Small Business Tips - Increase Revenue Through Technology

Susan Wilson Solovic is an award-winning entrepreneur and journalist, author of three best-selling books, multi-media personality and contributor to ABC News and other outlets, public speaker and attorney. AT&T has sponsored the following blog post.

“Do you have a card?” How many times have you asked that question when you meet someone new in a business setting? Business cards are a traditional part of doing business. They have been around for hundreds of years and it’s easy to take them for granted. That’s particularly true in light of all the popular social media platforms today that in many respects could easily replace the old faithful business card. Yet the business card remains a fixture in the business world.

The marketing power of the business card is being observed as part of Build Your Business with Business Cards Week. Business owners are being encouraged to take a careful look at their current business cards. Is it time for a make-over? Is your card making a good first impression and projecting your brand in an appropriate way?

Small businesses can't afford to hire the wrong person for new positions, and with so many people actively looking for jobs, choosing the right person can be difficult. If you are looking for ways to find a creative and insightful mind to fill a position, use these types of questions to find the right match. These thought provoking questions dig deeper that your typical interview questions and require creative responses. See more in the video below, provided by the American Express Open Forum.

This great article comes from Stephanie Miles on the American Express OPEN FORUM, a website dedicated to providing useful information for small businesses. Many local businesses are too scared of losing money to try Groupon. It's very likely that your business could take a slight loss on each groupon sold, but you have to expect that and consider it part of your marketing efforts. If you take a slight loss, but are able to increase your loyal clientele by 30%, isn't it worth it in the end? See the article in full below.

Are you struggling to connect with customers online? Take four minutes of your time to see these tips provided by American Express Open Forum. Everyone says to use social networking, but this video dives a little deeper in how to use these websites to connect with your online customers in a more efficient manner.

Customer satisfaction largely depends on the level of support you provide your clients with when they have a problem. Establishing a proper and helpful call center provides your customers with a service they want to reach out to when needed. Use these 6 tips to set up a good contact center.

The amount of people who have smartphones is increasing rapidly. I've had mine for a couple of years and it amazes me how much I use the internet from my mobile device to look up information online or try to find somewhere I can buy something. Obviously, as a business you most adapt to the newest trends to stay ahead, so it's a good idea to get started with implementing a mobile website. Use these 5 tips when creating your website dedicated to those who use smartphones.

This post originally came from the American Express Open Forum, but provides some great tools for increasing productivity.

The Internet is a black hole of procrastination. It’s a rare occasion when we open up our web browsers and just do work without checking Facebook or getting sucked into YouTube.

Not only is it possible to get work done, but your web browser can actually help you be more productive. If you use Mozilla’s Firefox, you’re in even more luck since we’ve compiled this list of five Firefox add-ons to boost your work flow efficiency.

Take a look and let us know which add-ons you use to stay productive.

I found this great article on Mashable, a leader in spreading knowledge in social media and technology, and thought I would share it with you all. I know it may be a bit long for some of you, but go through all 10 titles and read more thoroughly the ones that interest you the most.

Scott Gerber is the founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council, a nonprofit organization that promotes youth entrepreneurship as a solution to unemployment and underemployment. The YEC provides young entrepreneurs with access to tools, mentorship, and resources that support each stage of a business’s development and growth.

Business and technology writer Efraim Turban defines customer service as “a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction — that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation.”

While customer experience means different things to different people, it is generally about the sum of all the interaction a customer has with a brand or company. That’s a significant difference from customer service, which generally focuses on a single transaction.

All of which begs the question, how do you create a customer experience that sets you apart from the competition and keeps customers coming back? Luckily for you, I recently asked a group of successful young entrepreneurs those very questions.

Speaking with small business owners this year, I have noticed that they all have one thing in common. They are all looking to cut costs and reduce expenses. Obviously, every business is trying to do this, but this seems to be more than your average reduce medical and health insurance bills or cut budget for company parties or special occasions. Business owners are really looking to cut daily costs. Something as basic as emailing invoices rather than mailing them, to finding a cloud based server to store your company data on, there are costs you can cut. Check out this video by the American Express Open Forum to cut costs in places people often forget about.

It’s no secret that AT&T isn't known for having the high level of customer satisfaction, but that's quickly chaning. The most notable reason for their bad reputation stemmed from iPhone users. However, AT&T has now responded by investing $20 billion dollars to modify and improve their network throughout the nation.

Included in the investment was a new network now known as 4G, which not only integrated enhancements on the 3G network, but increased speeds up to ten times that of 3G. Not only that, but this upgrade improved dropped call performance by 25%. In addition, according to PCWorld, AT&T’s upgrades helped boost their mobile data speeds passed Verizon’s, making them a good fit for anyone who needs a network with a fast connection. (http://bit.ly/fA4GIF)