Technology or YOU -who rules the roost in your business?

Technology or YOU -who rules the roost in your business?

Technology can be invaluable in helping small businesses ‘punch above their weight’ which allows business to grow not only in terms of number of customers/clients in their local area but nationally and, even internationally. Technology can be the catalyst that makes a small business become a large business. As Jonathan Jay, Chairman of the National Alliance of Business Owners (NABO) observes “The only difference between a small company and a big one is the number of customers it has.”

The use of technology in business has a downside. It can dominate daily life and reduce efficiency of business owners as they become even less effective at managing time –both their own and any staff/employees they may have hired. Think of those scores if not hundreds of email messages sent and read every week and the numerous enewsletters and online line groups to which many of us subscribe –then unsubscribe.

As one of my Business Associates observed recently “we are have come to expect immediate responses to our email messages, and think it has not been received if there’s no response within 24 hours”. Indeed, I am guilty of apologising on more than one occasion for the ‘delayed reply’ when I take longer than 48 hours to reply to an email. Not an effective way of staying on top of countless email!

In general, however, technology does provide businesses with more benefits than hindrances.

Three ways in which my business has harnessed technology very effectively in both marketing and delivery of services to clients/customers are i) providing online webinars for training, ii) using Skype and GoToMeeting for coaching and mentoring sessions with business owners and iii) using automated systems to post messages on social media such as Twitter.

Webinars

In using webinars (online seminars), which provide both visual and audio sharing of information, it makes it more conducive/compatible for various learning styles to learn in an interactive/informal way. In this context, I am not referring to unsupervised and limited human interaction found in ecourses. No, what I am referring to are those online sessions (or telephone for those who prefer audio only) in which one or more persons/experts share invaluable/useful information and insights on a topic of interest to those online. Advantages of online seminars include: i) global reach to anyone with an internet connection and suitable bandwidth, ii) being able to listen, view and learn about topics relevant to your business or the work of your staff without leaving the comfort of your office, iii) having flexibility in deciding when you listen to a webinar, as if you are unable to listen live, there is often the option of listening to the recording, sometimes for a limited time.

Using Skype or GoToMeeting

Using Skype (www.skype.com) or webconferencing services such as GoToMeeting (www.gotomeeting.com) for business coaching and/or mentoring sessions with clients. Here again, clients can have their coaching and/or mentoring sessions from the comfort of their own offices or homes at a time and on a day mutually convenient to business owners and their coaches or mentors.

Automating your tweets

You can use Tweet Deck (http://www.tweetdeck.com/) to schedule your tweets over several days or a couple of weeks. This frees up time for staff (or you the business owner) in invest in more strategic developmental work for your business, rather than routine and/or repetitive tasks.

Your follow up action...

If you would like to use technology more effectively, and save time and money in learning to do so, or you are keen to use online conferencing in your business, then get the benefit of a focused business coaching session to find some answers. Just telephone 0845 054 2870 and book yourself an  Express 30-minute Coaching session, during which time you can quickly explore and plan how you can use technology more effectively in your business during .

To take action immediately:

-email: bizcoachuk@gmail.com

-Skype: bizcoachuk

-Telephone 0845 054 2870