Maintaining  a HIPAA compliant system is crucial for any business. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act specifically holds you responsible for safeguarding any health care or medical information of your clients or employees. In the event you are found not HIPAA compliant, there are legal ramifications that vary based on the severity of the offense. Penalties can range anywhere from $100 to $50,000 per violation, and if the neglect is extreme or foul play is involved, penalties can also include criminal charges and jail time. To avoid any penalties and finding your company on a permanent and public list of violations, here are a few tips to maintaining a HIPAA compliant facility.

Personnel Training

HIPAA compliance entails technological security and also a personnel element as well. Any individual with access to patient records or who maintain knowledge of patient information should be trained on the policies and procedures on how to handle such content. Training should always be up to date, and any time there is either a personnel o systems change, this training should be revisited. 

Put Someone In Charge

A specified security officer should be identified to be responsible for monitoring your organizations HIPAA status. This does not have to be an additional hire, but identifying someone who is taking charge and understands what is required to be HIPAA compliant helps at least maintain a chain of command for the rest of your employees. 

Physical Security

Beyond the basic requirement of having your hardware locked in a specified room, it is your responsibility to show a good faith effort of securing information. In addition to being locked somewhere, it would be ideal to put this in a low traffic area to minimize visitors contact with the access point. 

Cyber Security 

The use of wireless internet can open the door for people to access information who are not intended to through the network. You must have a network that is designated for people who cannot have access to privileged information. Neither guest nor any uncleared individual should never have contact with the network your secured files are accessed through. If you do not have two separate systems, at the very least, you should have a guest account on an isolated subnet.

Business Partners

Any system or company you use or work with should also receive proper HIPAA training. If you bring in an outside company, you can still be held responsible for any breaches as a result of their lack of security. Keep all of your associates on the same page, and always be sure that the people you are trusting maintain the same values that your company does in regard to client and patient privacy. 

Reporting Breaches

In the event client or patient information is stolen or improperly shared, you must identify, document thoroughly, and then report this security breach in full. Inability to identify a breach could be considered neglectful and the repercussions could result in a loss of licence. Reporting all discrepancies immediately is also crucial, and attempting to hide your security breach will result in far worse penalty fines and ramifications than the breach itself. 

In our technologically run world, privacy has become a big topic of conversation, especially in the rise of cyber crimes. Beyond safety for safety’s sake, there are strict laws requiring your company to put in safe guards in order to protect your clients and employees. There are a few basic rules to follow to ensure that you and your company are HIPAA compliant.

What Does HIPAA Mean?

HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. It is United States legislation put in place in 1996 that requires data privacy and security provisions for safeguarding medical information.

There are 3 main aspects of HIPAA requirements:

• Administrative — measures to ensure patient data is correct and accessible to authorized parties.
• Physical — measures to prevent physical theft and loss of devices containing electronic PHI.
• Technical — technology-related measures to protect your networks and devices from data breaches and unauthorized access.

HIPAA laws force you to maintain your record keeping to a legal standard, ensuring that your clients and employees are protected from their private information being shared.

What Does a HIPAA Compliant Password Look Like?

Some areas of HIPAA law are very specific as to what you can and cannot do, but there is some vagueness in regards to password standards, and even these standards are likely to change as technology continues to evolve. What we can gather from what is communicated from the HIPAA standard is that your business is expected to legitimately put in its best effort to protect its clients and employees, and any obvious negligence will be met with potentially hefty fines. Some basic password standards are as follows:

• Minimum of 8 characters: It is often required that you include both capital and lowercase letters within these 8 characters just to further ensure your password security.
• Include both numbers and letters in your password.
• Create a password you can remember organically: There was a point in time when your password was encouraged to be a random series of letters, numbers, and symbols in order to deter hackers. However, your inability to remember such a password posed as a security thread in itself. Because of this, your password’s memorability is key in your cyber security.
• Avoid common words or phrases: Using the word “password” as your password would be considered a very weak password that would not be HIPAA compliant. Other commonly used weak passwords would be using your name (either first, last, or both), matching your password to your log in, the numbers 1-8 in order, and offering a clue that too obviously reveals your password. There is a master list of the most common words or phrases used as passwords. You should avoid using any form of these commonly used passwords.

What Is The Punishment For Not Being HIPAA Compliant?

On top of actual legal fines for violating HIPAA that depend on the scale of the negligence involved (these fines range from $100 to $50,000 per violation), there is a legitimate “list of shame” as well. This list can be accessed by the public, and it reports every breach in HIPAA compliance. Not only does it state the name of the businesses guilty of violating HIPAA, but it also specifies the date the breach occurred, the amount of people affected by it, the type of breach, and through which avenue the breach occurred. If a fine wasn’t bad enough, having your company’s name plastered on that list to be viewed by any google search should push you in the right direction of securing your data and enforcing proper, HIPAA compliant passwords.

The tried and true methods that businesses use to reach their audience are evolving with modern marketing trends. However, the importance of putting your brand in front of the right audience has not diminished. Your company offers a solution to your target audience’s needs in a unique way that only you can do. To make sure that your audience is aware of your solution, you need to know two things: who your audience is, and how to build a brand perception that will appeal to them.

Finding Your Audience

Before you can begin building and managing audience perceptions of your brand, you have to know who your audience is, and how they think. There are countless resources available for identifying specific demographics, but to be successful you’ll have to go deeper than just age and income statistics.

