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Wednesday, 05 May 2010 00:00 |
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The air is getting cooler, the days are definately getting shorter and everyone is buzzing around with a smile on their faces so that must mean it is holiday season again.
I do love this time of year. It is a time of reflection for me. To think back on the past year and look at all I have done and hopefully have made, if ever so small, a difference to someone.
This past year has seen its trials and tribulations without a doubt. Businesses have been hit hard by the economic situations, families have been affected, and no one has been immune. Eventhough it has been a very tough year for us all, I am truely thankful.
Why? Well, it is simple really. I am thankful that I have a loving family that is supportive. I am thankful that I have good friends to laugh and cry with. And I am thankful for all of my fellow co-workers for without them, we would not have had the great year that I feel we have had.
No, we didn’t set sales records, no, we didn’t get the fancy new gadgets we wanted and no, we didn’t grow as much as we wanted to. But, we did help out some great clients that needed our services at an affordable price, we did manage to hire some great people and most importantly, we did keep our small company family together.
I am also gratefull that I can look toward the future and see what tomorrow has to offer. Every day is a new opportunity for growth, both personal and professional. Every day is a new opportunity to touch someone’s lives for the better and every day is another chance to say “Thank you for being there.”.
So, as we go through the busy holiday season, planning your trips, spending time with friends and family, and pushing through the sales lines at the local department store, remember to stop, take a deep breath, and tell someone “Thank you!”. It is a simple little sentence that can have such a big impact on someone else.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving and a very Merry Christmas.
Thank you for being my friend, co-worker and client.
Happy Holidays,
Gary Bailey
Managing Partner
CCSG |
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Tuesday, 04 May 2010 00:00 |
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What is SEO…Search Engine Optimization!
Turns out this is a very big subject. Basically, if you want the search engines…such as Google, Yahoo, Lycos, Altivista et al…to place your site on their first page of responses when someone is looking for something like your product or service…then you need to do a little fine tuning to your site in order to get them to do that…for free.
Of course you can always pay for placement at the top of a page and this works too. But you pay “per click” and it can get very expensive. That’s also called “buying advertising” which I am sure you are familiar with.
Optimizing your site for high search ranking is a time consuming and long term strategy. The only shortcut to the top of the search engine rankings is to buy your way there…as mentioned.
To get there the old fashioned way…ha!…means researching the most improtant keywords people will use when they go to search, getting those keywords embeded in the code of your site, making sure your site’s content reflects and re-uses those keywordsand…last but not least…getting your site linked to many other sites…or rather…having many other sites “linked back” to you.
This last item is crucial to raising your SEO ranking because it in effect…represents a vote for the wonderfulness of your site. Highly ranked sites linking to yours tells the search engine company that lots of people like you and therefore they should rank you high as well…and put you on their first page!
Got all that?
Confused?
I feel your pain. Luckily, there’s tons of information available to do all this.
Just one example is this link… the top 50 social networking sites:
http://www.insidecrm.com/features/50-social-sites-012808/
Social Networking? Thats right. Facebook is the #2 most visited site on the Internetz…after Google!
Give us a call if you want some help getting an SEO plan in motion.
Dave
615-690-8650 |
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Monday, 03 May 2010 00:00 |
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Don’t forget the Foons. The what? The Foons! The what? The Foons you fool, the Foons!
Haha…thank you inspector Clouseau! He was talking about PHONES. Everybody knows you need phones for your new venture of course but did you know that VoIP phones let you expand with a remote work force that looks, sounds and acts like a centralized enterprise to your clients/customers?
To get an idea of features you can get for the same or less cost than plain old vanilla phones…look at this features list of a typical open source VoIP system:
http://www.goccsg.com/TVS_Features.php
Written by: David LaCroix |
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Sunday, 02 May 2010 00:00 |
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Business Telephone Systems!
(Traditional & VOIP)
Business Telephone Service!
(Low cost T-1, Cable, Remote office)
Cabling/Wiring!
(low voltage wiring, overhead paging, security cameras)
IT Services!
(Windows & Linux, Internet, LAN, VPN, Backup)
Web Services!
(Hosting, Email, Anti-Virus, Spam…)
http://www.goccsg.com/system.php |
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Saturday, 01 May 2010 00:00 |
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There are two costs associated with Telecom ( Phones and Internet)
The first cost is the usual one…i.e. the cost of the service. Reduce the cost of equal or better service and you have a winner. All businesses should, and many do, monitor their telecom costs and make changes when a savings is obvious. Some do not however. For whatever reason…the chaos of day-to-day survival, nobody assigned to look into it, not knowing there are choices…etc. many businesses overlook this sometime hidden cost and “bleed” “leak” “spew”…fill in the blank…revenue unnecessarily by paying too much for telecom and Internet. Prices have come down in the past several years. If you haven’t checked your rates against all the competing carriers recently you should do so at once. I’ve seen many businesses paying 20%-30% more than the going rate without even knowing there were competing carriers and better deals available.
There are “Dealers” around who can shop your service to ALL the available carriers and get you the lowest and best bid available for your location(s) You can also call the carriers directly yourself for quotes…if you have the time and/or personnel to spend on this. Going with a dealer gets you the same or better rate however and saves you the trouble and time.
The other “cost” associated with Telecom is what you are NOT doing. Technology you are not taking advantage of is probably costing you money each and every month and quarter. Here’s an example: Small business with 20-30 employees has a basic phone system but does not have an “Auto-Attendant” feature. A receptionist or rotating employees answer the phone for the business and route and handle the calls. Many of these calls are routine inquiries or requests to talk to a specific employee, get directions to your office, ask for your fax number etc. etc. The man-hours wasted by having a salaried or hourly employee do these tasks is costing this small business $400-$500 per month. Many small business owners cling to the idea that having a live person answer the phone communicates a higher level or higher quality of service to their customers. In actual fact, in today’s world it is more likely a negative message to the client base. An efficient “auto-attendant” built into the phone system can say more about your commitment to the latest innovations as well communicate the value of your time. A good system will get the caller to the right person faster too.
Having the phone system “follow” you when you’re away from the office…if you so choose. Being on an extension to your office phone when at home or traveling…setting up remote workers (http://www.goccsg.com/virtualoffice.php). Sending and receiving fax’s from your desktop and direct line. Being able to record calls either on-demand or globally. (handy for sales training, monitoring customer service, legal issues…etc.). These are just a few examples of how today’s phone systems can reduce “costs” by taking advantage of technology.
A good office systems consultant can help you understand these capabilities and their ROI. Educating yourself online is another way to begin the process of understanding where and how you can Lower your Overhead!
David LaCroix is a Nashville based Telecom and Marketing Consultant |
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