brand monitoring refers to the process of monitoring several channels to find out various mentions of your brand and asses what people have to say about your products or services. It can include complaints on social media or a newspaper article about a merger, among other things. The role of brand monitoring is to respond and act on the mentions you get. It can assist you to jump on good publicity or spot a crisis before the situation worsens. It will also give you valuable insights on how the market views and talks about your products. We can also define brand monitoring as a business analytics process that monitors various channels on the media or web. It helps users to get information about the brand, products, and all the things that are connected to your brand. It will allow you to monitor the reception and reputation of your brand by your target demographic, consumer base, and the general public. You have to strategically and regularly investigate online resources and media to help you react to the various sentiments your brand and of your competitors experience. You have to proactively monitor the reputation of your brand and react to customer and press concerns to enhance trust in your brand. Why do you need to monitor your brand mentions? Identifying and Addressing Infringers: These people always look at the popularity and name of your brand to ride on it. Web monitoring will help you to identify these infringers who adopt confusing domain and brand names that resemble yours. Trademark law protects brand owners and consumers against such unfair competition. The good news about brand monitoring is that it will help you to enforce this practice. Addressing Consumer and Competitor Protection: Brand monitoring will help you to respond to both positive and negative sentiments from consumers. Most customers express their feelings on complaints, sites, forums, or social media. Also, it will help you to monitor the competition representation of your brand in terms of negative reviews and comparative advertising. What monitoring tools are there on the market? The market has so many social media monitoring tools that you can use to track your mention. Some of them include; Famm.io Famm.io is one of the best social media and web monitoring tools. It is an effective tool if you want to know what people think about your brand. The tool will show you the resources where your brand is mentioned most of the time. It will show you the best resource when it comes to brand mentions. Find out the places where people just watch and where people communicate most of the time. LexisNexis Print media and tracking broadcast are quite tricky unless you have people reading all the newspapers and watching all channels. LexisNexis is one of the best tools for monitoring these two elements. They will assist you in tracking mentions on several publications and in analyzing the results. Source LexisNexis is a big organization, which helps some of the biggest brands explore analytics, data, reporting and monitoring. It helps in identifying the quickest trends and news breakouts (viral content) and informs brands of advertising opportunities. The smart and easy interface helps brands understand metrics and take detailed steps as to the nest strategies. Google Alerts Google Alerts is an easy and free social media monitoring tool. You will need to input a keyword and you will get an alert when a person uses it on the website. It offers mentions but has no long-term overviews and analysis. Google Alert is an absolutely free tool that will help you get mentions about your brand in a small, yet significant way. Please do not expect this tool to be as powerful or potent as some of the best ones on the list. It is free and should be expected to be basic. TweetDeck This tool is great for community managers who use Twitter but also does brand monitoring through Twitter. Setup search columns to give you live feed once the things you specify get mentions. A free tool is ideal for brand mentions. This was an independent tool, which was later acquired by Twitter. This is a great platform to align your Twitter mentions and activities. The dashboard is clean, precise and easy to use. Once you start using TweetDeck, it will be difficult for you to go to other platforms like HootSuite, Buffer or anyone else. Why Famm.io stands apart from the crowd? Over the last three years, I have used several brand-monitoring tools on the market. What makes Famm.io stand out is the multi-functional capabilities. You are not only allowed to see your brand but also integrate content resources and competitor strategies in your dashboard. If you are looking to run Influencer Marketing campaigns, Famm.io helps you find your brand mentions not only on search but also on social. However, for me personally, the best part about Famm.io is the possibility to reach out to different Content Creators. You can look for content creators, not only in your niche but also in different niches. The capabilities of Famm.io can help your brand manage its online reputation in a successful manner. It can also help you reach disgruntled users or employees before they can do too much damage. This will help brands maintain good relations with their audiences and tackle PR nightmares before they get too big. Conclusion: Brand monitoring became a trend in a recent couple of years. It brings value as a marketing and PR component as well as a steady approach for brand awareness strategy. What can be more important than benefits for users, a brand’s value and its reputation? Overall, tools enumerated above are trustworthy enough and good for analysis and building marketing strategies and social media campaigns. All of these online assistants insulate from the needless search offering the selection of on-demand features. Read Also: Winning Tactics To Build A Competitive Service Delivery Website Reasons Why You Should Implement Wireless Monitoring System

