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Virtual Offices benefit from flexible cloud services

9th April 2012

Dr Steven Turner, VP of IT optimisation consultancy Intergence, has outlined how using cloud services benefits mobile workers and those operating virtual offices that traditionally have to rely on high speed broadband links to their corporate data centres for connectivity.

Dr Turner explained: “Cloud computing enables businesses to make use of software and services as and when they need them, requiring only an Internet connection and a web browser, going some way towards solving the problems of resourcing and collaboration. One of the largest challenges of running a small business is trying to predict what services will be needed in the future if circumstances suddenly change; for example, if the company expands quickly, then more employees and resources will be required to support and enable the business to perform optimally. However, investing too much, too soon could also be potentially disastrous.”

“Secondly, regardless of location, employees can use cloud services to share files, access business services, talk to each other or collaborate on shared documents in real time. Cloud computing allows people to build a geographically diverse team that works together with all the benefits of improved productivity and better communication. A good example of a popular cloud-based service is Google Documents which allows businesses to create and manage documents online. Some users probably don’t even realise they are using the cloud when accessing services they use on a daily basis.”

Cloud based services can improve the remote worker experience in the following ways:

• Easy-to-access resources anywhere without specialist software; only requiring a standard web browser.

• Secure access to corporate resources, ensuring the user has access to only the systems and services for which they are authorised.

• Flexible computing power which can grow with the business needs, guaranteeing the infrastructure is sized for the demands of the users.

• Greater available bandwidth to users than would be feasible for an organisation to provide itself.

• Higher application performance via cloud hosting regions which are local to the user, hence reducing latency.

Dr Turner concluded: “Traditional remote access is not flexible enough to support business growth and can often suffer from congestion and latency during periods of heavy use. To help ease the burden on the business, remote employees should be able to take advantage of cloud services which provide users with virtually unlimited computing power, whilst establishing a much more flexible infrastructure that can grow with the business requirements.”

Intergence has recently announced a series of IT Optimisation health check seminars being held in Leeds, London and Edinburgh during May 2012. The health check seminars will explain how to optimise and fine tune an organisation’s infrastructure to best take advantage of cloud technology.

Click here for further information on attending the health check seminars.

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How to partner with Amazon

29th March 2012

To learn how to publish with Amazon, Digital Marketing Labs has released a Special Report meant to help authors, business owners and entrepreneurs take advantage of Amazon’s e-commerce influence.

“Partnering with Amazon: How to Give Amazon Permission to Sell Your Products to their Over 275 Million Registered Users” was the topic of a recent article from the Digital Marketing Labs website. The article mentions the strife between print publishing companies and Amazon.

According to some of the traditional New York book houses, to publish with Amazon is to sleep with the devil. The popularity of the online retailer is forcing some publishers completely out of the conventional book deal, as Amazon further develops its self-publishing opportunities, said the article.

The concept of using Amazon as a publishing site has older print publishers worried. They may be losing their relevance in an increasingly technological world that’s making paper and ink nearly obsolete. According to the article, both self-publishers and established authors are turning to Amazon for their book business. The website makes the entire process, from creation to promotion, fairly simple.

What the “Partnering with Amazon” report tries to drive home is how the connection with Amazon can affect ranking in the eyes of both online search engines and interested customers. Amazon books piggyback on the Internet retailer’s immense size, pushing online presence into the stratosphere. If a book for sale on Amazon shows up as one of the top two or three results in a Google search, it makes the content appear instantly credible.

Also, since Amazon searches allow people to find whatever it is they are looking for, any niche-specific markets are easily accessible. Writers and creators who learn how to self-publish on Amazon are able to engage with their customer base after they’ve already stumbled upon the information.

Amazon is such a popular spot for Internet users that it attracts anywhere from 50 to 100 million people every month. Along with that number, Amazon claims an average page view of around 38 seconds and a total of about eleven minutes on the site per visit.

Put those numbers to work with “Partnering with Amazon” from the Digital Marketing Labs. The article claimed there’s no better source of expert advice and informative plans available, so find out how to publish with Amazon by claiming your copy of the report today.

