Whether it be Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook, it’s no secret that using social media is a hot trend for small businesses.  Social media can be a huge advantage to your business; it helps you get your name out, reach a new audience and even boost sales of your product or service. Social media can have a positive impact on your business if—and that’s a big if—if you use it correctly. One of the biggest challenges small companies face when it comes to social media is how to use it to your fullest advantage. In this post, I’ll give you a few tips how to increase your web presence using social media, specifically Facebook Pages, in the most efficient way possible.

Creating a Facebook Page for your small business is a great way to get your brand name out there. But how are you going to get people to look at it in the first place? Facebook lets you become a “fan” of a page. (Note, the folks at Facebook have recently changed it to “liking” the page, but for the purpose of this blog “fans” and “likes” will be synonymous)

Getting the fans in the first place is the hard part—so where do you start? It’s a very simple answer: use your own network first. Reach out to family, friends, employees, vendors, partners, even customers and invite them using the Facebook “suggest to friends” button. Then encourage them to do the same. Creating this exponential growth will start the waterfall of people visiting your fan page. Next, use widgets to embed your Facebook fan page on your own website and or blog. You can find a number of Facebook plugins here. If you can’t find the perfect placement, use social media icons to direct users to your fan page. This will drive users who are already interested your company to take a look and hopefully like your page.

So you have some fans. How do you keep them? By keeping your page and posts up to date and interactive your fans will stay interested in the content you are posting. Interactive posts include:

• Contests- Giving away things, or even just enticing your users need for competition will almost always allure them to participate in the fun. In this example from (614) Magazine, they encourage their users to quickly respond leaving them at the edge of their seat clicking refresh to see if they’ve won: “Let’s kick off November with a FREE Breakfast Giveaway! Tell us your favorite part of this chilly month for your chance to win breakfast for 4 at Danny’s Deli. Don’t forget, the November issue of (614) Magazine hits stands TODAY…GO!”

 

• Trivia: Using trivia will not only get more information about your company or product, but also keep your fans interested in learning more. Here’s an example from United Skates of America : “Skateology Trivia- Did you know the term “Rollerblade” is a company name. They are technically called in-line skates. It’s kind of like calling a tissue a Kleenex. ”

 

• User specific coupons: If you offer coupons to your fans exclusively, they will be more likely to come back look for any more deals they can find.  Here’s a perfect example from Nurtur The Salon, : “If you’re voting today Nurtur is offering 50% off of a haircut or hair color service with our talent level stylists. Just show us your “I Voted” sticker!”

 

All of these tips are perfect ways to keep your fans coming back for the latest information. Doing so will also encourage your fans to share your page with their circle of friends.

We could go on and on about creative ways to get more fans, but starting out with a solid foundation is key.  For more ideas, there’s an awesome article done by the Social Media Examiner called 21 Creative Ways to Increase your Facebook fanbase that will help you expand even further. Just remember, using social media  the best way to get your name out there and expand your business’ audience, but only if you use if effectively.

Does the thought of not finishing another ‘to-do’ list item make you feel uneasy? One of the hardest tasks to accomplish in the work day is prioritizing what is important and what should be pushed down the list. If you are struggling to keep all your tasks organized by importance, it may help you to have a guide. Determine what an average day looks like at the job and then grab a piece of paper and get started here, in prioritizing your workday.

• Assess your average day: While everyday will not be a carbon copy of the next, figuring out on paper or in a calendar format your normal day will help. Once you’ve written down your day, look through and figure out which items require you and which one’s could be deferred to someone else. Often times we try to micromanage projects that others are in charge of, or under manage personal work that we are solely responsible for. You may be able to prioritize your tasks by using this simple method.

• Determine your weak/strong areas: Prioritizing your own self strengths and weaknesses can help determine where you need to spend time during your day. If you are good at organizing the company files, but poor at running the weekly staff meeting, ask for help in the weak areas to save time, energy and frustration. In your spare time gain extra help from a coworker or seek out helpful tools to help you manage others more effectively. This will motivate you to keep up your strengths while building your week spots and helping you prioritize at the same time.

• Divide tasks into categories: In order to effectively determine what holds highest and lowest priorities, categorize your list of to-do items. For example, client tasks and personal tasks can be split into separate areas for each to be assessed individually. When your list isn’t so overwhelming with one long list, the shorter lists helps you put the day’s tasks into real perspective. As you accomplish tasks throughout the day, move secondary items to first position to tackle or reassess. Many people will use Microsoft Outlook’s task manager to help organize their daily tasks. Two other free, web based solutions are RememberTheMilk.com and TaDaList.com (a product of 37Signals).  Both of the sites integrate with most smart phones, Google Calendar and even Outlook. You can access them from the computer or on the go with your mobile device which is very convenient.

• Weigh the milestones: Once you have done the above steps, consider the importance of the individual milestones. Time, money, energy, are all milestones that may sway where you prioritize your tasks. Depending on your personal milestone, do the items that will weigh more on your importance list if they weren’t done. This will help you form your priority list in an effective and useful way.