5 Importance of proofreading your website content

It is very important to take time and proofread your work even if you are going to employ proofreading services. Don’t publish or hand in any articles or academic papers that you have written before subjecting them to a thorough scrutiny. You may discover some simple mistakes in your content that you would have simply corrected by proofreading. Don’t think that website content is not as critical as academic assignments and hence avoid proofreading. Some of the mistakes can completely change the meaning of your articles. Here are some 5 importance of proofreading your web content 1. You Will be Able to Correct any Spelling Mistakes in the Content : It is normal to misspell some words as you write the content. The challenge is that the office writing application will not auto-correct for you all the mistakes. You need to go through your content step by step to make sure that you correct all the spelling mistakes. Did you know that some spelling mistakes can completely change the meaning of your article? Yes, you can completely misguide your audience through wrong spellings. The implication is that the content can work against you at the end of the day. Read through each sentence to make sure that there are no spelling mistakes. Some of these mistakes can make the sentence to have no meaning at all. This is one of the objectives that proofreading services seek to achieve. 2. There Will be No Grammar Mistakes in Your Content : Grammar is the other big issue especially when dealing non-native speakers. You may find a problem with some of the sentence structures in your content. It is hard to notice some of these issues as you continue with the writing. Go through your text and make sure that the grammar is flawless. If you want to hire proofreading company, then it’s wise to go for native speakers like ProofreadingService.net proofreading services. Some of your audience may not take you seriously if they find several mistakes in your grammar. In fact, most of them will ignore your content because of grammar issues. Increase your conversion rate by proofreading your web content to correct any grammatical mistakes. 3. The Published Content Will Flow : As you proofread your content, you will be putting yourself in the shoe of the reader. You may discover that some important points are misplaced in the context of the text. As you right your content, each section or paragraph should have a particular point it is supporting. However, you can find yourself mixing some of the points here and there. It’s important to even give a third party to read through your work so that he ca tell whether it is flowing or not. A friend or proofreading services can be able to tell whether the theme of your content is flowing. This will in turn increase readability and make the content more engaging and attractive. 4. Proofreading Fixes any Punctuation Issues : Punctuation is the other common mistake when dealing with web content publication. A missing question mark or wrongly placed comma, colon, or even full stop can change the meaning of the whole phrase or even make it meaningless. Each punctuation mark communicates a specific message and this should be exhibited in your content. As you proofread your work, you will make sure that all punctuation marks are properly placed. 5. Format : Each web content should always have a format to increase its readability. You want to be sure whether the font type, size, and color of your content match what already exists on your website. The content you publish on your website should have some consistency to make it visually appealing. This can be achieved by editing your content so that it complies with the formatting requirements of your site. Multiple formats on the same website can make it to be quite unattractive. Having gone through this article, you will discover that proofreading enhances the value of your content. This is the only way you will make sure that you are communicating the right message to your target audience. It will help you to stand out from the other competing brands and even increase your competitive advantage in the market. Therefore, proofreading alone can go a long way in increasing the productivity of your business. Read More : Would Your E-commerce Website Pass The Cybersecurity Test? Here Are 3 Things You Could Be Doing Wrong Best SEO Tools For Ranking The Website Some Powerful Attributes That A Website Must Have In Its Content

