Technology 101 for the Small to Medium business

GOALS FOR TODAY’S WORKSHOP
• UNDERSTANDING WHAT SOCIAL MEDIA IS RIGHT FOR YOUR BUSINESS
• ONLINE ADVERTISING (SOCIAL, WEB SEO & SEM)
• COMPUTER NETWORK BASICS AND HOW TO LEVERAGE “CLOUD COMPUTING”
• SETTING UP YOUR OWN PROFESSIONAL EMAIL ADDRESS IN LESS THAN 10 MINUTES
• INCREASING PERSONAL AND STAFF PRODUCTIVITY WITH TECHNOLOGY
• PROTECTING YOURS AND YOUR CUSTOMERS’ DATA
QUICK TECH POLLS:
PC
APPLE
QUICK TECH POLLS:
PC TABLET
ANDROID TABLET
IPAD
QUICK TECH POLLS:
ANDROID PHONE
IPHONE
WINDOWS PHONE
BLACKBERRY
QUICK TECH POLLS:
ANDROID, APPLE AND MICROSOFT TRYING TO WORK TOGETHER?
QUICK TECH POLLS:
CLOUD STORAGE?
TECH SPRAWL!
WHICH SOCIAL MEDIA SITE(S) ARE
RIGHT FOR YOUR BUSINESS
FACEBOOK
Over 1B Users!
Find influential people!
Great targeted advertising platform!
Great place to build awareness!
Great for consumer connections!
Don’t spend too much time here without tracking ROI!
PAID ADVERTISING ON FACEBOOK
• TARGETED ADS ON FACEBOOK CAN BE
VERY GOOD ADVERTISING!
• LOOK FOR YOUR EXACT TARGETED
PROSPECT AND ONLY ADVERTISE TO
THEM!
• DEMO!!
PAID ADVERTISING ON SOCIAL MEDIA
TWITTER
Great place to create a conversation!
Easy to find experts and get answers!
Great tools to automate conversations!
Become a great listener!
Both consumers and business targets on Twitter!
LINKEDIN
Perfect place to create a business network!
Great way to navigate organizations and know who’s who!
Great place to ask/answer business related questions!
Top professionals that keep their profiles up to date!
Great way to find people with influence!
Great place to find people that know people you know!
YELP
People want to get references before doing business with you!
Yelp is a trusted source for people that don’t know your
business or someone that has done business with you
PINTEREST
WHAT TO POST THAT WILL ATTRACT
ATTENTION
BLOG
One of the most important extensions of your website!
Helps to make you an expert!
Increases your visibility!
Creates buzz for your brand!
Gives people a place to link back to!
HOW TO POST FOR SUCCESS
TIME OF DAY TO POST
HOW OFTEN TO POST
WHAT WORDS WORKS BEST FOR POSTING
HOW MUCH TIME TO SPEND ON SOCIAL?
• ONLY SPEND TIME ON SOCIAL MEDIA IF YOU CAN PROVE A RETURN ON YOUR
INVESTMENT OF TIME!!
• BLOGS HAVE A HUGE RETURN FOR YOUR SEO EFFORTS!
• PAID ADVERTISING IS EASY TO TRACK A RETURN!
• IF YOU CAN’T TRACK A RETURN… STOP DOING IT!
ONLINE ADVERTISING (SOCIAL, WEB
SEO & SEM)
MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE A WEBSITE!
• WORDPRESS BUILDS A GREAT WEBSITE
• PICK A GOOD WEB DOMAIN!
• DESCRIBES YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE
• DEVELOP YOUR SITE WITH SEO IN MIND!
• MAKE SURE TO IMPLEMENT A BLOG!
BASIC SEO (SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION)
• GOOD DOMAIN NAMES!
• PAGE TITLES ARE MANDATORY!
• GREAT CONTENT!
• H1 (HEADER TAG) ON EACH PAGE
•
NO MORE THAN 1 PER PAGE
• SEARCH ENGINES CAN’T SEE PICTURES, SO YOU HAVE
TO TELL THEM WHAT THE PICTURE IS (REFERENCE
TAGS)
• NO BROKEN LINKS!