Identify Your Core Offerings

The first step in determining a target audience is a thorough understanding of what you as a company have to offer them, and what you have that sets you apart from the competition. Make sure you always know the answers to these questions:

• What services or products do I offer?
• How are my services or products superior to those offered by a competitor?
• How is my company unique in my business niche?

Knowing the answers to these questions will help you learn who the audience that will benefit from your business is, and how to represent your brand in a way that will appeal to them.

For example, if you were branding for a hypothetical furniture store, you might end up with answers like these:

• What products do I offer?
  —Rustic and western furniture.
• How are my products superior to those offered by a competitor?
  —I offer free delivery for custom-made furniture orders.
• How is my company unique in my business niche?
  —Our furniture is made using only sustainable materials.

Think about your own business and decide on the most accurate and specific answers to the questions.

Meet Consumer Needs

In addition to knowing your brand inside and out, you also need to know your consumers’ needs, and how your services or products satisfy those needs.

For example, if you own a luxury travel agency, pay attention to the customers you serve and any trends that appear among them. Perhaps many of your customers are couples looking for a romantic getaway, or families looking for kid-friendly cruises. Wherever you notice similar needs, take note. Understanding your target audience’s needs in addition to their demographic information will help you develop accurate marketing personas.

Marketing Personas are brief but insightful compilations of customer data that are representative of specific sections of your target audience. The best compilations include multiple data types, from demographic statistics to customer trends and preferences.

According to Buffer.com three to five marketing personas is usually enough to represent the most significant sections of your target audience¹. Don’t be afraid to adjust this number depending on your business niche.

Communicate Your Brand to Your Audience

Once you’ve established who your target audience is, you can start branding your business with them in mind. Branding your business is different than marketing or advertising it.

Branding is the process of creating an image of your company and what it stands for in the minds of your customers and target audience. The purpose of branding is not to bring in a large number of new customers, but to promote loyalty among existing ones.

When done well, branding helps create and maintain a relationship between a business and its customers. Loyal customers not only bring repeat business, but are also more likely to recommend your business to their friends, family, and business associates, which leads to new customers.

So how do you communicate your brand to your audience?

Branding for an Audience

Communicating your brand to your target audience takes effort, but the results are rewarding in many ways. The best brands are able to foster a relationship with not just their target audience, but their community as well. This relationship will keep your business in the minds of current customers and in front of new ones. To accomplish this, and communicate your brand to your audience, you’ll use brand positioning.

Brand Positioning is essentially a method to create and maintain your brand image in the eyes of your customers and potential customers.

To apply this method to your business, you need to look back at the answers you came up with when identifying your company’s core offerings.

Make Your Brand Unique

One of the most important steps in brand positioning is making your brand unique. Your company needs to do more than stand out – it needs to be one of a kind. This will both separate your company from competitors and retain customers who are attracted to the unique aspect of your brand. When you offer a product or service that no one else does, or offer a product or service in a way that no one else does, then customers seeking that specific offering will come to your business every time they need it.

To determine what makes your brand unique, take a look at your business. In our earlier example of something that could be a unique aspect of a business, we used a furniture store that retails only furniture made with sustainable materials. In every decade, and especially in 2019, environmental concerns influence how many customers choose where to take their business. If your business utilizes a program that is environmentally friendly, let people know.

For a real world example, take a look at the branding efforts of local San Marcos restaurant Gumby’s Pizza. As a local business, part of Gumby’s branding positioning is as a company with a vested interest in community issues. This type of branding positioning has already started rewarding Gumby’s with increased interaction on social media. Look at the post below from Earth Day in April, 2019:

The above post was not monetarily boosted or sponsored, yet it received significantly more interaction from followers than any other post Gumby’s made in April:

The difference between the interaction seen on the Earth Day post and the previous posts in April is significant. In branding themselves as a business invested in community improvement, Gumby’s attracts followers to whom this idea appeals. The more followers interact with a post, the more likely their connections will notice and could become followers and potentially customers as well.

Social media is only one of many mediums that can be used for brand positioning. It’s what you choose to brand that matters. For Gumby’s, a post about their dedication to becoming a more environmentally friendly business helped support their brand positioning. Now, for those pizza lovers who also feel strongly about environmental issues, Gumby’s will likely be their choice over other eateries that do not brand using the same ideal.

Research Your Competition

When determining what makes your company unique, take some time to research what your successful business competitors are doing. By looking into competitors’ strategies, you can learn from other businesses’ successes and failures.

Insight into what has and hasn’t worked for other businesses can also give you an idea of what your target audience is already thinking about. There are a few different ways to get this information:

• Keyword Research—Spend some time researching relevant keywords. There are a variety of programs online, such as Google Trends, that can help with this. If you have an SEO team working with your business, they can help you with professional keyword research strategies and software. Find what terms users are searching for related to your business. The more popular the keywords, the more competition there will be.
• Forums & Social Media—Find out what other businesses customers are talking about online. If you have social media accounts for your company, pay attention to businesses that your followers interact with besides yours.
• Real World Feedback—Find out what your existing customers have to say. What businesses do they prefer to use over others, and how are those businesses branding?

Let’s take a look at an example. Consider an HVAC contractor trying to find a way to uniquely brand themselves amongst their competitors. See below how they can begin researching their competitors.

