That’s good news for the many modern businesses which don’t operate in the conventional sense of an office and similar infrastructure. These businesses are literally based on their communications networks. The operate online, they do ecommerce through business apps and they even do their service provision on the phone, to a very large extent.

If you’re thinking that these businesses are sounding like call centres, you’re partly right, but not entirely. Remote service provision, particularly outsourcing services, consultancy, tech support and other information based services is a lot more cost efficient on the phone or through phone line based communications. The services and sales options of these business systems need to be all-purpose and easily tailored to different requirements.

These businesses are literally created by communications, in many ways. The new telephone systems are actually designed to work better with them than the clunky old pre-server-based systems, which were too inflexible and limited in their range of functions. The fact is that new phone systems have to work closely with information systems, data bases and apps, so they need to be extremely flexible and easy to use.

Specifications and Options – The New Best Practice in Phone Systems

The average business system is based to a large extent on its capacity to handle information.

A typical business system handles:

• Data
• Phone calls
• Ecommerce
• Demands for services and support
• Consultancy work
• Projects
• App-based transactions
• File sharing
• Multimedia
• Accounts
• Reports
• Inventory
• Training
• Remote operations
• Outsourcing
• Client relations management
• Contract management

The type and form of these services varies a lot, and so do the information loads, but the fact is that even the most basic home-based business runs a lot of its work directly off its phone system.

If you’re a phone system supplier, best practice is to create a simple, straightforward phone system which can provide options and scalable features across the board to your clients. You provide the system and tech support and the client can configure their systems as they wish. The new phone systems aren’t complex- All they need are a phone server and core software to set up a whole phone and online network, easily and quickly.

That approach has been a goldmine option for startup businesses. This isn’t only good system design, it’s good business design, as well. Using only basic business systems and the new phone systems as a plugin, the new businesses can do any type of business. The key requirement for many new businesses, in fact, is all about cost-effective communications. If you can set up a business catering to multiple clients across multiple revenue streams using one system, you’re saving money before you even start doing business.

If you’re starting a business and looking at your phone system options, check out the new systems. Your computer support will be able to tell you how to set up your business system and your phone supplier will set up the rest. Expect to be pleasantly surprised.

About the Guest Post Author: Tom Mallet is an Australian freelance writer and journalist. He writes extensively in Australia, Canada, Europe, and the US. He’s published more than 500 articles about various topics.

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1. Arrange your work area near a window. If you are fortunate enough to have a big window in your office, use it to your advantage. Studies show that sunlight can help people feel more emotionally stable throughout the work day and increase their sense of wellbeing. This tactic will also allow you to turn out the lights for the majority of the day, which is a major energy cost.

2. Get unplugged. In the business world, many people are switching to laptops, even if they have a work desk. If you haven’t already, follow suit and get a portable computer, which uses only a fraction of the energy that a desktop computer requires. If you have other office appliances, such as a printer and copier, keep them unplugged until you really need them to save on phantom power loads. Also, invest in software that allows you to receive faxes via email so that you don’t have to run a fax machine 24 hours a day.

3. Forget paper. One of the best things you can do for your small business immediately is to go paperless. Relying on electronic communications such as email will save the energy that you use to run a printer, but the real cost savings come through the rest of your budget — no more need to buy expensive toner or reams of paper. Going paperless is good for the environment, but it’s also good for your business; many companies find that they run more efficiently when they can share information at the click of a button.

4. Talk to your energy provider, and compare energy prices. If you are like most UK homeowners, you have experienced a hike in energy tariffs in the past six months. This could be hitting your pocket twice as hard since you live and work at home. Call your energy company to see if you can get your rate of service lowered. If not, get online and go to uSwitch to find more accommodating, less expensive companies that can give you the same service at a lower price.

5. Monitor your heating and air conditioning use. One of the advantages of working from home where there may be few people is being able to adjust the thermostat when you need to. In the summer, try raising the temperature by two degrees, and in the winter, do the opposite. It won’t make a huge difference in your comfort level, but you will be able to see it in your next energy bill. To compensate for temperature changes, dress in layers when you head to the part of your home where the office is.

About the Guest Post Author:  Tara is a freelance and blog writer. Money saving enthusiast and frugal traveller.

