Business Tech

Printers are hardly advanced technology these days. Most people have them at home, often with the added ability to scan, copy, and even fax. Why, then, would a company, even a startup, outsource this service? While this may seem like an inconvenient or expensive waste of time and resources, at the professional level, printing services are more complicated and pricier than you might think. Outsourcing can significantly increase functionality, service quality, and other key elements of the printing process.

Basic Vs. Business Printing

When choosing a printer or a printing service for a small business, there are a number of key factors you’ll want to consider. A good printer-copier combo, even on a rent-to-own plan, can keep up with just about any company’s printing volume, but if you need to do a lot of high-end printing, even a top of the line printer may not be enough. Between the costs and the need to upgrade the printer regularly, you’ll likely dig your business into a hole in the name of quality, when outsourcing the service would be less expensive.

Outsourcing Options

Outsourcing printing services isn’t the same as outsourcing your bookkeeping needs – you aren’t just handing over the job to be done elsewhere. Of course, that is an option; it’s usually more cost efficient to pass mass print jobs like flyer printing to a specialty company rather than wasting time and resources on such a job in-house. But, in addition to shifting where you do your printing, small businesses also have the option to outsource who manages their printing.

Managed print services (MPS) are increasingly popular with small businesses because they fill a major IT need, not just a basic equipment one. In keeping with other types of managed IT services used for system security and recovery, MPS allows businesses to embrace outside expertise for a technical task. Indeed, printers are now part of business’s security system; they’re connected and they need to be secured. MPS simplifies this responsibility.

In addition to the security advantages of MPS, research into these services suggests that even small organizations can save money by shifting print management. This comes as a result of reduced time and financial investments into purchasing and supplies, as well efficiency improvements based on MPS analysis and modifications to the printer fleet. It’s a powerful proposition, yet one that can help your company feel like it’s still in control of its printing services.

The Sharing Model

Outsourcing and MPS both have their advantages, but perhaps the most influential element changing how small businesses print is the growth of the sharing economy. Yes, businesses have always been able to rent printer-copiers, rather than buying them outright, but with the explosion of coworking spaces like WeWork (despite its recent struggles), owners and employees alike feel more comfortable releasing control of infrastructure and equipment. If anything, many feel that sharing space and equipment makes them more flexible. They can scale and shift with the economy and customer demand.

Most businesses don’t have the funding to buy a printer worth its salt when they’re first getting started, so finding other resources is to your advantage. Once you’ve bought in to an outsourced printing option, you may discover that you don’t miss owning that bulky old machine after all.

 

The internet is the new king of advertising. Gone are the days when businesses relied on traditional mediums like television, radio, and newspapers to create awareness for their brands. Although still relevant, these channels have overtime lost their positions as the primary and most effective means of marketing and advertising a product. Today, it is all about promoting your brand through online advertising. Below we have listed two of the best methods of advertising your business online:

1.     Social media

Social media is one of the top ways of advertising businesses online. It mainly includes Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and LinkedIn. Millions of people all over the world are on one platform or the other. Through social media pages and ads, brands can reach so many people and convert them to sales. While most social media sites will advertise businesses on their platforms for a fee, another option is to hire the services of social media personalities called influencers. These are individuals or groups with a high number of followers, and for a fee, they will advertise a product or brand to their loyal followers. Social media has proven to be one of the most effective methods of advertising. Prospective customers are often persuaded to try a product when someone they look up to recommends it.

2. Online Website: 

Millions of people use the web every day. Having a standalone website is one of the best ways to market your products/services online as it gives 24×7 access to visitors. Brands have discovered having a website is the best way to increase the chances of making profitable sales. It gives customers the leverage to browse the business products, show interest in their kind of products and are most likely to buy them. There is literally no successful business today that doesn’t harness the power of the internet to push its brand to the forefront. There are numerous platforms one can use to do this and reach a broad audience of prospective customers, but statistics show that two are more effective and produce the desired results than others.

How to start advertising your business online?