• Keyword research for an HVAC contractor could involve searching for keywords involving your service, such as “New Air Conditioning” or “Thermostats” and more. Keywords can be very general or very specific (Need help understanding keywords? Read our article about Keyword Research for Beginners).
• Forum and social media research for an HVAC contractor might include visiting your Facebook or Twitter page and finding brands that are followed by your target audience. If you work with Nest and notice a lot of your audience following their brand, consider if branding yourself as a specialist in learning thermostats is an option.
• Real world feedback can be gained in several ways for HVAC contractors and other businesses. One option is to ask customers during in-person interactions. If you utilize an email capture strategy, you can also send out a survey to have customers fill out.

Now you’ve found your target audience, and identified some ideas for your company’s brand positioning, where do you go from here?

Determine and Experiment with Your Branding Strategy

You know your audience. You know what brand image you want to present to them. Now you need a way to present and manage that image successfully. There are many ways to do this, and what works for one business may not necessarily work for another, so your strategy will need to involve some experimentation. Here are some great places to start:

1. Create a Positioning Statement—A positioning statement is a declaration meant exclusively for your company’s internal use. Unlike a tagline (often used for marketing purposes), this statement specifies in a sentence or two what your company’s unique value to your customers is². Develop a statement that communicates this intent and follow it in your operations.
2. Manage Brand Perception—Managing customer perceptions of your brand is important during face-to-face and online interactions. Ensure that your staff understand the image you want to present and always adhere to it in their customer interactions. For management online, make sure to respond to as many reviews and comments on your business as possible. A quick “We’re happy you enjoyed our service!” on a 5 star Google review, or taking a second to like customer comments on your Facebook page lets you keep up with how your customers are perceiving your brand. If the reactions you’re getting aren’t in line with your branding, you may need to revise your current strategy.
3. Build a Physical Presence—There are several methods for building your presence as a business through internal practices and participation in your community. See our next article for an in-depth look at how to build your brand through your business’s physical presence.

An important aspect to remember when working with your branding strategy is that adjustment is okay. By taking steps to give your business a unique brand position, you are going where no business has gone before. You cannot develop a unique brand by copying another company’s strategy. As such, revision may be necessary from time to time. Listen seriously to your customer feedback. When something works, take note, and when it doesn’t, don’t be afraid to try something new.

Wrap-Up

Here we’ve looked at how to find your audience by determining your company’s core offerings, how they meet customer needs, and how branding influences customer loyalty. In addition, we’ve covered how to communicate your branding to your audience by creating an image that’s unique among your competitors, researching your business competition, and experimenting with your strategy.

The most important thing to remember throughout your branding process is what the goal of your company is. How is your company going to change the experience of your customers in a way no other company can? As long as you adhere to this ideal, you’ll be on your way to successfully branding your business.

The huge explosion of social media use has allowed individuals to stay connected with friends, family, and all sorts of social trends. However, while it seems that it was designed to help people burn time on their lunch breaks, the reality is that using social media as a strategic tool for your business could be the factor that helps you see exponential growth. Social media has so many different uses and access to wide spread data that many companies are even hiring designated social media managers to fully benefit from what it has to offer.

Branding

Creating a brand is way more than designing a symbol and putting it on hats and t-shirts to advertise your company. Having a platform that allows you to post visual representations of your company to a wide audience is huge for your brand. Every post should aesthetically, phyllisophically, and practically represent your company. You might think that it is not possible to hit all of these points in a simple social media post, but humans tend to stick with their initial impulse reaction to what they see, especially as they scroll online. Strategic brand representation is crucial for this reason.

Engagement

Consumers want to feel connected with businesses they use. When you humanize your company by interacting with the people you are trying to reach, they are more likely to patronize your business. Even politicians have now taken to social media to post videos of them putting together ikea furniture and using an instant pot in order to allow voters to view them as more approachable and likable individuals. While it might seem unnecessary, this is an incredibly smart strategy that has been used by hollywood stars for years, and now businesses are using the exact same strategy. Because people thrive on validation, when individuals feel connected to your company, they are more likely to care about what it has to offer them.

Data

Most people log into at least one of the top 3 leading social media sites (facebook, instagram, and snap chat) at least once a day. Good social media managing allows you to get real time data on who is actually interacting with your posts. This information is invaluable in knowing your market and adjusting accordingly. You need to know who you are actually reaching, and social media is one of the best ways to get an accurate representation of this.

Advertisement

With over one billion active social media users worldwide, this opens up a world of opportunity for advertisement. Most social media sites have algorithms that will allow you to advertise specifically to people who are most likely to have an interest in your product or services. Using google search patterns, other sites visited, videos watched, and products purchased, social media allows your business to cater advertisements to the right audience.  

News

In addition to allowing you to stay connected to your audience, social media also allows you to stay connected to other events happening that involve your company, your competitors, or affect your market. The fastest way to keep track of the aggressively changing news cycle that we have now is through social media management. You want to know what innovations or concepts other companies are posting about, and you definitely want to know what your consumers are posting about. Social media is not going away any time soon, and for the sake of your business, that is a good thing! When used to its fullest potential, social media can be the resource that boosts your company’s capacity for success.

The National Cyber Security Month was recognized to strengthen the weakest part of any security resolution: humans. Despite how expensive or effective the security tools used to protect your network security are, there is no you can predict the extent of damage that can be caused by one careless online user. The fight against cyber-crime is fought every time a user tries to click any unfamiliar link or try to open an attachment online, And just a single and simple mistake as this could be the reason why you will lose massive data loss. Here are a few tips to help understand cybersecurity and keep you protected.

1. You are always A Target.

It is imperative to know that every time you online, you are an attractive target to cyber hackers. Do not ever say that it will not happen to me

2. Eight Characters passwords are not enough.

You should always Practice good and secure password management. Utilize a strong combination of keyboard characters, and do not use similar passwords for different sites. Do not share or give out your password to others. Do not write them down either, and absolutely do not write them on your post-it note which you always place to your monitor.

