Technology for the small business owner

As an owner of a small business, you must undoubtedly have technology in your office or work place. What kind of role does technology play at work? For a dentist's office, it might mean computerized appointment setting software. For a retail company, it might  be a digital inventory management system. For an IT company it be a data storage system. No matter what kind of business your in - education to manufacturing  - technology can strengthen your business and streamline processes.

The quicker technology advances, the more popular and available it becomes, which eventually creates a necessity. The advances in technology have done a lot to make people's jobs easier and more productive. Have you ever had one of those days when a server went down and you had no access to your email or networks? It will shut down your business until the connection can be fixed. We are so connected in our daily lives that when the connection fails we are lost and rendered helpless. What did businesses do before the internet and servers existed? How did they survive?

Before technology, companies did everything manually, which took longer and society moved at a much slower pace. While some of us wish society still moved at a slower pace, the truth is that we will never go back to that way of living again. Business owners are smart - they know that technology can help them make more money by improving the timeline to complete a task or project.

A recent study by Gartner, a technology research firm, found that businesses plan to spend about $310 billion on technology related products in 2010. Apple recently announced its plan to hire more engineers in the pursuit of developing products targeted to the small business owner. Clearly, technology companies see there is a need for new technologies and that small businesses have increased spending in that area. As a result, we will soon see an increase in offerings.

Most business owners don't have a plan to incorporate new technologies into their company, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be flexible in how you approach it. Keep your mind open to technology that can make your business more efficient - and possibly more profitable. That's the idea of technology, right? It is supposed to help us - not hurt us.

So don't get left in the dark ages. Keep up with your competitors and even take advantage of them by knowing the latest and greatest tech advances in your industry. You never know how it might just change your business.

Social Media is all the Rage - Are you Tweeting?

It seems that you can't go online without being inundated by all the social media hype these days. It is certainly the rage among marketers and small business owners who are looking for a way to get their name out there. The biggest benefit of social media is that it costs nothing - except time.

The problem - at least in my opinion - is that there are so many conflicting and confusing messages about how social media should be used. While most of us understand that we need to be involved in social media - the hard part is getting started. Once you have started - how do you maintain it?

The best advice that I've heard is to use social media as a tool to let prospects know that you are an expert in your industry. I think many times people approach social media as an advertising tool. Advertising and marketing messages are everywhere and the last thing most of us want to see or hear is another advertisement.

Instead, use sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Yelp and so many others as a way to share advice, post links to relevant or helpful articles within your industry, and most importantly - start a conversation. The more people see you as an expert, the more likely they are to think of you when your service is needed.