This content is provided by Carol Farbe. For more information, please visit my site for great tips.
Did you print the checklist from my last blog post? Is your business growth plan in place? In order to stay focused, you need to have that business plan in place. Whether you devote your time to social media or read and participate in forums, you need to know what’s working. You need to know the basics. One basic you need is to know a little bit of technology. You need technology – technology that supports you now and in the future when your business grows and multiplies. After all, business growth is your goal, right?
Technology For Online Business
I have a list that I thought you will be interested in reviewing for technology tips.
□ You have a testing and tracking plan set in place to evaluate and optimize your marketing strategies and tactics
□ You have a system to collect and analyze data (a system that can grow as your business grows, meaning a manual system isn’t going to work well when you have hundreds of website visitors each day)
□ You have an outsourcing strategy that takes your budget and profit goals into consideration
□ You have, and utilize, a system to help you stay on track both with your priorities and your strategic planning sessions. (Winging it is fine in the beginning but once your business is growing and your time is in demand, it really helps to have a system. Technology can help, even something as simple as Microsoft Outlook or a Google Calendar can manage your priorities for you and keep you on top of your business.)
□ You have a website host that is able to handle tremendous growth. (Some website hosts only allow for a certain number of pages, data, or visitors. This type of setup can be outgrown quickly leaving you with the laborious task of changing hosts. If your present host isn’t capable of growing with you, consider changing now, before it becomes a near impossible task) I recommend Blue Host.
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□ You have a financial plan that incorporates growth and you have the technology to back you up. (Hint, paper is fine when you only have five customers however when you have 500, it just doesn’t make sense. Use technology to make the job easy and automatic. There are software programs you can use to generate sales reports, track income and expenses and even write checks from.)
□ You have a customer and prospect communication plan that can grow with you. For example, you may be able to send regular communications to your list from your Gmail account and manually manage subscribes and unsubscribes but when your list grows to 10,000 you’ll run into technological limitations and managing the list can become a full time job. Use technology, an autoresponder service, to automate the entire process and use the time to focus on growing your business rather than maintaining it) I use Aweber.
□ You have automated payment procedures in place that incorporate room for growth. (For example using PayPal or a merchant account rather than accepting checks via mail)
□ You have fulfillment procedures, if you sell a product, which are automated and are capable of growing as demand increases.
□ You have a plan or a system in place, which can grow your affiliate program as your business grows. Affiliate management technology can be a real time/money saver.
If you have a brick and mortar business in place or just starting an online business, I know it’s a dream come true. Make the most of it by planning for the future. Don’t be afraid of the technological aspect of your business. A business may start out on paper but in the days of efficiency, you need to go paperless. Embrace online technology to get the job done. When you need to decide between technology and its many processes and procedures, remember to keep an eye on the future. What are your business goals for your future? How are you planning for business growth?
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