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Use Social Selling to Increase Business Sales

Finding new customers is critical to keeping your business going and increasing profits. But, how do you find and attract the buyers that need your products and services? Calling or emailing a stranger used to be the way. Now, unsolicited calls and emails are less effective than ever at sparking a conversation. Just look at […]

5 Ways to Help Protect Your Small Business from a Data Breach

Are You Able To Withstand OCIE Cyber Security Initiative Scrutiny? Eight Quick Tips For Compliance

Courtesy of Cindy Bates, Vice President, Microsoft U.S. SMB group As a small business owner, you’re likely to invest in the latest security systems to protect your home and office locations. You install motion sensors and use cameras to keep a watchful eye on your business, but the next step of protecting your data often […]

Small Business BI: Making sense of customer information

Virtual Chief Information Officer (vCIO) IT Consultant

You know it’s critical to understand your customers better than the competition. You’ve heard that gathering customer insights can boost that understanding. And you may have noticed a lot of buzz about business intelligence. But what’s behind those concepts? And what do they mean for your business? Here’s the deal … Business intelligence (BI) refers […]

A 7-Step Canvas to Turn IT into a Competitive Advantage

One of the hardest departments to manage, as an executive in a small or mid-size organization, is IT. Unfortunately, many organizations are unable or unwilling to invest in an entire IT department. For them, IT is simply an afterthought and necessary cost of doing business; something that can be set aside and looked at only […]

5 tips for running a small business from anywhere

The concept of a ‘physical office’ as a small business hub of productivity is quickly being replaced by the connected ‘mobile office,’ which connects employees wherever they happen to be. Today’s business landscape favors those who are nimble and able to adapt rapidly by collaborating on the go, sharing ideas quickly and anticipating customer needs. […]

Nature happens—but it doesn’t have to spell disaster for your business

Security isn’t always about saving your data from high-tech hackers. Sometimes, it’s about protecting your data so you can access it in the event of an emergency. If a natural disaster forced your business to close or go offline for an extended period of time, would you be able to access important files? Would you […]

Expert Insights to Small Business Disaster Preparedness [Video]

[column span=”12″] A survey in late 2011 showed that 73 percent of small businesses experience an IT outage per year, and 24 percent experience three to four outages a year. Sixty-six percent of the systems that had outages were mission-critical to the business. These outages can cut into your company’s revenue or damage its reputation. […]

6 Ways Outdated IT Can Be Costly for Your Business [Infographic]

As a business decision maker, it is very tempting to think of technology as a long term investment that you have to depreciate to it’s last penny. But what many fail to understand is that while it may seem less costly to wait around to upgrade computer hardware and software until absolutely necessary can have a […]