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Promotional caps have several benefits:

• They are long lasting advertisements
• They are useful
• They are inexpensive to produce
• They create goodwill
• They increase brand awareness

1. Long lasting advertisements

Promotional items are more enduring than printed matter. For example, a brochure is quickly read then discarded. However, a cap will be reused and can last for several years. If a company’s details are printed on a promotional cap, they will be noticed by the wearer of the cap. The details will also be in sight of the potential customer for a long period of time.

2. Promotional caps are useful items

Promotional caps are very useful items. They are particularly useful in Australia due to hot summers and the need for sun protection. A promotional cap will be used over and over again and provide a service for the user. The cap will also be well cared for because of its repeated use. This ensures that the company message will be seen and preserved over a long period of time.

3. Promotional items are inexpensive

Promotional caps are inexpensive to produce. Most printing services can produce large numbers of promotional caps for a reasonable price. When their effectiveness is compared to traditional methods of promotion, the slightly higher price of production is economically feasible. The caps are also easy to distribute in a wide variety of areas. They are lightweight and easy to store and transport. Due to this, they are easy to give away on street corners, at conventions or shows and at shopfronts.

4. Promotional caps create goodwill

Giving an everyday item to a customer or business associate promotes goodwill. Goodwill is an important factor for a thriving business

An everyday item is more valued than printed matter such as a business card or brochure. It associates the business with generosity and also gives the recipient the impression of being a valued customer.

5. Increased brand awareness

A promotional cap will increase brand awareness. If a cap is provided as part of a company uniform it will be worn in several different places. At each place the cap will promote the company’s name, logo and other information. This increases brand awareness.

In addition a cap is a very visible item. If the printing on the cap is attractive it will be exposed to many different people and create conversation and interest. This may result in increased sales.

A promotional cap is an effective way to promote a business. It is a creative and innovative way to attract customers and increase sales. A cap is useful, long lasting and easily distributed. It will create goodwill with customers and business associates and promote sun protection. In terms of advertisement, a cap is a productive and efficient way to increase sales and a customer base.

Guest Post Author Bio: Tom Mallet is an Australian freelance writer and journalist. He writes extensively in Australia, Canada, Europe, and the US. He’s published more than 500 articles about various topics.

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If in the past, you have spent all your marketing budget in one area, knowing what options to include can be difficult when it comes to writing your first ‘integrated strategy’. Even more difficult can be thinking of what options are out there. The list below will help get you started.

1. Direct marketing: if you send something directly to the consumer, this is direct marketing. This can include anything from a mail out of pamphlets, through to an email direct mailer that may target thousands of clients at once.

2. Print advertising: print advertising has been successfully used for years, and while digital is infringing upon its success, it is still valid for many target audiences. Don’t restrict yourself to local papers or the major metro, remember to also consider specific trade publications.

3. Collateral: while online media is growing, there will always be opportunities to put something in a potential client’s hand – so make sure you have something ready. Professionally designed and written marketing pieces like brochures, posters or business cards are still important!

4. Face-to-face: do you have the opportunity to get in front of your target audience? Whether it’s a trade show or a speech at an event, one of the most important marketing tools is still face-to-face communication.

5. Events: holding events is a great way to not only get your brand out there, but to spoil your clients and potential clients so they see how much you value them, and how much effort you put into communicating with them. A rule of thumb with events is if you don’t have the budget to do it properly, don’t do it. This doesn’t mean paying the national orchestra or PINK to come and entertain, but it does mean ensuring everything from your catering and choice of menu, to your venue, wait staff, entertainment, gifts and your staff should reflect your brand values and create the reputation you are aiming for.

6. Online marketing: something these days you can’t afford to go without is some form of digital marketing. You need to invest in a good (not a sloppy or amateur) website, and look into options such as social media, online advertising, SEO and SEA.

7. Sponsorships: above and beyond your own events, sponsorship is a valuable opportunity to have your brand become related to another major brand. One thing to remember when considering sponsorships is that return on investment can be difficult to measure, so make sure it’s worth it!

Guest Post Author Bio: Tom Mallet is an Australian freelance writer and journalist. He writes extensively in Australia, Canada, Europe, and the US. He’s published more than 500 articles about various topics.

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It can be so easy when we are so preoccupied with reaching new people and gaining new customers, that we forget to reward our regulars – and forget that they can send us new business too. Here are 5 steps to building a base of very loyal clients.