3. Always lock your device up.

Do not leave your devices at any time unattended. When you have to leave your phone, computer, or tablet for a certain amount of time—no matter the duration .Always lock the device up so that no one can access and use it when you are away. If you store sensitive information on the external hard drive or flash drive make sure you have them locked up as well.

4. Always Practice Safe Clicking.

When you are either surfing online or offline, you must be careful when you are clicking on attachments and links that come with emails. If it is suspicious or unexpected email for any reason, do not click on it at all. Make sure you double check twice the URL of the website where the link is taking you to: Hackers actors will always take advantage of the spelling mistakes in URLs to direct you straight to a harmful domain.

5. Be Conscious of Browsing.

When doing sensitive browsing, like banking and shopping, you should always do it on a personal device and on a safe network. Even if it is a public computer, friend’s phone or a cyber cafe free Wi-Fi—your data can be stolen and copied.

6. Back your Data Up.

Always back up your personal data regularly. Make sure that your anti-virus software and other security tools are always up to date.

7. Consider Physical Cyber Safety.

You should also be conscientious of anything you plug into your device or computer. Viruses or Malware are normally spread through infected external hard drives, flash drives, and also smartphones.

8. Do not Share Sensitive Information.

You should watch what you are constantly sharing on the social networks. Hackers can easily befriend you and gain access to a considerable amount of information. This includes where you school, place of work, and when you are on vacation. They can gain valuable information that can cost you a lot. By following these simple tips, you can be sure you will be safe online.

Taking Advantage of Quickbooks For Your Business

A few years ago, the trend was to build an app for everything. There was an app for making your screen all white, an app for making gun sounds, monkey sounds, car honking sounds, an app that made little hats, an app for the capital of the 50 states, and a million other little things. Every business was making apps, and spending a lot of time on something that very few people would eventually download. These days it has calmed down, but many are still unclear when they have reached the point that they need a phone app. Here we will try to simplify when/if you might need a mobile app, and when it would be better to do a “webapp” or website.

When is a Mobile App Appropriate?

While websites these days have become almost a necessity, it can be a considerable investment to make a mobile app. A website is an easy pay-off and can bring in a huge amount of business. You need to make sure to not lose money off of the endeavor of making an app.

For example, a restaurant with one or two locations likely does not need an app. We only say this because any feature that an app might be designed to do (display menu, pre-order food, view receipts, show events) can likely be done easier on a website. And for most people, an app is a barrier to entry, but it is easy to visit a web page. You type in a URL, or Google a business and a website appears. You don’t have to open the App Store, search, download, then wait for it to install before you can open. And information is always changing, and it is hard to constantly be updating apps.

However, if you are creating a tool that is less for displaying information, and more for accomplishing a task, than you may need a mobile app. For example, if you need to take a picture of a photo, use the GPS, flashlight, or gyroscope, then an app is the way to go. If you need to locally store a lot of information, especially custom information, then an app is the way to go. For most businesses, a website is built mainly for the purpose of displaying information or commerce.

When is a Webapp Appropriate?

A webapp can be surprisingly powerful, but you have probably noticed the one thing that they lack – native functionality. It cannot use Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, screen brightness, RFID, gyroscope or things of that nature. A webapp is at its core a website, likely just packed with a navbar, an admin page or tabs using jQuery or JavaScript. eCommerce has been increasingly moving away from mobile apps as well, with the exception of aggregators and hubs of sources. But individual clothing companies are better off focusing their attention promoting one thing. Advertising a website is easier than trying to advertise both a website and an app.

We will go over more into what is the best situation to make a website in our next article.

Among all of the previous options we have examined, with the exception of Slack (which is more communication than strictly Task Management), Trello will be the simplest and most pre-equipped program to handle the running and management of company projects.

Ease of Use

Trello is an example of a lightweight Task Management application. For some companies, it may be difficult to transfer from traditional pen and paper management to an online management system. Trello is focused on ease of use, and it doesn’t require an entire suite of features for maximum efficiency.

Trello’s Card System

Trello makes use of what it calls a “card” system for Project Management. Essentially, users can make columns of categories for different aspects of the business, and then create cards within those categories for the different aspects of each category. So, you might have separate categories for employees, ongoing projects, billing, and general items. You can create cards under each column, and then remove them when they are no longer needed.

Card Sub-Categories

With the proper labeling, users can actually convey a lot of information using this system. For employees, you may have separate cards for training material, hours worked, requested days off, etc. For ongoing projects (or support tickets), keep in mind that the most recent card will appear at the top. You can also assign specific employees to a specific card and control the privacy of the cards.

Distinguishing Cards

Another useful aspect of the card system is its ease of organization. For example, you may have a card for the company’s blog, one for company’s virus removal, and a card for the company’s training material creation. Users can even color code the labels to reflect information for separate brands or companies. For example, all cards pertaining to one company might be colored red, so if anyone wants to search for things related to that company, they just click the red label, and alternate companies can be assigned another color. This way, you can easily differentiate between projects. You can also assign a specific employee to each project, and when you click a card, see all related notes on the specific task the card represents.

