21st Century Business – Hand Your Tasks Over to the Web

Written by Jason OConnor


Continued from page 1

You don’t even necessarily need to be so sophisticated. Simple html, images, and good writing could do this job as well. Software companies can really benefit from this tactic. Screen shots of their software, with descriptions of how their product benefitsrepparttar customer, put together in an attractive presentation can act like a sales person who never sleeps or takes a break.

3) Required Customer Information

Do you or your employees spend time asking each new client their particular specifications for a job? Is there a set of questions you ask every customer in order to fulfill their request and completerepparttar 104874 project? Consider creating an html form that asks these questions, haverepparttar 104875 answers emailed directly to your inbox, and placerepparttar 104876 form on your Web site. A catering company may have a standard set of questions they ask a bride and groom that could be automated and put onrepparttar 104877 caterer’s Web site. This could saverepparttar 104878 caterers valuable time, freeing them up to party plan and cook, which is probably why they got inrepparttar 104879 business inrepparttar 104880 first place.

4) Partnering

Do you have business partners? Do you waste a lot of time sending out mail to each partner when you have something to communicate? Do you want to entice other businesses to partner with you but don’t have a good incentive? Creating a simple password protected area of your Web site that only current partners can access may berepparttar 104881 answer.

If you share information with partners on a regular basis, this is particularly useful. It is much easier for an advertising or creative agency to post work they’re doing for their client to review than it is to snail mail it or actually meet withrepparttar 104882 client for each new draft. A more sophisticated application of this concept involves hooking your inventory system up torepparttar 104883 partner Web site section where every partner can see what is in stock in real-time.

5) Product or Service Information / Catalogs If you spend an inordinate amount of time, money and energy snail mailing catalogs out to potential customers, you may want to consider recreating your traditional print catalog online and making it easily accessible on your Web site. This may sound like a simple idea, and it is, but there are still many companies that haven’t done this yet. However, taking this mindset a step further could truly allow you to break away fromrepparttar 104884 pack and free up a lot of you and your employees’ time.

This is actually a lot simpler than it sounds. One ofrepparttar 104885 hardest parts is coming up with possible web service opportunities. Often we are so entrenched inrepparttar 104886 old way of doing things that we don’t even seerepparttar 104887 possibilities. It is important that you stretch your creativity when thinking of possible solutions. If you think something could be done automatically but aren’t sure if it’s possible, ask around or speak to an expert.

The possibilities are endless. Inrepparttar 104888 future, many ofrepparttar 104889 tasks of today will be done byrepparttar 104890 computer, (this could have been a line in an article written inrepparttar 104891 80’s, and it certainly came true), but now it will berepparttar 104892 networked computer that accomplishesrepparttar 104893 tasks, in other words,repparttar 104894 Web. I challenge you to get creative and think of ways to save you and your employees’ time and money by utilizingrepparttar 104895 power ofrepparttar 104896 Web.

******************* Jason OConnor is President of Oak Web Works The synthesis of Web marketing, design, and technology Jason is a Web expert, e-strategist, and e-marketer who builds sites and programs for the Web

http://www.oakwebworks.com

mailto: jason@oakwebworks.com for a FREE site consultation ******************


NEW YEAR'S REVOLUTION

Written by C.J.Hayden


Continued from page 1
Most entrepreneurs spend either too much time struggling to get clients and earning too little money, or become victims of their own success, working too many hours to fulfill clients' demands. You can overcome these problems by combiningrepparttar financial modelling described above withrepparttar 104873 approach to marketing outlined below. And don't forget, if you earn enough, you can hire allrepparttar 104874 help you need. 4. Do more ofrepparttar 104875 work you like doing and less of what you don't. If you're not enjoyingrepparttar 104876 work you do, there's no one to blame but yourself. After all, you'rerepparttar 104877 OWNER of this enterprise. If you can do different work inrepparttar 104878 same business, start now to makerepparttar 104879 shift. Loyal customers will follow you if you're still offering services they need. If more rewarding work would require a new business, joinrepparttar 104880 ranks ofrepparttar 104881 serial entrepreneurs. You started and ran one business, why not another? Life is much too short to do work you don't enjoy, and it doesn't make much sense if you're working for yourself! 5. Build a marketing system that really works. The definition of a system is a selection of related components arranged in a specific order to achieve a common end. Does this describe your marketing? Or is it more like a hodgepodge of random elements jumbled together without a clear goal? If you want better clients, more money, more time for yourself, and more enjoyable work, an effective marketing system may berepparttar 104882 universal solution. Don't know how to build one? Make thisrepparttar 104883 year you learn. Already know how but haven't built it? Get support from a colleague, mentor, coach, or group to make it happen. Have a system but aren't using it? Pull your plan out ofrepparttar 104884 drawer and re-commit to doing what it takes to haverepparttar 104885 business you always dreamed of.

C.J. Hayden is the author of Get Clients NOW! Since 1992, C.J. has been teaching business owners and salespeople to make more money with less effort. She is a Master Certified Coach and leads workshops internationally. Read more of her articles at www.getclientsnow.com


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