1. Ask Your Customers Why They Love You

Unfortunately you will usually receive most feedback in the form of complaints rather than gushing compliments.

This is because when a customer does business with you, they are expecting to receive the service they paid for. When you deliver on this and more, you have simply done the job as promised.

It is when you have failed on this basic requirement that you will meet your most vocal customers – and receive customer complaints.

Of course it is essential to know what you are doing wrong and take steps to change this: but it is also essential you know what you are doing right.

Knowing why customers love you and return will mean you can focus more effort into improving those services and “wow-ing” them even more.

You can find this out by conducting a phone survey, an email survey, or printing a feedback form for the counter at work.

Whatever you choose to do, make sure there is an incentive for your customers to fill it in – a discount or reward of some kind – so that you get a high response rate.

2. Hire Great Staff

You cannot put a price on effective, personable and reliable employees. Often they are the face and building blocks of your business: they deal with your customers daily and will directly effect that customer’s decision as to whether they choose return.

Naturally you will have taken efforts to recruit employees who you feel will be effective, rather than those who might seem unreliable or dishonest. Sometimes you want to give someone a chance, and if it does not turn out well, you’ve got debt recovery services that can help if they owe you money, and you simply start again with new staff.

Unfortunately, while you may have many chances to get great staff, it is not the same with your customers. You want to treat every customer visit as if it were their first or could be their last: and that means hiring great staff who you can trust to do this.

3. VIP Customers? Do something for them!

If you are shaking your head and thinking you don’t have any “VIP” customers as such: then it is time to identify and find them – and if you can’t, then you need to create them!

Your VIP customers are those who are walking ambassadors for your business. They have been loyal to you, they shop with you and use your services often, and you really value their business.

These customers need to be made aware how much they are appreciated, so that they feel their loyalty is well-founded, and so that they continue to spread the good word about you.

Holding a VIP evening, having a VIP rewards program, surprising them with a small gift on the holidays – all are ideas you could use.

4. Surprise and Delight

Sometimes the best customer loyalty programs are none at all. Or at least, you want it to appear that way. This is most easily done when you run a smaller business.

Having identified your VIPs, or making your staff aware of what qualifies a customer for the reward: you can then surprise and delight your customers when they qualify for an extra something with their purchase or service.

The element of surprise will keep them coming back and make them feel appreciated for their business.

5. A Rewards Program that Actually Rewards

If the surprise and delight option isn’t feasible, then there isn’t anything wrong with your trusty rewards card.

However, make sure your rewards program stands out from the others – maybe it offers a bigger pay off and over a smaller amount of time.

Ask yourself: why would a customer choose this loyalty program over that of your closest competitors? Once you have that answer, you can then go about implementing your rewards and maintaining those loyal customers. Good luck!

About the Guest Post Author: Tom Mallet is an Australian freelance writer and journalist. He writes extensively in Australia, Canada, Europe, and the US. He’s published more than 500 articles about various topic.

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This is because of the fact that different PHP frameworks offer different support for communities and databases. We offer the basic features that you should look in a PHP framework. In case, you require any additional help, get in touch with a reputed PHP web development company or web development services.

Basic Features a Good PHP Framework Should Possess

Community Support

Your selected framework should possess a strong community that is willing to help you in any situation.

Documentation Support

A good PHP framework should possess an updated documentation and user guide.

Database Support

Database support is critical. For instance, CodeIgniter supports Oracle and SQLite. Kohana framework, on the other hand, does not support these. This means that you need to choose a database server that is compatible with this particular database type.

Avoid Common Errors While Selecting a Framework

• Do not choose inconclusive or small frameworks. This is because people with vague knowledge of PHP usually create such frameworks. Opting for such frameworks can interfere with your goals.
• Ensuring that your web server and database support your selected framework is important. Deviating from this strategy can result in complex issues.
• Implement recommended installation procedure of the PHP framework carefully. Remember that if you install the process wrongly, you would have to deal with complicated problems.

Choosing the Correct PHP Framework

Choosing the right PHP framework demands careful consideration of several factors. We discuss these factors in brief.

• If you are an inexperienced PHP programmer, your selection should be different from the one chosen by an advanced programmer.
• Selecting the right PHP framework also depends on personal preferences. If you want to increase speed of the coding process, your PHP Framework should be different from the one who does not possess any such goal.