Advertising agencies are among the most reliable engines for internet advertising and marketing. These agencies can be hired to promote businesses online. They are skilled in marketing strategies like Pay Per Click (PPC) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Larger digital advertising companies can execute a wide range of marketing strategies, but some are experts in certain kinds of advertising. An email marketing agency, for instance, will only focus on advertising to customers via emails. It is often wiser to opt for a company like Broadplace that offers a wide range of advertising options, including email marketing, PPC, SEO, mobile advertising, etc. It is a leading digital advertising agency based in the United Kingdom.

Conclusion

Online advertising is a versatile system with multiple methods and channels to choose from. The best thing for brands is to find that channel that is most beneficial to the success of their business. Over time, advertising agencies and social media platforms have proven to be the most effective.

 

 

Almost everyone these days relies on software for one purpose or another, whether you’ve got a suite of programs to keep your business operating efficiently or a single app to help you organize your personal photos. Whatever the case, it’s important to keep your software upgraded—yet many consumers and business owners fail to keep their software up-to-date, or neglect best practices that ensure their upgrades go smoothly.

Why You Should Always Update When Possible

You might be reluctant to upgrade an app or software program on your device because you aren’t sure what it contains, or because the last upgrade had an annoying new layout, or even because you’re feeling lazy and you just don’t want to update. However, it’s important that you keep all your software as up-to-date as possible, at all times, for several reasons:

• Security. One of the most common motivations for issuing a software update is security. When a developer discovers a vulnerability in their work, they find a solution to fix it, then issue that solution to their customers in the form of a patch. If you neglect these upgrades, the vulnerability will remain on your instance.
• Developer support. Over time, developers gradually stop supporting older versions of their software. They can’t (and shouldn’t) be held responsible for issues that arise on obsolete versions of the app. Avoid this problem by staying up-to-date.
• Features and UI. Even if you don’t personally like them, most new features and UI changes issued to an app have been thoroughly researched and tested. They’re designed to be improvements, so they probably are—even if you don’t immediately “get” them.
• Proximal vulnerabilities. Viruses and malware tend to spread like the flu, so any time your computer is infected, it’s putting other devices on your network at risk. If you don’t care about your own security, at least make the upgrade for the sake of your network.

Best Practices for Software Updates

Understanding that, there are some best practices you can follow to maximize your chances of success with new software updates:

1. Enable automatic updates. In most cases, automatic updates are the way to go. If you’ve had issues with being interrupted with automatic updates in the past, you may prefer manual updates. However, it’s hard to stay personally updated on the latest patch releases—and even if you get notifications from the apps that need updating, if you have the power to procrastinate updating, you’ll probably use it. Turn on automatic updates for every app you can.
2. Search for manual updates periodically. Even with automatic updates turned on, there’s a chance your machine isn’t scanning for new updates frequently enough, or the automatic update may not function as intended. Occasionally look for manual updating opportunities, and check to ensure all your updates are being installed properly.
3. Back up your information. Rarely, but occasionally, a new update could compromise your data. Accordingly, it’s a good idea to back up your information in multiple locations. Depending on what kind of data you’re storing, that could mean using a separate third-party app to store your information, exporting the data to local servers, or simply enabling cloud backups on your main platform. In any case, try not to issue any updates with your personal data on the line.
4. Read the patch notes. When developers issue a new patch or software release, they usually include some notes about what they’ve fixed, what they’ve upgraded, and what they’ve changed. In many cases, these are tedious; there will be many lines about upgrading things you’ve never even noticed, or eliminating bugs you never experienced. But it’s still an important way to learn about why this update exists—and what, exactly, it’s supposed to change.
5. Test the update. After updating your software, give it a test. You may need to reset your device, or at least restart the app, to fully realize the changes. Experiment with a few features to see what’s different, and make sure it works as intended.
6. Report bugs you encounter. If you encounter any bugs or unexpected issues, make sure you report them. Developers rely on user-submitted bug reports to direct their attention and prioritize needs, so issue them where necessary, and provide as many details as possible to expedite a fix.
7. Help others get updated. If you’re working within a team, or if you and your family members share access to the same software, help the people around you get up-to-date.