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Are Small Business Marketing Budgets Too Small?

26th March 2012

According to the 6th Annual Staples National Small Business Survey, two-thirds (66%) of small business owners have some type of marketing budget for 2012 and, of those small business owners who responded, the average marketing budget was barely over $2,000. While struggling with a small marketing budget, many Entrepreneurs are concerned about how they will be able to reach out to new customers. Marketing expert and founder of PredictableProfits.com, Charles Gaudet, offers encouraging news to cash-strapped entrepreneurs suggesting low-cost marketing alternatives that are equally effective than more costly marketing initiatives.

“Though ‘paid for’ marketing efforts (such as advertising, direct mail, and events) offer the potential for a great return on investment, some of the best marketing available doesn’t cost a dime,” says Gaudet. “But, shockingly, most entrepreneurs don’t take enough advantage of the low-cost opportunities that are available to them.”

While many Entrepreneurs are using the change in economic conditions as an excuse to cut back on their marketing efforts, Gaudet reminds entrepreneurs that: “Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs.” A quote he cited from world renowned management consultant, Peter Druker.

Gaudet offers seven small business marketing strategies for Entrepreneurs on a budget:

1.    Joint Venture Marketing: Entrepreneurs can locate companies that their ideal customers are doing business with and approach them with an offer to form a joint venture, perhaps requesting that they endorse, recommend and refer their clients to the Entrepreneur’s company in return for a share in the upside revenue.

2.    Offer Interesting News to the Press: Entrepreneurs offering well-written press releases to the media and providing unique insight, opinions or feedback on a particular topic of interest have the possibility of their story being featured, quoted or shared in front of thousands (possibly millions) of prospects inside of print, radio and/or television.

3.    Become an Expert: Media, bloggers, authors and researchers are constantly looking for expert opinion for articles, news stories, books, white papers, interviews and more. The Entrepreneur is encouraged to register as an expert and actively seek out topics on which they could offer their assistance.

4.    Become a Contributing Author: Offer to write an article for a blog, magazine or newspaper. The more information you share with readers, the more likely they will view the Entrepreneur’s company favorably when making a purchase.

5.    Re-Activating Old Customers: Most customers don’t stop doing business with a business due to dissatisfaction. More often than not, it has to do with an interruption in their buying behavior that causes them to forget or put off doing repeat business with the Entrepreneur. A simple re-activation plan inviting customers to come back into the business will bring in more sales.

6.    Establish a Referral Program: Encourage existing customers to refer and/or recommend new customers to the Entrepreneur’s business. Offering a benefit or incentive to customers who refer new customers is a commonly effective.

7.    Create a Loyalty Program: Promote repeat business and reward customers who make frequent purchases with the company. Not only will customers be pleased, they will spend more money, more often with the small business.

“Marketing is the most powerful tool that any Entrepreneur has at their disposal to grow their business, make more money and out-compete their competition,” says Gaudet. “And, because of this, every Entrepreneur should be constantly asking themselves ‘what else can I do?’ instead of focusing on ‘how much can I spend?’”

For more information on how to effectively improve your marketing and position your company as a leader in the market, please visit http://www.PredictableProfits.com and sign up for their free newsletter.

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Lulu Launches New Ecommerce Platform

23rd March 2012

Lulu.com, the leader in self-publishing, has launched a new ecommerce platform along with major site upgrades that will give authors and readers the absolute best self-publishing experience for buying and selling books in any format across the globe.

Powered by leading ecommerce platform provider Elastic Path, the upgrades are designed to maximize author agility in a rapidly changing publishing industry and ensure that readers can easily buy books online [http://www.lulu.com/shop ] anywhere in the world, including the places they already shop like Amazon.com, the iBookstore, and Barnes and Noble’s NOOK Bookstore.

Customers can expect an even easier to use Lulu.com with new capabilities such as registration-less checkout, faster browsing times, enhanced international language and currency support, improved address validation, and customizable marketing tools for authors, adding to Lulu.com’s already free ebook publishing [http://www.lulu.com/publish/ebooks ] services.

“Lulu and Elastic Path have made publishing and buying quick and easy,” says Matt Dion, Vice President of Marketing for Elastic Path.