With the right PHP Framework, you can save time and yet, create unique web applications.

Brief Information about Popular PHP frameworks

CodeIgniter

This option is ideal for experienced PHP coders who are looking for easy solution for creating web applications.

CakePHP

It is a popular PHP framework that offers extensible architecture for creating and maintaining web applications. CakePHP can help you to save time and money.

Zend Framework

It is an object-oriented, simple framework that is written in PHP 5. Easy to use, it also comes with a loose architecture that allows developers to utilize Zend components for increasing functionality of their web applications.

BlueShoes

As a broad application framework, it offers great support to MSSQL, Oracle, and MySQL database.

Zoop

It is widely used in various production environments. Zoop is based on powerful MVC principles that can include separation of logic, data layers, and display. Efficient and extensible, it maintains a refined balance between fully-featured and lightweight.

If you have started working with PHP recently, you may face difficulty in understanding features and mechanisms of its frameworks. However, with experience and knowledge, you would be able to understand the differences between various PHP frameworks. Stay determined and happy!

About the Guest Post Author: Quality Web Programming is one of India’s most reputed web development companies offering customized, effective and cost-effective web services to clients nationwide and worldwide. The company has authored numerous articles on web development, web programming and website design.

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How can you improve your business marketing?

Have you heard the term ‘integrated strategy’ in the past, and brushed over it simply because you didn’t know what it meant? Well these two little words could mean make or break for your business’s future success. Many small or start up businesses consider marketing to be a number of small activities, generally unrelated, that help to promote the business. And while this may be marketing, it is not necessarily effective marketing.

Truly effective marketing is integrated. It uses a range of methods and media to promote and reinforce the same message, so your brand not only becomes better known by more potential consumers, but also becomes synonymous with the attributes you have chosen. Integrated marketing, means taking all those ad hoc marketing activities and putting them together in a planned strategy, to produce continuous activities with a constant, clear and concise message.

Five steps to starting your integrated plan:

1. Define your brand

Before you get started, you need to work out who you are, what you represent, what you have on offer – you need to define your brand from the inside and out. As a business, your brand is not just your logo and how your marketing material looks, it is the reputation that precedes you – not just the ‘look’, but the ‘feel’. What do you want your brand to feel like and how do you want people to feel about it?

2. Establish your vision – what you want to become

Your vision is basically your big goal for what you want your business to become and to achieve. Without a vision, it is incredibly difficult to plan a path to success – because what defines ‘reaching success’? Decide where you want to go and what you envision becoming, so you have a solid path to guide you.

3. Identify your objectives – what are the milestone steps on the way to achieving your vision?

While achieving your vision may be your overarching objective, as part of your marketing strategy you also have to break it down and identify specific objectives that are measurable and achievable. This will ultimately lead to achieving your vision. As an example, your vision may be to become the number one business in your field: one objective for your strategy this year could be to make the top three in your field in terms of financial results, and to win an award for best employer, so you’re covering a few different aspects of getting to ‘number one’.

4. Marry up your tactics – clear, concise, consistent

Your tactics are the activities you are actually undertaking to achieve your objectives and ‘market’ your business. Be realistic, don’t jot down a hundred ideas and hope to achieve some of them. Break up your approach into various different types of marketing, for example, direct marketing, collateral like business cards, digital marketing and print advertising, and then fill in one activity under each. Make sure they compliment each other to reinforce one strong message.

And there you have it! You are well on your way to your first real integrated marketing strategy.

Note from the Editor: This was a guest post.

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Keep It Simple

Simplicity is the key to a well-designed business card. Some professionals try to put too much information on their business cards. Include essential contact information but don’t clutter the card with too many images or too many phone numbers or email addresses.

Professional Look

Keep the overall look of the business card professional and accessible. Consider that the size of the font used on the business card should be small and yet easy to read at the same time. An over-sized font communicates clumsiness, whereas as appropriately sized font reads more professionally.

Use a formal font, not a casual or script font, as the means of communication on the business card. Professionally printed business cards are taken far more seriously than the casual business card that comes out of an office inkjet printer. Even the quality of paper is considered, either consciously or subconsciously, by potential customers. Have the business card printed on a high-quality paper stock so that your card communicates quality and substance.

Consider Engraving

An engraved business card offers the added tactile bonus of raised type. An engraved business card on a high-quality paper stock communicates a professional company that deserves to be taken seriously in the marketplace.