Try to follow these best practices as closely as possible if you want to keep your systems secure. You may not always be able to follow them precisely, but you can always prioritize updates for your devices and the apps they run regularly.

 

Looking to enable greater operational performance and efficiency while increasing employee morale? Optimized production scheduling is all about providing real-time monitoring, automating tool maintenance and inventory count, and having accurate information on hand when it’s needed. This will enable better management, more engaged employees and a stronger teamwork ethos. Here are some tips to take your production scheduling to the next level.

Make real-time data and metrics visible

The most important factor when it comes to increasing production agility is the real-time availability of data and metrics across each area of the business. In a manufacturing context, for example, it would be ideal to have multiple monitors in a central location that can provide workers, technicians, and managers with immediate access to actionable insights regarding equipment status, product quality, materials, tooling availability, sales demand changes and work order priorities. By providing real-time access, everyone is empowered to think on their feet and quickly overcome hurdles when they arise. The open nature of this system means everyone affected sees relevant information and can decide together what to do next.

Implement finite capacity planning

In almost every production setting, scheduling is best done in real-time. Processing complex orders and releases quickly means having a whip-smart system that can handle the fast-paced environment. A team will perform at their best when they know exactly what needs to be running, what will be scheduled tomorrow, and what materials need to be received and on-hand for that schedule to function appropriately. Perhaps most importantly, smart production scheduling will be able to anticipate and account for the raw materials needed for future orders and will be able to do so thanks to timely access to information about all necessary components of the operation.

Automate equipment maintenance

Automating machine and tooling maintenance in scheduling calculations and visual screen cues can make a huge difference. This enables production scheduling specialists to avoid wasting time being forced to wait for up to date status information or for the actual maintenance to take place. What’s more, it allows managers and planners to swiftly adjust priorities according to what equipment is currently available. It will also mean that set-up work and maintenance are done at appropriate times and don’t interfere with work that has already been completed.

Make production history records readily available

Safety and compliance issues are only going to become more important as production operations continue to advance. It is critical that manufacturers take the steps now to establish production history records in databases that allow quick recall and accurate analysis of past production activities. Manual collection of this information is overly time consuming and introduces the further risk of human error. For this reason, smart companies will want to invest in integrating the Internet of Things (IoT) technology with their software for managing production history records. There are many benefits to this connected approach, including exceptional product traceability, perfectly accurate inventory tracking and the ability to engage mistake-proofing logic in the set-up of production jobs. It will also allow companies to deliver on short notice and continue growing in today’s dynamic manufacturing market.

 

When we consider ways of improving our brand’s visibility, the first options that we tend to explore are social media or improving the organic SEO for our websites. While these are undoubtedly excellent choices, that don’t have to be the only routes that you follow. Photos booth often go overlooked, but including one at a corporate event can significantly enhance your brand’s visibility. The images can be used in conjunction with social media as followers and indeed, their friends can share the photos which will inevitability, increase awareness of your brand.

By using influencers on social media, you could use a photo booth in Malaysia, to spread the word about your brand in a relatively new and innovative fashion. Here are just way ways that you could incorporate one into your corporate event to create imaginative photos that will appeal and be far more memorable on social media.

1. Create Custom Backgrounds

Most modern photo booths have the facility to include custom backgrounds. The booth allows the occupants to transported away to far-flung places or to take part in adventures, all from the comfort of the event. Businesses can utilise this by including their brand logo in the image as well as making the most of social media handles. Of course, you can go one step further by adding links directly to your website or a particular, relevant product.

The intention is to create a fascinating image that can be shared on social media sites such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook that spark curiosity and encourage people to find out more along with potentially engaging with you or share the images to an even wider audience.

2. Useful Free Gifts

Let’s face it; we all like something for nothing. Providing gifts that have a practical use or even have some emotional connection with the participant can have a significant impact when it comes to making your brand more visible. Just remember that you need to include your company logo and insist that people have their photo taken with their keepsake while encouraging them to share pictures on social media.