Why Every Business Needs Digital Marketing

If you want your business to grow at a steady rate, you must be able to reach your target audience as quickly as possible. In this day and age, this isn’t possible unless you have an active social media presence that your customers know about. Today, a business without a sound digital marketing strategy is doomed to fail. Several types of research show that if your business, whether new or old, isn’t visible on social media, will become a flop. If you aren’t already tapping into the potential of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media marketing, you should seriously start thinking about the potential leads and customers that you’re losing because of it. Social media has changed people, the way they function, and the way they do business with each other. When social media was first setting its root, no one believed that it could be beneficial for the world of business. But today, in a matter of a few years, digital marketing has proved to be so influential that no business can do without it. The truth is that social media has become necessary and we incorporate it into our daily lives every chance we get. To keep up with the way businesses are revolutionizing because of social media, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms are coming up with new techniques. These platforms keep up with the demands of their users because they know that without these enhancement sad improvements, they would not only lose relevance but also their loyal users. Using social media platforms is essential for your business and will help you grow even further as a brand. When used right, this platform can be a cause for your company’s success and this is why it is growing even more popular as a tool for businesses around the world. If you think that these platforms for businesses are a passing fad or trend, think again and look around at the possibilities they have created for other businesses and brands. In fact, there are many English tuition Singapore companies that are benefiting from social media and getting students from all over the world. Here are a couple of interesting facts that will have you intrigued about social media and all it can do for you. 8 billion people use social media in one form or another Adults (18-34) are most likely to follow a brand on any social media 71% of customers with good experience with a brand are more likely to recommend it to others 50 million small businesses use Facebook to connect with their customers There are approximately 500 million tweets per day So now that you’re fully aware of the potential power that social media networking websites hold, let’s talk about why you need to benefit from this powerhouse and the benefits that it can bring to your business. In the next section, we’ll talk about the importance of implementing a good digital marketing strategy for your business. Why is Digital Marketing Essential for Your Business? Digital marketing for your business will come in handy on many fronts. When used correctly, it has the potential to change the fate of your business for the better and can bring you all-rounded success. So without further delay, let’s look at the several ways in which digital marketing can have a positive influence on your business or brand. Social Media Brings In Targeted Traffic and Boosts SEO : If you have a website that you spend a lot of energy and money building, you must also be looking for ways to promote it so actual customers visit and pay attention. Designing and developing a new page on your website may not be as challenging as having people visit it. However, if you do want your landing page to be noticed, you have to work on your social media because that makes a world of difference. When strategically placed, social media has proved to bring customers to websites that were previously only getting a handful of visitors. One of the things that help you bring traffic to your website is SEO. And digital marketing helps you with SEO as well. If you have a killer content strategy for your website’s SEO, it will help you in earning a spot at the top in search engines and proper social media marketing will help you drive it even further. Social Media Helps You Stay Ahead of Competitors : The biggest mistake you could make is to skip on the benefits of social media and let the competitors get the best of it. One of the things you need to be crystal clear about is that if your competitors are on social media (which they probably are), you need to join the bandwagon as well. If you don’t want to fall behind and play catch up later, you need to get serious about digital marketing the minute you start your business. This won’t just help you get recognition as a brand, but will also help you get the potential customers that you might have lost to competitors if you didn’t participate. Being active on social media networking websites can help you turn friends and followers into traffic for your website. If you’re an English tuition Singapore company, this particular tip can help you a lot. The best thing about social media and digital marketing for small businesses is that it brings equal benefits for all. Though a few brands will have bigger budgets than others, all companies will initially start off with equal footing when they enter the arena. You can find examples of many small businesses that made it big just because they were attentive, clever, and knew the best tactics in making their content catchy. Digital marketing will also help you with your competitors because unlike traditional media where you often miss news about your competitors and even your products, social media will help you keep track of everything. Social Media Strengthens Customer Relationships : Know why digital marketing and social media are so cool in today’s world? It’s because it gives you and your customers the to interact freely with each other and knows things that weren’t obvious. As a brand, it gives you the opportunity to show your human side to the public and target audience so they can feel more connected with you. It also tells you a lot about the customers’ likes and loves and also gives you the chance to get a sneak peek into their lives. If you play your cards right you can use these networking websites to connect with journalists and other influencers to give