Customer surveys can be an extremely valuable way of collecting all kinds of useful data. What businesses often don’t consider is that customer surveys can also serve other objectives, such as to inform customers, to advertise a new product, or for lead generation.

If your marketing goal is “to inform readers about a new product or offering”, or “bring an advertising message to prospects and clientele”, then the satisfaction survey becomes a subtle piece of advertising. Read More

The great news for business is that emerging technologies are making possible a return to earlier times when business owners and their customers knew each other and had personal relationships that extended beyond the tight boundaries of buying and selling goods and services. Read More

Using the services available over the Internet means that over time you will accumulate vast numbers of cookies and ‘temporary’ internet files and will be exposed to a range of nasties including all sorts of malware that will reduce the speed of your computer or bring it to a halt altogether. The tips below will keep your computer safe while web surfing and preserve its speed. Read More

In the current economic climate your marketing, like most other things in your business, has to achieve more with less. So, think about your website. It could be the most important marketing channel you have with much greater reach than the newspaper, radio and TV combined. As in past recessions, the businesses that make the right marketing moves will emerge from the economic downturn in the strongest position. One of those ‘right moves’ according to the experts is to keep up your marketing efforts. Your website should be playing a major role in this so business owners need to take a close look at how they can improve the effectiveness of their website to attract visitors, hold their attention and to eventually sell to them. Read More

Cash is tight so this business coach knows that every SME owner is looking for ways to cut outlays! IT could look like an easy target. Trouble is, your IT is one of those things with the potential to fuel real efficiency increases in many areas of operation thus ultimately being a dollar saver. Besides, sooner or later you will be forced to refresh old technology, either because it’s stopped working or is so slow that it’s cramping your productivity. Here are some suggestions for how you can rein in the IT budget without sacrificing the huge business opportunities that come with it.  Read More

Although rapidly changing information technology delivers countless benefits, it also brings new security risks that can harm businesses that are not prepared.  We mostly hear about security breaches and attacks against large corporations and government departments, but small to medium businesses are just as vulnerable and face similar IT security risks.  There are a number of preventive steps organisations can take to increase their cyber security in a rapidly changing world. The key is to know the threats and be prepared to deal with them. Read More

As the use of computers becomes more built in to business operations employees naturally spend an increasing proportion of their time working at them. Working? Really? With temptations such as chat, streaming video, blogs, social networking and myriad other interesting sites (weather, maps, pornography, music, games, gambling, shopping, sports) it’s no wonder that surveys such as Websense’s annual Web@Work study reveal a depressing incidence of non-work related Web surfing by employees. Read More

Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the world and it doesn't happen to only private individuals, businesses can have their identity hijacked as well. One of the common tactics used by identity theft fraudsters is phishing.  Read More

Setting up and maintaining a website isn't cheap. If your company has a website that's even slightly above the brochureware level it's probably costing you a fair sum of money each month. The good news is that a website can earn income to offset its costs, and can even become a profit spinner for your business in its own right.There are a number of ways your website can make money, some more suitable than others depending on your particular situation. For instance, unless you have millions of 'hits' each week it's hard to justify charging high rates for providing advertising or sponsorships on your site, but if you experiment with the variety of income earners that are possible you'll find you're able to cover some, if not all, of your costs. Read More

For those who haven't experienced a disaster first hand it's difficult to imagine, even from the graphic images fed to us by the media, the realities of the situation. What pictures cannot convey is the frustration of an owner watching their business suffer through the several days or weeks during which power is unavailable, transport facilities are out of operation, communications are down and access to the premises is prohibited. It's exactly those restrictions that can spell the death of a business caught up in a disaster and unprepared to deal with the consequences. Read More