Selective Colour

A well-designed, full-colour business card may get the attention of potential clients. Consider that the use of colour may make the business card stand out in a company Rolodex more so than a plain black-and-white card. Remember to use action colours such as red or yellow, and that overall, the colour on the business card should have good contrast and readability.

Shape and Cut

Sometimes just changing the format of a business card to vertical is enough to get a company noticed. Other business professionals use die-cut business card that have a unique outline or shape that reflects the nature of their business. So for example, a dentist might use the outline of a row of teeth at the bottom of a business card.

Remember that the business card is often the first impression made when meeting a potential client. Follow the directions above to design the perfect business card that gets the company noticed with positive results.

Note from the Editor: This was a guest post.

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1. Use one message

Before you start advertising you need to develop a single message and you need to be certain that it reflects your business properly. If you unroll a new marketing strategy every 5 minutes then your customers will not connect them together and will treat it as spam. You need to send out a message which is responsible and continuous on everything from your business cards to your website.

2. Create credibility

It has become a part of the human psyche to mistrust the advertisements that are thrust in front of our faces every day. Creating an element of credibility in your advertisements will do far more for you than making wild claims about the ‘fact’ that you are the best. A good example is the claim that something is 99.44% pure. This is a far more believable statement than 100% pure. Just be honest.

3. Test everything

Large companies have the ability to chuck money at advertising departments and watch results come pouring in. You do not have this luxury as a small business. To run advertising best, focus on one element at a time and check how much of a response you get. There is no point spending your entire budget on one medium, only to find out that your customers don’t engage with it.

4. Be easy to contact

Large businesses have call centres which are always available. Whilst this puts you at a disadvantage, it can also give you an advantage because a call to you will be more personal. It is important that you are always ready to answer the phone to customers and it is also important that you are easy to find in other places. Assess your online marketing regularly to be sure that your website is easy to find through search engines.

5. Speak to one target at a time

Your advertising should not seek to talk to your entire potential audience at once. All advertising should be focused on the people that you want to reach because a wide reaching ad will probably miss the target completely.

6. Generate curiosity

Your adverts should not seek to sell an item. Instead they should seek to create curiosity about an idea, principal or service. Curiosity will make customers take an interest and look up the company, but a sales pitch will more likely put them off. The most successful adverts are those which talk to people emotionally and create a connection.

Note from the Editor: This is a guest post.

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And now that the digital era has taken over, it would be logical to believe that the one upping can stop in light of the fact that every business has the opportunity to be innovative and use innovative means of communicating and conveying their messages. But of course that’s not the case. Despite the state of ‘innovation for everyone’, what’s the point in marketing if you still get lost in a sea of businesses all marketing the same way? With this mind, a new period of manipulating online media in innovative ways has arrived that has seen marketers and advertisers – and even non-specialists – in possibly their most creative era yet!

Some examples:

1. YouTube

The use of Youtube combined with a reliance on viral communication has enabled overnight success for several pop stars. The likes of teen heartthrob Justin Beiber is a prime example of a marketing strategy that was cost effective, and innovative – using the latest technology to capture attention. Beiber was propelled to fame after posting videos of his home performances on Youtube.

2. Online guerrilla marketing

Using online media in unconventional ways – and in ways that make an impressive splash, similar to traditional guerrilla marketing – has meant many innovative campaigns. Perhaps none more so than the method used to promote the film, ‘The Last Exorcism’. Unwitting computer users logged onto sexy sites to see the usual pretty girl playing up to the camera – then all of a sudden she turns eyes rolling back in head and growling. The user is completely shocked and in awe, and is then hit with the fact that this was all a commercial!

3. Twitter

Perhaps one of the most impressive approaches to marketing online is improving word of mouth by actually improving service. Large businesses now have software that trawls social media sites and blogs for mention of their names so their staff can respond accordingly, impressing already happy customers and appeasing others.

4. Customisable pages

In the early days of the internet, the World Wide Web was a resource, almost like an encyclopaedia. Most of the information was reasonably static, and people were communicated to, as opposed to being given an opportunity to communicate two ways. Sites with a merchant facility or offering a service now provide customisable landing pages, controlled by cookies, so that when a customer logs on, everything they personally want is right in front of them.

Note from the Editor: This was a guest post.

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