There are so many tools available nowadays to progress and expand your business. Even if your tools are physical like the hammer or the trowel, there is still one superior tool that hovers above all.
We are of course, talking about the internet.
The internet offers you, as a business, everything you could need to succeed. From buying the right equipment, to networking and communication, the world wide web can offer you, well, the world.
In this article we’ll show you exactly what the internet can not only do for your business, but for you as an employee or employer.
So, the internet? Most of your communication will stem from email via services like Outlook. That is a good enough application, but the web can offer so much more if you go looking for it. Services like Skype allow for instant messaging, file-sharing and video conferencing, which is a fair bit more than Outlook allows. Communication doesn’t end there as you can utilize collaboration platforms like Google Drive, Slack and Evernote allow you and your employees to collaborate and amend documents from anywhere in the world, simultaneously. Gone are the pointless and hard-drive filling email attachments with amends. What’s more, sites like Six Disciplines provide tools to connect you to your team. The internet is a never-ending resource.
Websites like Paypal and WePay allow you to collect and collate payments via the web, securely. There’s no need to run around with a cash register to collect and cash in your invoices anymore.
Whilst Paypal and WePay can analyze your cashflow, using Google Analytics can show you exactly how much traffic is coming to your businesses website. You can break down a target audience and the demographics of people visiting your site. This is important and key data for the future of your business.
If you haven’t got a website (why?) the internet can actually make you one, via sites like Squarespace and Wix which will give you easy tools to produce your own site or e-commerce marketplace.
If you are running a streamlined staff list, then you can employee freelancers with Odesk and Elance which have a huge database of freelance employees and contractors looking for work. Pass the work on, pay the freelancer and relax.
The emergence of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook offer you and your business a platform to promote for free. There are paid options, and you should get involved in power marketing, but you can do the basics with no cost. Linkedin is an amazing way to get your name out there and network with industry professionals.
But wait, you might say, there’s no mention of the internet as a tool? Well, you’d be right. The internet in itself is a toolbox that gives you so many options, from promotion to production to payment, the internet has options for it all and can solve many of your issues. Do your research and find the best options for you and your business, because the software is there, lying in wait for you to utilize.