your business the much-needed boost. Another advantage of using social media to improve your brand is that your messages aren’t taken as marketing tactics. This is why customers are often a lot more receptive to them and are more likely to hear what you have to say. It also helps you to target and retarget ads according to location, industry, purchase history, and even education level. When you target ads according to these characteristics of the user, you’re a lot likelier to convert these people into solid leads and even sales. Social Media Improves Brand Image : Finally, though digital media has a lot of other perks, we’re going to talk about how it affects positively on your brand image. When your customers are facing problems with your product or services, you get to know about it immediately. This, in turn, gives you a chance to rectify the mistake without having to go through a long and tiring process. Several studies have shown that customers appreciate brands that respond positively to customer complaints and don’t run from their responsibilities. When you’re active on your social media and show a united front, it helps your brand build loyalty. Brands that have active profiles have a proven record of customers who’re loyal to the brand and their message. It will help you become a corporation and associate trust and reliability with your name. This is one of the best techniques for English tuition Singapore branding because it helps you get noticed. Digital media marketing is essential for your business because it helps you make the mark in this millennium. If you don’t have an active existence on social media, this is your chance to start. How Should You Get Started? If you haven’t started to represent your brand on social media, your brand doesn’t really exist. Digital marketing is important for your business because it makes you reach customers far and wide so you can start interacting with them in the best way possible. So now that you know most of the benefits of adding digital marketing to your brand’s marketing techniques, let’s look at a few quick ways you can get started. Set Your Goals : The most important decision you’ll need to make before stepping into digital marketing is the goal or objective you want to get out of it. Though this is an all-rounded marketing strategy, you need to specify if you’re trying to generate revenue or using it to provide customer service and build customer relationships. The reason why you need to answer this question is that the type of content you post or share will directly affect the outcome of your goals. Content is King : We have all heard it but no one really takes it seriously unless they’re in too deep with digital marketing. When you know what your customers are looking for and what they need from your social media profile, you need to make it a point to create content that’s informative and important to them. Remember not to give up because, with continual effort, you will come out successful. Also, bear in mind that content isn’t just about the same old ‘text’ and written information you provide. Instead, experiment with your artistic side and create cool memes, infographics, and other such visually appealing content to keep your audience busy and satisfied. Incorporate Your Marketing Strategies : All your social media accounts, as well as the other marketing strategies you use to promote your brand, should be integrated together. You should have a consistent tone of voice and cross-promote your campaigns both online and offline so the efforts work together without any glitch. However, one thing you must remember is to focus on the quality of digital marketing and not necessarily the quantity. Posting 10 things on social media that don’t do a lot for the customer will be of no use. Instead, focus on bringing in quality so you have 1000 highly engaged fans instead of 10,000 who aren’t interested in what you have to say. Have a Schedule : Once you have started your social media and have a good handle on it, you don’t need to spend a lot of time managing it. If you stick to a schedule and ensure that you devote that specific time for the marketing, you won’t skip on the activities that keep things going. So for instance, if you have an English tuition Singapore page on Facebook, you can spend an hour each day to look into it and answer queries for customers. Digital marketing is fun and can be made very easy if you simply know how to go about it. But don’t make the mistake of ignoring this essential part of your business because that’ll just make you and your brand down in the long run. Use these tips and find many others on the internet to know just how important it is to know the ABCs of digital marketing. Read Also : Should You Hire A Digital Marketing Agency? The Importance Of SEO Based Digital Marketing Services Social Media Marketing: Six Trends To Keep Your Eyes On

How to use IT to Save Your Business Money

How to use IT to Save Your Business Money:

Explore open-source software :

Let employees work on their own devices :

Outsource support :

Buy resources ‘as a service’ :

Marketing – What’s Right for Your Business?

Tips on Selecting a Storage Solution for Your Growing Business

Content Rally

Content Rally wrapped around an online publication where you can publish your own intellectuals. It is a publishing platform designed to make great stories by content creators. This is your era, your place to be online. So come forward share your views, thoughts and ideas via Content Rally.

Leave a Reply

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How to Monitor Your Brand?

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How to use IT to Save Your Business Money

How to use IT to Save Your Business Money:

Explore open-source software :

Let employees work on their own devices :

Outsource support :

Buy resources ‘as a service’ :

Share this Article

Marketing – What’s Right for Your Business?

Tips on Selecting a Storage Solution for Your Growing Business

Content Rally wrapped around an online publication where you can publish your own intellectuals. It is a publishing platform designed to make great stories by content creators. This is your era, your place to be online. So come forward share your views, thoughts and ideas via Content Rally.

Leave a Reply

Popular

Follow Us

Recent

Related