Potential Limits

Trello is a very simple tool, and though it is used by quite a few larger companies, trying to manage a hundred contracts using Trello would likely prove a bit complicated. It should be noted that a set of columns and cards are dedicated to just one “board.” It is possible to have multiple boards, possibly one for each project, each with its own columns and cards, but once again the ease of use limits the functionality at times. This can be a great tool for the individual or the small team working on one specific thing, but managing an entire corporate empire with Trello would likely prove challenging.

Versions

Trello does offer a free version, but is regularly $10 for the Business Version and $20 for the Enterprise Version. The main difference between the Business and Enterprise versions is that the Enterprise Version has a lot more security put in place, including 2-factor authentication (meaning you need a password and a working mobile that will send a code to you), and encryption. The main difference between the free version and the Business Version is the amount of storage space they give you and the amount of customization and privacy available between various boards.

If you would like more information about Task Management programs, contact tekRESCUE, located in San Marcos, TX.

Today continues our ongoing series on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Project Management software options by taking a look at the benefits of WORKetc.

Tickets and Billing

WORKetc is a great example of a fully functional CRM program. Some of its most useful features involve tracking tickets and billing. The program has a built in help desk for your website that immediately creates a ticket on the WORKetc app, which can then be categorized, either as a general ticket, or assigned to one specific client. WORKetc also offers billing features, for example, every time you enter a field note you have the option to enter in your time spent. From there, you can use those hours spent to create an invoice that will auto-populate with the relevant data and be ready to send to the customer, and track payment afterward.

Project Management

Another important feature offered is the projects feature. Each created project can be assigned to an existing client, so that when it comes time to send an invoice there is no need to work out the details of the project. This is especially useful because in reality, any one project is rarely just one task. Most projects require multiple tasks to reach completion for the success of the project as a whole.

For example, if you are building a house for someone, you can’t just assign “Build House.” There is a lot more than that one overarching task that goes into the project, usually in the form of several sub-tasks. Keeping track of the many sub-tasks involved in a project can be a challenge, which is why WORKetc’s projects feature is so valuable. Using this feature throughout a project enables users to keep track of all of their notes, all of the assigned tasks, logged hours totals, and all of the materials used in one organized and easily accessible space.

Customer Growth

You can see how having a process for Project Management and completion makes it easier to run a business. In addition to its Project Management features, WORKetc can also track leads on potential sales and buyers, and all of your employees can clock in from the available app, so payroll will also be simplified. Being able to have one centralized app for this means that you can take on growth and new customers without slowing down.

Enhance, Not Replace

Keep in mind that if you already have someone or something that handles payroll, someone that handles invoicing, someone for handling sales leads, etc, you don’t have to replace those positions with a program, which could cause confusion. You can use as many or as few of the WORKetc features as you want. Many companies already have outside firms handling accounting and payroll, and may prefer to use WORKetc specifically for handling customer support tickets and for the management of ones that come in.

Costs

Pricing starts at $78 for 2 users maximum for the most basic package that is mainly limited to task management. For a few more features, the usual cost is around $195/mo with 3 users included (each extra user + $49/mo), and $395 for 3 users for the full package, including website integration, and an additional $59/mo for each extra user.

If you would like more information about CRM and Project Management programs, contact tekRESCUE, located in San Marcos, TX

In our previous article we took a look at the Salesforce program. Today we’ll continue looking at the features, benefits, and pricing of Salesforce as a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or Project Management solution.

Works Well with Basic Design

Salesforce works incredibly well for those wanting a place to list all of their products, provide contracts, provide answers to FAQs, view the company blog, and offer a box for contacting the company. Although Salesforce doesn’t work well with complex algorithms, anything that can be accomplished with basic design is doable.

Converting Leads to Sales

Applications are not always the best way to attract new customers, but they are an excellent way to make converting your leads to sales easier by having a place customers can go to get quick answers to their questions. It can also be used to retain existing clients by having a support section, and has the upside of strengthening the image of your brand.

In-House Application Benefits

Many applications are also developed for in-house use, such as coordination between sales and distribution, for a warehouse setting, or for in-house calculators and tools. These features can be especially helpful for CRM and for running a business in general.

Variety of Available Plans

A slight downside of using Salesforce is that it is one of the more expensive CRM suites. However, if you only need a few specific features then there are plans available that are slightly more affordable.

Affordable Plans

The most affordable plan is the Group Plan, which only runs $25/month per user. It includes access to content customization, reports, “chatter monitor”, and of course contact tracking and notes. It also “finds” leads and provides them from local databases and social media networks. It has the ability to keep more detailed track of your leads, and to assign them to specific agents. This plan also has the useful email templates mentioned in the previous article.

Professional Plan

The next is the Professional Plan. This version has more of the marketing features, but also has more advanced task assignment. It includes mass email capabilities, tracking of ad campaigns, and the ability to make dashboards specific to just your company. The Professional Plan also has Salesforce’s quotes and service listing feature. It runs $65/month per user.

Enterprise Plan

The Enterprise Plan is $125/mo per user, and has all the previously mentioned features and more. It has the ability to automatically assign new leads, and to send new tasks once other tasks have been completed (“workflow”). It can be integrated into your website, and has mobile application development features. This is the most affordable plan offering automation.

Top Plans

The next plan is a pricier investment at $300/mo per user. This plan offers a huge amount of data storage, more support from Salesforce corporate, and more customization. The cost of Salesforce can really start adding up if you have a lot of users, especially if not all the users are making full use of the features. Comparatively, most CRM and Project Management software offers top plans for around $30/month, and cheaper plans for the more basic programs.