When it comes to the image, including information such as your brand name, the event that the picture was taken and your company logo can be overlaid in a watermark. However, be careful that it isn’t too low image the image and cut off by frames. Hard copies will be displayed for years to come and that for act as free ongoing marketing.

3. Instant Sharing on Social Media

Almost all modern photo booths allow for instant sharing of images on social media directly from the box itself or at a separate kiosk. It means that sharing is instantaneous, and no time is wasted with users need to upload images to their smartphones. Immediate sharing has a greater impact than waiting even just a few minutes which is, of course, your primary objective.

4. Keep it Current

It can’t be overstated how vital real-time sharing can be at a corporate event. Consider creating a unique hashtag that users can use that could even go viral! If nothing else, it will keep images taken relating to the event together, and attendees can use the hashtag during the event while others can use it to find out what’s happening. The intention is to encourage interaction and sharing, which, with effective marketing, can have a huge impact when it comes to increasing brand awareness.

5. Improves Employee Morale

It is widely accepted that keeping your employees’ happy leads to higher productivity and better results. What often goes overlooked is that if they are happy, they will be more inclined to share positive images regarding your company, its products or its services. A photo booth at a corporate event or even a Christmas party is a fun way of encouraging employee participation. It can promote teamwork as well as creating lasting memories that could get brand shared again and again. Having a happy workforce is always looked upon favourably by clients, so try to make the most of it!

Hire or Buy?

Some companies, especially SMEs, will have tight marketing budgets and the initial outlay for a photo booth may be beyond their means. However, it is possible to hire booths for corporate events or even social gathering, therefore, limiting capital expenditure. It is also an excellent way of testing how effective it is as a form of marketing. We are sure that you will be pleasantly surprised and it will quickly have you considering other events and activities where it could be used.

Naturally, you want to keep things as relevant as possible, ideally to both your brand and the event. It will encourage more interactions which will help to promote your brand, which is the entire purpose. A professional supplier will be able to give you plenty of hints and tips to help you to get the most effective use out of the booth.

One huge avenue of growth that you may be currently overlooking for your business is the world of social media. It is time to put all of these social media sites to good use for the success of your bottom line. The best part of it is that it does not have to cost a dime and can basically replace your current advertising and marketing.

How Social Media Can Be Viewed

Social media is more than a place to get irritated by trolls just looking to stir things up on every topic under the sun. Although it may seem like this is what is happening on Facebook and Twitter more often than not, it can be quite the opposite. It is also a way to connect with friends and loved ones. If you are looking at it from a business standpoint, it is a way to reach out to customers and potential customers as well. Even if you are not one to use social media often if at all, you have to learn what it can do for your business in the long run.

Save Money and Create More Profit

The key to operating a successful business is quite easy. You basically have to bring in more money than you are spending. This means that you would love to be out of the red and in the black when it comes time to figure out your total revenue and cost.

You have probably budgeted money for advertising and marketing every month for the sake of your business. It is a way to let the people know that you are currently out there and what your business can do for them. However, just think if you don’t have to spend that money on marketing and advertising. You can, in essence, do all of your advertising on social media sites instead and it is entirely free. It will take up some of your time, but it will be well worth it. Instead of spending money to advertise in a newspaper or with a local television station, you can pocket that money and create your own posts and videos instead. Plus, the number of people on social media will be much greater than the number of people that would see your ad the old fashion way.

You Can Seek Out Help

If you don’t believe you can create posts every day on social media that will attract the ordinary person’s attention, you can find someone that can help you. As for videos, you can inquire about production video in Montreal and they can produce quality material for you to place up on the social media sites.

You may doubt that social media can make that huge of a difference, but until you give it a real try, you won’t know for sure!

 

Workplace accidents can happen virtually at any moment. They are called accidents for a reason. They usually can be avoided with common sense and the right prevention in place. Here are a few of the most common workplace accidents and incidents that can possibly be eliminated with the proper planning.

