www.startupnation.com

by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs

• Join - It's Free!
• Log in

My StartupNation

The Top 5 Ways to Catapult Your Small Business Success with Technology

StartupNation© experts Jeff and Rich Sloan share their personal tech tips for increasing small business growth

Birmingham, MI – December 12, 2005 – If you plan to grow a small business quickly, follow these personal technology tips from Jeff and Rich Sloan. The Sloan brothers are two of the country's top entrepreneurial experts, hosts of the nationally-syndicated StartupNation Radio program, www.startupnation.com, and authors of "StartupNation - Open for Business:”

To help you get started, here are the Sloan brothers’ recommendations:

1. Analyze and respond to what happens on your website.
   As the old saying goes, you can't fix what you can't measure. By using software to help you understand your website visitors, you'll be more likely to figure out what it takes to convert them into buying customers. Try analytics tools like those offered by Google. Or, if you want greater interactivity with your customers, look for additional communication features (such as those offered by InterSight Technologies).
2. Expand your cell phone functionality.
   Make the most of every minute, even when you're not at your office. To do so, get a smart phone that stores your contacts, e-mails and task lists and has web access and conference-call capability. We use the Palm Treo 650 with service through Verizon, but you can also do well with a Blackberry. The name of the game is to have all the information and capability right in the palm of your hand.
3. Simplify and strategize using accounting software.
   A study by AMI-Partners recently concluded that more than half of all small businesses still do not use any accounting software solution, but they will need to in the future. If you really want command of your business, to improve your chances of receiving bank loans and to spend more time on building your customer base (and less time on administrating your business), try ready-made small business accounting software like the new, easy-to-use, “Microsoft Office Small Business Accounting.”
4. Speed up with broadband.
   Broadband Internet access is not a luxury these days. It's a necessity. Broadband enables you to get the information you need right away and deliver it to customers with lightning speed. It's a well-known fact that once people adopt broadband, they never go back, and for good reason. Broadband loading and downloading speeds get us all much closer to "the speed of thought!" If you don't have a terrestrial broadband provider available where you live, try satellite-based broadband as a way to solve the local provider problem.
5. Pinch pennies with Internet telephony.
   Internet telephony offers a whole new way to "let your fingers do the walking." It often comes at a flat rate far below traditional phone-usage fees. There are no issues associated with long-distance calls, and you can use whatever area code you'd like. Plus, you can do all sorts of things online to manage messages, set up calls, review bills, and more. We've used Vonage and have enjoyed the low flat rate immensely."

For more information to help you get started, read “StartupNation - Open for Business” by Jeff and Rich Sloan, visit www.startupnation.com or call 1-866-55-START.