“Lulu is a great example of an innovative company providing their customers with a compelling value proposition, cementing Lulu’s leadership position in the publishing technology arena for years to come.”

The new platform creates an entirely new infrastructure for Lulu.com to build upon, which greatly increases the speed at which the company can release new features and updates in the future to better equip customers with the tools they need, when they need them.

For example, Lulu.com’s soon to be available ecommerce APIs (Application Programmer Interfaces) enables businesses and publishers to build Lulu.com and Elastic Path’s ecommerce tools into their own branded websites, absolutely free.

“We’re constantly looking for ways to make it easier for our customers to take advantage of the ever-increasing opportunities in publishing today, from easily creating print and eBooks, to expanding author reach to more places,” said Bob Young, CEO of Lulu.com.

“We’re in the business of removing limitations for creators and with these upgrades, we’re providing publishers, authors, and their readers, with a world-class ecommerce experience.”

With just a few clicks of a button, anyone can upload content to Lulu once, and sell it through a global network of premier retail channels as a print book or eBook, all for free. Creators set their own price for their titles and keep up to 90 per cent of the profit whenever their works sell.

Interested parties can learn more about self-publishing and the new and improved Lulu.com by visiting, http://www.lulu.com, while British users can visit Lulu UK [http://www.lulu.com/uk ] at http://www.lulu.com/uk.

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One in five tech firms has rejected a job applicant because of social media profile

16th March 2012

Almost one in five technology industry executives say that a candidate’s social media profile has caused them not to hire that person. This is revealed in the 2012 annual technology market survey conducted by Eurocom Worldwide (http://www.eurocompr.com) the Global PR Network, in association with UK PR agency partner, Six Degrees (http://www.sixdegreespr.com).

The annual Eurocom Worldwide study has previously found that almost 40 per cent of respondents’ companies check out potential employees’ profiles on social media sites, but this is the first evidence that candidates are actually being rejected because of them.

“The 21st century human is learning that every action leaves an indelible digital trail. In the years ahead many of us will be challenged by what we are making public in various social forums today. The fact that one in five applicants disqualify themselves from an interview because of content in the social media sphere is a warning to job seekers and a true indicator of the digital reality we now live in,” said Mads Christensen, Network Director at Eurocom Worldwide.

The Eurocom Worldwide survey this year also reveals that while nearly half (49 per cent) of technology executives say that their firm will increase their expenditure on social media in the next 12 months, over half (57 per cent) say they are unable to accurately measure the impact of the investment. By contrast, only 23 per cent say they can measure it.

The survey finds that 74 per cent of respondents consider online PR to be very or quite important for their company’s search engine optimisation (SEO) with 37 per cent saying it is very important.

“The significant role of online PR in search engine optimisation is often underrated but clearly not by technology firms,” commented Amanda Hassall, Director at Six Degrees.

Social media content

Respondents to the survey were also asked about the primary source of social media content and messaging for their company. The majority (78 per cent) cite in-house sources with PR agencies the second most important source at 12 per cent. Digital marketing agencies and advertising agencies combined account for the remaining 10 per cent.

Of those respondents who work in companies that publish a blog, 57 per cent say that it is done in order to raise profile or create thought leadership. Nearly as many (55 per cent) state that the blogging aims to improve interaction with customers, while 37 per cent say the aim is to boost SEO and 36 per cent say it is to participate in industry debates. According to the responses, the main reason for not blogging is that it is ‘too time consuming’ cited by 42 per cent of those who don’t blog. One in five doesn’t see the value of it while 14 per cent fear a negative response.

The most popular social media platform for technology companies is:

• LinkedIn (74 per cent)
• Twitter – 67 per cent of technology firms tweet
• 64 per cent have a Facebook presence
• 56 per cent are on YouTube.

Only half of respondents surveyed say that their company has a formal process for listening to what is said about them in social media.

The Eurocom Worldwide technology confidence survey was conducted online by member agencies of Eurocom Worldwide during January and February 2012. A total of 318 responses were received with approximately 80 per cent from European countries and 11 per cent from the Americas.

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