Slips

The number one occurrence of workplace accidents is usually due to a person falling down from slipping or stumbling. The reason they are losing their balance could be from a variety of causes, but more than likely it would be from a slippery floor. Just a little liquid on the floor in your workplace could lead to thousands of dollars being paid out. To prevent an accident like this, fix all leaks immediately when they occur. Also, placing down mats and flooring with high traction strips on them could ensure everyone has secure footing even in the most slippery of situations. At the very least, putting these preventions in place could stop a lawsuit from being filed or just needless injuries in general.

Strained Muscles

Strained muscles are no joke and can lead to serious medical bills and time off from work. Back injuries are some of the most common injuries in the workplace. A back injury can be prevented most of the time by the correct lifting technique. However, even with the best technique, if you are asked to lift something that is too heavy for just one person, you are putting people at risk. If you have heavy items that need to be lifted in the workplace, try to do so with dollies or carts instead of relying on the strength of one individual.

Handrails and Guardrails

If you have any stairs in the workplace or areas that you want blocked off from employees entering because it is not safe, then you need handrails and guardrails. You can protect your employees with a non-penetrating guardrail system that could save you from a lawsuit or worse. The last thing you want to do is to have to call the spouse of an employee and explain how their husband or wife died on your watch.

Loud Noises

There are countless factories that have loud noises constantly happening throughout each shift. Rather than subject your employees to it, have earplugs or noise-cancelling headphones on hand for all. Hearing loss is something that does not go away so make it mandatory that all employees protect their ears.

 

In our increasingly tech-driven world, having the right infrastructure to help you take advantage of innovations like AI and cloud tech is essential. This is why so many businesses choose to inquire about IBM power systems. With enterprise servers from one of the world’s most trusted technology brands, IBM Power Systems can make a huge difference for your business operations. Here is a closer look at just a few of the benefits these servers have to offer.

A Cost-Effective Solution

No two companies have the exact same data and application needs. Unfortunately, too many server solutions attempt to pigeonhole businesses into a “one size fits all”-style pricing. This isn’t the case with IBM Power Systems. Cost flexibility allows brands to start taking advantage of these servers right away. You don’t have to add artificial intelligence features until your business is ready to do so.

With flexible pricing that reflects your usage, your company can save money and avoid spending money on tools that aren’t needed quite yet. The use of visualized IT resources can further help users avoid cost overruns while increasing the business’s efficiency to ensure greater profitability.

Low-Maintenance Tech

A common concern when implementing new tech tools is understanding what needs to be done to care for them. This isn’t an issue with IBM Power Systems. The servers are self-managed, automatically tracking CPU, disks, and memory measurements. This ensures that you won’t need to manually handle tasks such as capacity planning and performance management. A reliable cloud infrastructure ensures that you will always have the data you need, when and where you need it.

Prepared For the Future

IBM Power Systems is a truly future-proofed infrastructure that takes advantage of PowerAI. This machine learning platform allows businesses to gain a greater competitive advantage through AI tools. Flexibility to transfer data to the cloud, encrypted data storage, and the ability to work with different software environments ensures comprehensive results that help decision makers better understand and utilize their available data.

Take Your Company to the Next Level

Your company’s use of data and complex tools and applications will only increase in the years to come. By managing everything through IBM Power Systems, you will be better equipped to keep all programs running smoothly so everyone in your company can get the information they need, when they need it. By implementing this forward-thinking server in your infrastructure, you won’t just improve operations today — you’ll also be ready for whatever the future might bring.

 

If there’s one thing that every aspiring influencer dithers about, it’s picking their niche. Some influencers can’t seem to decide on what area to focus their energies. Are you one of them? Here are few tips to help you find a suitable niche and grow your influence.

Identify Your Interests

While everyone wants to go for a niche that brings money, focus on a niche where you can have the most influence. In this case, the things that you’re really good at or love doing. Get this right, and you can easily become a top influencer in your market or industry.

Niche selection is important in establishing yourself as an influencer. To build your credibility and brand, focus on a niche that intersects with your interests.

Know What People Want

When selecting a niche, ask yourself whether its popular and has significant numbers behind it. Go for a niche that has a sizable market. If you settle for a niche that/s too small, you won’t be able to influence enough people. Because of that, sellers won’t offer your brand sponsorships. Travel, health and fitness, and entertainment are some of the most popular niches.