PAID ADVERTISING ON THE WEB
SUCCESSFUL VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE
YouTube is the #2 Search
tool on the web!
Today’s consumer love
videos!
Additional Advertising on
available on the videos
MAKING MONEY WITH ADS ON YOUR WEBSITE
Search Engines allow you to
advertise their ads on your
website.
They will pay you up to 50% of
the revenue they receiving for
the ads.
This could be distracting to
your customers, but it could
also be nice income!
CLOUD COMPUTING AND COMPUTER BASICS
COMPUTER NETWORK BASICS & HOW
TO LEVERAGE “CLOUD COMPUTING”
COMPUTER BASICS
• OPERATING SYSTEMS
• SERVERS – (CLOUD VERSUS ON-PREMISES)
• NETWORKING
• APPLICATIONS
• ERP
• CRM
CLOUD COMPUTING
• WHAT IS THE CLOUD?
• PUBLIC VERSUS PRIVATE CLOUD?
• WHY USE THE CLOUD?
• IS THE CLOUD SAFE?
• WHO ALREADY USES THE CLOUD?
OFFICE 365
Works with PC and MAC
Works online and offline
Allows easy collaboration and sharing
The tools you’re used to in a simple package
Easy subscription model
SETTING UP YOUR OWN PROFESSIONAL
EMAIL ADDRESS IN LESS THAN 10 MINUTES
PRICE OF NOT USING YOUR OWN EMAIL DOMAIN
Personal Email addresses:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Professional Email Addresses:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Professional Email addresses are CHEAP!
As low as $9.95 if you don’t already have a domain
As low as $4/Month for hosting
Consumers know you’re serious!
Consumers can find your website!
Much more secure for you and your customers!
DOMAIN ADDRESS
If you don’t already have a domain… BUY ONE! 
Very inexpensive - $9.95/yr and up
Consider buying .com, .us, .net
CREATING YOUR EMAIL SERVER
• YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF IF YOU HAVE OFFICE 365
• YOU CAN HIRE SOMEONE TO DO THIS FOR YOU – NOT VERY EXPENSIVE
• MIGRATE ALL OF YOUR OLD EMAIL FROM YOUR OTHER EMAIL SERVERS (USUALLY AROUND $100)
• 26 SPAM FILTERS
• ANTI-VIRUS BUILT IN
• MAIL TIPS AND SECURITY JUST LIKE THE BIG COMPANIES!
PROTECTING YOURS AND YOUR
CUSTOMERS’ DATA
SECURITY THAT MATTERS
• CUSTOMER PERSONAL DATA
• CREDIT CARD INFORMATION
• ENCRYPTION – SSL (HTTPS://)
• COMPLIANCE – HIPAA, SOX, JSOX, ETC…
• MAKE SURE TO DO YOUR RESEARCH ABOUT SECURITY – MOST OF THE TIME IF IT’S A FREE SERVICE, IT’S
NOT VERY SECURE!
INCREASING PERSONAL AND STAFF
PRODUCTIVITY WITH TECHNOLOGY
KPI’S, TEAM SITES
FILE SHARING, INSTANT MESSAGING,
SCREEN SHARING, VOICE/VIDEO CALLS
DEMO – OFFICE 365
WHAT ELSE?
LET’S CHECK THE BOARD!
SCORE IS HERE TO HELP!
SET UP 1-1 MENTORING
ATTEND OTHER WORKSHOPS
DENIS WILSON
SMALL BUSINESS MENTOR - TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL MEDIA
[email protected]
APPENDIX…
INBOUND MARKETING
• RATHER THAN BUYING LISTS WITH LOW RETURNS, CREATE CAMPAIGNS TO ACQUIRE NAMES/EMAILS
THAT WANT YOUR MATERIALS!
• POST SNIPPETS OF A BLOG, WHITE PAPER, ARTICLE, VIDEO, ETC…
• IF THEY WANT THE REST OF THE INFO, THEY WOULD FILL OUT A FORM INCLUDING THEIR NAME AND EMAIL
• EMAIL ADDRESSES WILL NEED TO BE CORRECT IF THEY WANT TO RECEIVE THE INFORMATION
• TARGETED PAID CAMPAIGNS TO DRIVE THESE INITIATIVES