While Salesforce can be costly, depending on your plan, it is an important option for many businesses. If you’d like to review the benefits offered through Salesforce, visit our previous article. Remember, technology should enhance your life, not complicate it. If you would like more information about CRM programs, contact tekRESCUE, located in San Marcos, TX.

Today we will be going over Salesforce which, while containing a lot of project management features, is truly a customer relationship manager. Its basic features allow for task management, contact and lead sorting and assigning, email templates, and other basic features. The more advanced plans have app development, marketing campaigns, lead generation, analytics, and more.

Salesforce

This is one of the most commonly known and used applications for CRM and project management. Salesforce, as its name implies, is mainly focused on sales-based businesses. Its features and unique services revolve around gaining, monitoring, and closing leads. Salesforce still has the ability to assign tasks and handle other basic needs, but a lot of its power comes from its management and analytics of users’ marketing efforts.

Social Attributes

Salesforce users can post social media content, and from there monitor interactions, replies, engagement, and click-throughs. Users can also send email-blasts with customized content, and from there monitor how many people view the message and actually click on the links included. The customization part is meant to encourage the ability to cater to targeted demographics through content, but the analytics will be able to provide users with actual data to help decide which content to focus on.

Utilizing A/B Testing

A vital part of the decision process should be A/B testing. A/B testing is performed by running two similar ads and determining which one gets more results. Since every customer gained from these efforts can be assigned a history, Salesforce users can actively monitor what they purchase as well. Similar to that, there are a few additional features for project management and assigning tasks. Users can assign an agent to do targeted marketing to other businesses in the area, and then have every customer gained from those efforts assigned to the task to be handled by that agent.

Data Entry

This may all seem like a lot of data entry, but regardless of how much or how little technology solutions you utilize to run your business, most companies will still have either agents or management manually input invoice data. By entering the information when it is received as a lead, users can utilize that same customer card to track later interactions and later the possible sale. That information can be used to directly create an invoice.

Turning Leads into Sales

Salesforces handles turning leads into sales in a few different ways. Users can load quotes and offer pages and include listings and products in the emails sent. From there, Salesforce users can monitor if consumers have opened and viewed the messages, and can offer consumers more information about moving forward. Salesforce can also handle scheduling appointments for various clients if necessary.

Mobile Application Abilities

Another of Salesforce’s unique features is the ability to make a mobile application for customers. This process doesn’t require any knowledge of coding, and can be used for quite a few different projects. Users are not going to be able to create anything overly advanced, but for basic actions, like displaying information and pricing, answering questions, providing information and resources, and providing a means of contact inside your app, Salesforce covers all the bases.

Our discussion regarding the use and benefits of Salesforce will continue in our next article. For more information today, contact tekRESCUE, located in San Marcos, TX.

Previously this blog has covered a few lightweight project management apps, and a full featured Customer Relationship Management (CRM) app, but for those looking for more features and more functionality, stay tuned. Here, we will be going over Basecamp, a very powerful tool for companies working to improve their CRM. Basecamp is a fully featured project management software, great for managing productivity, communication, and ensuring on-time projects.

Basecamp

Price

Another popular suite, this program actually has quite a few ways to ensure that you get a great deal on your service. For starters, there is an option for students and teachers that is completely free, they offer 10% off for non-profit organizations, and are only $99/mo and $999/year for any size business. There is no cap on the number of users and no limit on features included because all plans have the same features across the board.

Project Development

Basecamp is an excellent tool for running project development. It has a host of communication features, which are great for ensuring accurate project planning and task allocation, as well as a ton of specific task and project features. Communication features include Message Boards, Campfires, and Check-Ins.

Message Boards are basically Slack-like communication hubs. Organize boards by topic (client, type of work, general, etc.), and have all communication recorded about that topic in one central place. This feature is especially useful if you don’t want to use Slack and another project management solution.

Campfires allow users to create a thread for each individual project, so that all communication for each specific task that needs to be completed on a project is recorded in one place. Users have the ability to share with as few or as many project members as needed, and attach code or files within the threads.

Check-Ins allow users to send a message to see what the team is working on, either that week, that day, or that hour, and then formats it into a report-style message for the user to read. This allows effective management and cuts down on communication time.

Managing Reports

For specific projects and tasks, some helpful management features include reports, to-dos, and scheduling options.

Reports are awesome because they allow users to view all of their tasks and due dates that are overdue, and helps to determine where to focus your business. The feature will also show data relating to what has been assigned to specific users, which projects have the most tasks, and more.

To-Do’s are the heart of this project management software, and they cover all the bases. Assigning tasks, due dates, categorizing tasks, assigning to-do’s within specific projects, and more. This option works well with the reports function for additional project management.

Another feature that functions side-by-side with to-do’s is the scheduling feature. Users can assign a date that a project needs to be completed by, allowing users to set milestones and ensure progress. This function also offers the ability to create due dates for specific tasks and to-do lists, in addition to creating calendar events for birthdays, pay-days, scheduled changes, and other company information.

If you would like more information about programs and tactics that can improve your CRM, contact tekRESCUE, located in San Marcos, TX.

Starting your own online business can be daunting. The possibility of having zero customers or leads on your website can be crippling when you want everything to work perfectly. While search engine optimization and inbound marketing are highly beneficial to your website’s traffic, those forms of traffic are not instantaneous. The best way to get immediate traffic that is highly targeted to your specific niche is through paid traffic.

Here we will look at 5 tips to drive paid traffic to your business website:

Run with Google AdWords

You can’t talk about paid traffic without bringing up Google Adwords. Google Adwords is easily one of the most effective and versatile paid traffic solutions available, and for good reason. Google has an extremely effective way of targeting the ideal customers for your website, and they touch over a trillion searches annually.

