Control Expenses – Automate Process Through Workflow Software

Do you find yourself spending time trying to figure out what happened to a customer’s order? Interested in keeping staffing counts stable while growing revenue? Do your auditors want to see the details of how transactions were processed, including approval signatures? We all want to increase efficiency, and are often becoming more customer-driven. Many of us have compliance requirements as well.

Organizations typically rely on a combination of major systems and manual transactions that are done off system. Few have a reliable, quick way of accessing the history of transactions, approval processes and communication between departments that span the various systems.…

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Analyzing The Business Boom To Save Money

saving money in your businessSmall businesses know that there is a number of ins and outs of getting started. The first rule, get to know the C.P.A., and perhaps have a attorney who will look over contracts as needed, but the next rule, generating business, needs to be continuously developed.

The economic downturn has been burdensome and congested for small businesses to thrive. The sturdy foundation of creativity and ingenuity for the United States comes from the birth of small businesses; however, the future for small businesses comes down to money. That brings us to how, and what small businesses can do to survive and thrive; thus, continuing to be able to hire and expand.…

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50 Small Business Twitter Lists

50 small business twitter listsAre you too busy to scour Twitter for new informative business experts to follow?   Have no fear, I’ve made it really easy for anyone who hasn’t had the time to explore Twitter lists.   I’ve gathered a collection of 50 Twitter lists that are full of the most influential small business Twitter users.

This is an easy and convenient way for you to connect and network with small business experts all from one single source.   You can follow each of these lists or pick and choose which business gurus you’d like to continue following.

Believe me, I know this isn’t every small business Twitter list that exists.  …

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Event Marketing Tools For Your Small Business

event marketing toolsToday’s small businesses are adept at using online tools such as email newsletters and surveys to help develop strong relationships with their customers. While these tools can enable two-way communications, face-to-face interactions can be an effective way to build and instill trust in these relationships. It’s that sense of community and interaction that in-person events provide when communicating directly with customers.

Hosting events and promoting them through an online service is a great place to start. Small businesses and organizations have many options to consider when looking for the best way to promote their events. Free online RSVP services offer great ways to invite friends and relatives to a casual engagement, but businesses need a more professional service when marketing their events.…

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How To Engage Consumers This Holiday Season

engaging consumers during the holiday sales seasonAs we prepare for the height of the holiday season, one in which spending is predicted to be lukewarm at best, local businesses can get smart by planning and implementing thoughtful marketing campaigns that provide consumers relief where they need it most: their wallets. With Black Friday quickly approaching, time is of the essence to get a plan in place and begin implementing it.

While it can seem a bit overwhelming, there are plenty of low-cost options to keep a small business fully engaged with its customers and achieve a high return on investment.

To start, it’s smart to get into the heads of customers to glean their holiday shopping plans in order to provide them with what they need.…

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Do More With Less: Examine Your Business Processes To Stay Competitive

examine business processesStaff reductions are typical targets for controlling costs in tough economic times. This can be particularly challenging as you attempt to balance responsible fiscal management with fluctuating sales while maintaining customer expectations for quality, support, and customer service. The answer to this dilemma involves embracing a return to basics, i.e., examining your business processes and understanding the role they play in getting your product or service out the door.

Business processes are the means by which work gets done. Many businesses however, view business processes as a “this is how we do it” mentality, rather than a systematic way to understand how work gets done.…

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Top 5 Small Business iPhone Apps

iPhone small business apps

Small business owners have to make the most of every minute to be successful. Blackberry says their smartphones allow you to reclaim an additional 60 minutes of downtime every day (that’s 250 hours each year!) and with these 5 apps on your iPhone you may be able to do even better.

QuickOffice Mobile Office Suite

Quickoffice Mobile Office Suite takes the iPhone to a whole new level, approaching the functionality of a personal computer. Quickoffice includes Word, Excel, PDF viewers and image viewing. The foundational programs essential on every desktop, are offered to iPhone users. The app offers pristine features, and easy access to the files saved on the phone.…

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How To Set Up A Custom Landing Page For Your Business Facebook Fan Page

1. Login to your Facebook account.

2. At the bottom left of your screen – click on Applications (blue arrow pointing).

Facebook fan page landing page step 1

3. Click on Browse More Application.

4. Type in FBML in the search box.

custom Facebook fan page landing page

5. Add the app to your Page.

setting up a custom landing page for Facebook fan pages

6. A window will open up to select the Page you want the application to install to.

add FBML to your Facebook fan page

7. Go back to your Page and select Edit Page.

editing a Facebook fan page

8. Scroll down to the FBML settings and click on Edit.

custom business Facebook fan page

And then on this.

Facebook fan landing pages

9. Name your box. I named mine ” Download Report” . You can change it whenever you want.…

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8 Reasons Why I Made A Custom Landing Page For My Facebook Business Fan Page

customizing facebook business fan landing pages

1. Create a strong first impression on people who are not logged into Facebook but are finding me on Facebook.com/InternetStrategyClub via Google or via an email. Dropping them on my Fan Page Wall which is active and full of comments, links, and photos etc might be way too much for somebody who just found me.

2. Make my page stand apart from hundreds of thousands of Business Fan Pages to Facebook users who are not fans of the page yet but are finding me either via Facebook Ads or word of mouth mention from another fan.

3. I took some very popular blog content that I had written, assembled it by topic and put it in a free report to give away on the landing page, so no additional work and I could get it done and out on Facebook in two days.…

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The Mrs. Kravitz Effect

online brand monitoringIf you are a baby boomer like I am, you probably remember the 60s television show, Bewitched. Mrs. Kravitz was the busybody next-door neighbor of the sitcom’s main characters, Darren and Samantha Stevens. Mrs. Kravitz was extremely nosy; always peeking through the curtains to see what was going on at the Stevens’ home. If there was anything strange activity or unusual behavior, she knew about it (Samantha practiced witchcraft, so strange or unusual was an understatement.) The point is, she was extremely observant and clearly saw the goings-on where no one else did.

In today’s social media environment consumers have enormous control over what is said about your product or company.…

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