Select a Growing Niche

The other thing you should consider is room for growth. Find a niche that’s expanding so you can continue making money some years down the line. Google Insights can help you determine how much your niche is expanding within a year or a decade. From the information you will get, you can decide whether the niche is worth tapping or not.

Niche Mentions

Once you have found a niche, find out if there’s enough buzz about it. Explore Instagram and Twitter and take note of hashtags. If there are many hashtags, it’s a sign your niche is strong.

Growing as an Influencer

Now that you’ve picked a niche, it’s time to grow your influence online. How do you do it? Keep creating and posting quality content on your Instagram, Facebook, and other social networks regularly. Consistency is the key to building trust and attracting more followers, who will be more than happy to share your content.

Get creative with your posting so you can draw attention. Don’t just share static content. Try live videos, clips, and instastories. As you do so, ensure you use quality hashtags that will get you ahead of your competitors.

As an budding influencer, engage with your fans. Like their comments and respond to them on time. Show them that you appreciate their questions and whatever concerns they have. After all, these are the people who will make you famous. So, you don’t want to discourage them from getting to know you, do you?

As your numbers start to grow, find brands that you can pitch to and see how you can partner via sponsorships or paid posts. Join networks and marketplaces, where businesses can find you. Partner with other influencers, use Instagram shoutouts, and run contests.

Starting out as an influencer might be tricky, but once you identify a niche and start posting content, you will start building your credibility. Be consistent with your posting and get creative too. Join influencer directories and networks and partner with like-minded persons so you can get more exposure.

Video conferencing has developed rapidly over the past few years, becoming a sufficient and efficient part of business strategies, allowing clients to be connected in high quality without geographical restrictions and improving internal communications between co-workers.

Video conferencing can range from free social software such as Skype to more professional cloud-based video conferencing systems like Eyenetwork. Regardless of which platform you use, there are some pitfalls you will need to avoid when using video conferencing. Luckily, we have put together a handy breakdown of video conferencing best practices.

Make sure to have a stable internet connection Even with the most sophisticated video conferencing platform, you still need to have a reliable internet connection. The most important aspect of video conferencing happens to be stable as well as fast internet connectivity. Once the connection is slow, it will affect the conference adversely with visual disruptions and inconsistent audio.

Have a clear agenda Make sure that everyone who is invited to the conference call understands, what will be discussed and what their roles are; are they note-taking? Or do they need to prepare data to present? In the same way that everyone would know their roles within an internal meeting,

If no-one knows what they are doing and therefore turn up unprepared, you are going to have awkward silences and at worst, are going to appear incompetent to your clients.

Be conscious of your background Windows on a video call can negatively impact the quality by giving you a harsh silhouette effect. Whenever possible, try sitting with your back to a wall rather than a window or try lowering the shades. If you are in a public space, try to find a spot with the least amount of distractions behind you.

Maintain eye contact This may seem counteractive as instead of looking at your participants’ faces, you need to be looking into the camera to maintain the appearance of eye contact. Obviously, you also need to be able to gauge reactions, so take it in turns to both check out the atmosphere of the video call and ensure that your participants feel listened to and respected.

Test Drive Your Tech Always do a test drive before joining or starting your video call, make sure your audio and video works, make sure your internet is stable and also make sure that you have the best angle. If your camera is pointing up or down at an extreme angle, then your participants will find it hard to see your face and pick up your non-verbal cues. Therefore, you will lose the value that video conferencing provides.

Dress appropriately Keep in mind that it is a formal setting and therefore dress accordingly. Being the representative of your organisation, you should not dress in a way that might harm the reputation of your company. If you are working from home, dress as if you are going into the office, it may be tempting to try and get away with PJ bottoms with a smart shirt on top, but it’s a risk you may regret!

If you follow these best practices for a video call and giving the participants the same level of respect as you would when meeting them in real life, then you’ll be able to host a productive, professional meeting.