Just make sure to focus your efforts on new leads through search advertising, not display. Display advertising is very ineffective right now. Their only effective use is in re-targeting advertisements, which appears to people who have already visited a particular page on your site but didn’t convert.

Create Facebook Ads

Facebook advertising is on the verge of becoming the most useful paid advertising tool available. Their platform can introduce your brand to over 1 billion users that are using Facebook. With over half of all active Facebook users visiting the social media giant daily, you have a huge audience base to fish from. Facebook is the largest and most active social media community in the world, so having the ability to engage in PPC (Pay-Per-Click) ads can be a huge boon when driving paid traffic to your website.

Facebook advertising also allows you to target specific factors about your audience, such as their geographical region, their demographics, or their user interests. Sculpt and customize the perfect audience you want to market to, and Facebook will handle the rest for you.

LinkedIn Ads for B2B Business

If you’re in the B2B (Business to Business) market, LinkedIn Ads is probably your best bet. The paid traffic source from this social media platform is great as they come with three advertising options: sponsored updates, display and text ads, and InMail.

LinkedIn was built as a way for professionals to network and connect. Having a PPC advertising tool built-in to a professional network is an amazing chance for a B2B business to target other professionals in their industry. With an ability to target your audience based on job title, job functions, location, gender, age, skills, company, company size, and industry, LinkedIn’s network is a treasure trove for B2B marketers. Just beware of their hefty cost because they often price their PPC ads on a cost-per-click rule.

Paid Traffic is Good Traffic

Paid traffic is an excellent way of converting potential leads into sales. However, don’t forget that a balanced marketing plan that consists of both pay-per-click advertising and organic traffic is the best way to draw in potential customers down the funnel.

The main thing is that you build trust and provide value without asking for anything in return. That will garner you the best results from your paid traffic sources.

If you’d like to learn more about bringing traffic to your business website, contact tekRESCUE in San Marcos, TX.

Here are a few reasons why you need a Managed Services Provider. A Managed Services Provider will not call in because they’re unwell, or even necessitate medical insurance. With the consultative methods implemented by a MSP, you don’t have to worry about unforeseen expenditures with regards to implementing IT innovations.

Should you be a modest to middle sized company, then you will definitely save money if you rely on the knowledge, as well as expertise, provided by a Managed Services Provider. Managed services permit a company to confidently assign their IT consulting procedures to a process supplier in Austin Tx. Check around and request numerous quotes from different Managed Services Providers before you decide on one.

However, you should not select a business simply because they may be the most affordable. Request to observe their Master Services Agreement before putting your signature on any specific paperwork. Remember, by no means select a business which is just starting up.

At all times select a Managed Services Provider that provides an assurance in print. A Managed Services Provider will also eradicate the requirement of major expenditures on system administration equipment. That’s because the MSP will provide you with all the system administration equipment you require.

If you do not possess a Managed Service contract with a SLA, then that will surely cost your business time and money. MSP’s that offer Managed Services with a SLA are essentially providing you with a guarantee for your business’ IT ecosystem. They are guaranteeing that they will provide company crucial functions, as well as safeguard your important information, and that they will also provide website server support.

Becoming hands-on with your MSP will permit a lot of potential problems to be uncovered, and also remedied, before they turn out to be major issues. This will help your business by enabling your IT personnel to concentrate on additional areas. Utilizing a MSP permits that workforce to concentrate on the company’s enterprise, rather than managing IT issues.

Therefore, a MSP will be more advantageous for your net profit. Companies will enjoy an additional level of comfort, and also safety, with the round-the-clock system surveillance provided by a MSP. They will also ensure that you will continue to conform to regulations.

Are you worried about price comparisons? A standard Managed Services contract is predicated upon a regular month-to-month charge. Truly, Managed IT Services for your Austin businesses will cost you much less in the long run, and will also provide a far more extensive and enhanced IT platform. They will also provide a more reliable and sturdy IT platform than you would have otherwise.

In the event that you fall behind in maintaining areas like support, necessary upgrades, safety measures, and so forth, then the chances increase that you’ll have to deal with an IT interruption. Therefore, without a MSP you may have additional engineering issues that’ll have an adverse effect on your company. Remember, a system competently preserved by a MSP will invariably function superior to other systems. Additionally, be certain that the MSP is the owner of their very own physical IT computer data facility to support you in San Marcos. A few MSPs are just renting rack storage from supplementary businesses. This is often referred to as a CoLo setup, or Co-Location.

If you’re looking for a managed IT support company to help keep your business technology services running smoothly in San Marcos Tx, Austin Tx, or the surrounding areas, be sure to give tekRESCUE a call to discuss your needs! We’d love to help craft the perfect custom-tailored plan to help you focus on running and growing your business, instead of spending your valuable time troubleshooting and fighting with uncooperative technology.

Today’s business environment is more competitive than ever before. This means than any business owner needs to be on top of all of the latest advancements in technology to stay relevant and avoid falling behind. With how rapidly business technology has been changing, however, keeping up with the cutting edge is much easier said than done. In this article, we’ll go over some of the technological trends a savvy business owner should not only be aware of, but know how to use well. If you’re able to take full advantage of the following tech as a business owner, you’ll be more likely to have a leg up on the competition.