Prioritizing is a skill that many are able to accomplish effortlessly, while for others it takes work. Whichever is your scenario, learn to understand yourself and tackle your to-do list head on. With these simple tips your day will be much more manageable and enjoyable. There is no better feeling than being productive!

If you run a large or medium sized business, then odds are you use reliable software to help you manage your company documents. But what about a small business? Is there a need for document management software?  If you own or manage a small business and are trying to decide if you do, indeed, need software to help you manage your documents, there are a few things about your company’s structure and document use that can make your decision easier.

Document management software is design to make creating, using and sharing your company’s documents easier. Most software programs are easy to use and fairly intuitive, taking most of the guess work and deep programming needs out of managing your documents.  But just because it adds ease to creating, managing and sharing documents doesn’t mean that this type of software is a good fit for you.

Number of employees accessing documents

If your company only has one or two employees who access company documents, then you may not need document software. A small number of people creating, using and sharing documents is easy to manage. Odds are they are within the same department and can easily communicate with one another when it comes to any documents that they may be creating or altering.

Even if your company is small, there may be a lot of people accessing company documents. If this is the case, then using document management software can go a long way to ensuring that documents don’t get lost or document templates aren’t accidently changed. Document sharing is also easier to keep track of with document software in place.

Number of documents being used

Another thing to consider is the number of different documents that your company uses. If your documents department is constantly creating new documents, or changing the template on current documents, then you could benefit from using document management software. A key element of the software is the ease with which you can create and change templates.  Whether it’s the wording, dates or company logo, you can update your documents effortlessly and also make sure that all employees are using the most up to date version. Without document software this can be frustrating and not 100% successful. Depending on what is being changed, it can actually cost your company money or clients if the wrong version of a document is being sent out.

Number of documents per document package

If your company sends out document packages, then software that helps you manage those packages can be invaluable. If you regularly send out packages of documents to employees, clients, other businesses or potential customers, then you want those packages to be as professional as possible. If you are amassing your package from individual documents from different company departments, then there could be variations in font, spacing, tabs and margins. With document management software you can present a uniformed appearance to your document package without having to go in and manually change everything.  This can save you valuable time when preparing company documentation. It can also ensure that everything is, indeed, uniform and small differences aren’t overlooked. Regardless of the document type you can have the packages looking highly professional and pleasing to the eye.

Not all companies need document management software. If your company is small, the purchase of such software may not be worth it. But if you are a small business yet you have a large number of employees accessing your documents or if there are a large number of documents in use, then document software can be an invaluable asset to your small company.

Kevin Harris is a freelance writer for Adobe.  Adobe software, such as document management software, and services revolutionize how the world engages with ideas and information; anytime, anywhere, and through any medium.  They also offer many other services like elearning.

Every year offices spend more money in archiving, disposing, and storing paper products. Paper is a culprit of sacrificing the Earth’s resources and a junky and cluttered office! Several offices have started to convert into a paperless office that uses electronic and ‘virtual’ forms of storage to reduce paper usage and to become more organized. Here are tips to start the transition, and bring your office out from the piles of paper it currently is lost under.

• Use electronic archiving: Depending on your current office and their archiving process of important papers and documents, different methods will work better. Instead of storing papers in filing cabinets and storage rooms, start having paperwork scanned, categorized and placed on CD’s, DVD’s or other electronic means that works well for your office. There are several online based companies that will take your receipts, and paperwork and archive them and put them into a Microsoft Office – Excel, Word, Money, format, and then you can shred the paper versions.
• Use electronic communication instead of paper: Do away with paper calendars in the office, and memorandums that are sent to coworkers in-boxes. When setting up meetings, and checking in or out on the sign out sheet, convert to electronic messaging, meetings, and calendars to keep coworkers in the loop. Electronic versions can be synced with coworkers electronic schedules and will save the excuse – ‘I must have not got that message’.
• Convert your clients to paperless systems: Whether you’re a doctor’s office or you sell paper products, if you have clients and or customers you can help convert them to a paperless system. Many stores like the Apple store have already implemented a receipt system that can be emailed to you. In your office consider getting an electronic sign in computer like many pharmacies use, and ask clients/customers if they’d like to sign up for newsletters or coupons by email.  This will help your office convert to a paperless system easier, and your customers will appreciate your conscientious shift to a greener environment.
• Wean off of notepads and scrap paper: Who doesn’t get in the habit of reaching for a notepad anytime they need to jot down a note? Notepads can waste a lot of paper, plus you have to keep up with the paper once you’ve jotted it down. Try to use electronic smart phones, PDA’s or electronic tablets/computers to jot down your information. You can keep all your ideas in one place and save paper at the same time.

Your office doesn’t have to go through withdrawal to convert over to a paperless one. Once this lifestyle shift occurs at your office, the tendency to carry on similar practices at home will soon be natural. Saving paper, space, money and the Earth’s resources are all great reasons to transition your office to a paperless environment.