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO as it is commonly called, is a topic covered frequently on this blog. SEO consists of a number of strategies and techniques that ultimately help people find an item or service more easily online using search engines. Since many people today use the internet as their primary means of finding what they need, the business owner who is easiest to find online has a significant advantage in any market. Using specific techniques such as the right keywords and a well-organized and labeled website can help draw in business locally and even around the world.

Read more about this topic in our previous blog post, “Search Engine Optimization Demystified”.

Cloud Services

Data access is absolutely crucial in the contemporary business climate. When data is lost, employees and clients alike can be affected by loss of productivity, inconveniences, and even security threats. Technological experts have fortunately come up with a solution to today’s data problems in the form of cloud computing. This is an easily available service that, through an internet connection, gives any business owner access to very powerful off-site machines where they can store and retrieve their data instantly. Because these machines are secure, this prevents loss of any important data. Additionally, cloud computing allows you to buy cheaper machines since most of your computing needs will be handled by the off-site machines.

Social Media

Many customers today spend much of their time plugged into various social media outlets, as this is where they turn to for news or to investigate a potential new product. The business owner today needs to be here as well. Accounts on multiple kinds of social media are a must, enabling the owner to communicate directly to customers and answer any questions they might have. The immediacy of social media allows you to efficiently update your customers with any change in your business such as a change in a seasonal restaurant menu or the creation of a coupon that customers can use.

Mobile Payments

People today expect to have a variety of options when it comes to making payments, the most recent of which being payment via cell phone when on the go. Make it easier for customers to pay with software such as Apple Pay and Android Pay, which make it much easier to make credit card purchases on a smartphone. Customers who can get in and out of as store quickly are customers who are likely to return there again and again, and the same applies to online stores.

Video Conferencing

When a company has clients and offices across the nation or across the globe, it can be hard for employees to communicate with each other. You can reduce air fares and keep people in touch with each other and on the same page using video conferencing software. This type of technology allows several people to video chat at the same time in the same call without anyone having to leave their office. Costs are minimal and the benefits are huge. Be sure to invest in a high quality resolution webcam and microphone to make the process flow more smoothly, and test your chat devices before the conference to avoid any possible mix ups.

Smartphone Apps

Nearly everyone today has a smartphone, but does your business take full advantage of everything these amazing pieces of technology have to offer? As an owner, you can look into various types of management and teamwork facilitation apps, and have all of your employees install them on their phones. There are apps that can allow team members to chat in a distraction-free environment, to-do-style checklists, and even mileage-calculating apps if you have drivers that need reimbursement. This is a golden age for software innovators, and there is likely software out there to assist and speed up any kind of work. Why not take advantage of the portable computer in your employees’ pockets and have them use software that will make them more productive?

These are just a few of the latest technological trends that you should look into to avoid falling behind as a business owner. Several of these topics have been covered more in-depth in this blog, and others will be covered further in the future. There will no doubt be newer business technology in the not-so-distant future, so stay up to date with all the tech relevant to you by following our blog!

Modern technology has helped level the playing field for small businesses to compete with larger, more established businesses in the same market. However, it’s important that the technology works correctly, or you may spend a lot of time pulling your hair out just to keep everything working (without having to pay a small fortune to keep an in-house IT staff on the payroll). A good system should work behind the scenes to help keep you and your employees working efficiently with minimum hassle. We’ve put together some tips to help keep your infrastructure running as smoothly as possible.

Consider a Firewall

Having a firewall to protect all the computers in your office’s network is a great first line of defense to protect company data from would-be intruders. There are a number of firewall options on the market today, and many routers have decent built-in firewalls. Consider configuring one for your workplace; if you need any assistance or advice, be sure to contact a local tech company with any questions you may have or if you’d like assistance to ensure it’s configured properly (they can be a bit tricky!).

Keep Software Up to Date

Some software, especially Java and Flash, is updated often to patch new security flaws. Be sure to visit the official site for the software to download and install the latest version. Also be sure to keep your operating system up to date with the newest patches to fix any vulnerabilities.

Back Up Often

Many people think backing up data can be a huge hassle, especially when there are a number of computers to back up. Fortunately there are automated solutions to help with this problem, and it’s well worth investing the time and/or money into getting a solid, frequent backup system in place. For best results, you should have an on-site backup of data, as well as an off-site backup (such as in the cloud).

Similarly, it’s a good idea to consider having some backup equipment around. A backup computer in the office can come in handy if something goes wrong with your primary machine. If you have to take your primary computer in for repairs, it could take a few days to get it fixed (especially if it needs a new piece of hardware that needs to be ordered). It doesn’t have to be as powerful as your primary computer (a slightly older refurbished machine should do fine), as long as it can run the programs you need to get through the next few days while your computer is being repaired.

Build Your Web Presence

Just about every business needs a web presence these days. When someone hears about your company, there’s a good chance they’re going to search Google for your company before they consider doing business with you. If you don’t have a website, they may consider a competitor that does. You should have at least a simple website that covers who you are, what services you provide, and contact information. You can use a free website builder to create a bare-bones site, but you’ll have better results with a high-quality custom site that presents the info in a clear, visually-appealing way.

Hire Professional IT Consultants

If you’re located in the San Marcos/Austin area and you’d like some expert help at a fair, affordable price, give tekRESCUE a call to discuss your needs! We offer IT consulting, on-site support, remote support, and website development & optimization services for small and medium-sized businesses in the area. IT can be daunting, but you don’t have to go it alone!

Does your company allow employees to bring their own device?

https://www.cnbc.com/2013/10/24/byod-or-bust-how-bad-tech-is-costing-companies.html