By Nicole Laurier, @NicoleLaurier

Back in March, I read an article in Redmond by Don Jones titled ‘What’s Your Time Worth?’. Don discusses the challenges of getting a business to understand the value of automating a process and how to show ROI (return on investment) to your employer to add this type of third party tool.

That’s a very interesting concept (and a great article!) but very often a mid size business does not have an internal IT department, so they have probably not come across Business Process Management Software or even heard the terminology. And so they will not realize how their business will benefit by adding this type of software application to their current systems.

Going back to basics, what is the definition of Business Process Management? According to Wikipedia:

‘It promotes business effectiveness & efficiency, while striving for innovation, flexibility and integration with technology.’

[To learn how to cut your time in half by automating daily tasks, attend our webinar July 12th.]

So Business Process Management Software was designed and continues to evolve to automate companies manual business processes; to ensure that organizations are aware of what is happening in their internal systems; to notify business owners of critical company information; to handle daily, weekly or monthly reporting; to integrate disparate business systems so that the same information does not have to be re-keyed twice.

I know the description above is a little bit vague, some real life examples of typical Customer requirements are:

~ Credit Control Procedures

~ Purchase Order Approvals

~ Handling of orders that come in from an e commerce Store

~ E-Mail Archiving

~ Handling Literature Requests from a website

~ Reports to Management of new sales

And there are so many other processes that could be added to this list.

Ask yourself ‘do you want your employees to manually handle the same task on a daily basis if their time could be better spent? Do you want them engaged in labor intensive, repetitive  processes where errors can easily be made? I am sure your answer is NO!

So what other key benefits do businesses gain by adding a Business Process Management Solution? Not only do you free up your employees time, but your business becomes more efficient, you know what is going on in your internal systems and best of all you will quickly see the ROI from your investment.

Interestingly business often purchase this type of application to use for just one process but once they have that in place, they realize all the other process that can benefit.

The hardest part is to define what are your process needs; once you have done that you are halfway to solving your business problem and ready to look at the solution.

Do you have a manual process that is taking up too much of your employees time? Do you want to discover how your business can benefit by adding Business Process Management?

The question is ‘What do you want to Automate?’

The post How Business Process Management Benefits Businesses appeared first on Think, The Blytheco Blog.

By now, most of you know that Sage Summit 2012 is just months away (for frequent updates visit Summit’s twitter page or search with the hashtag #SageSummit) and I simply can’t wait.  It’s in Nashville, and though I’m no huge fan of country, I am eager to see the performances of Trace Adkins, Jake Owen, and Montgomery Gentry, plus more!  It really seems as though Sage is ramping up their CRM and partner efforts and hitting us in our musical soft spots.  Who isn’t a sucker for good music?

At this year’s Summit, there are going to be topics on the latest ERP innovations, HRMS software, and CRM technologies.  Last year had some pretty good topics too.  Blytheco Director of Client and Partner Strategy, Apryl Hanson, chose to travel throughout the Summit venue interviewing worthy participants.  Watch her interview with a True Commerce rep and learn how you can harness its supply-chain power!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTLdRAmpdp8

TrueCommerce EDI Solutions are the only EDI providers with a platform that offers true one-stop shopping with everything your business needs for EDI compliance. Their EDI software solutions integrate seamlessly with the leading ERP systems and accounting software packages, and provide you with all components needed to implement EDI in your environment.

For more info on how to increase your sales with a cloud-based EDI, download a free demo.

The post Remembering Sage Summit 2011 and EDI Provider True Commerce appeared first on Think, The Blytheco Blog.

Pinterest is an online space where users can post images, “pinning” pictures to their virtual bulletin boards. Others can view the boards and repin images to their own boards. If a business has anything it can put into visual form, Pinterest can act as a marketing agent to expand the brand. For businesses, and especially consumer-based businesses, Pinterest offers an opportunity for promotion in a visually stimulating environment. If your business or products can be creatively displayed and can convey the personality of your brand, then Pinterest could be a good outlet for you. Here are eight ways to attract attention to your business using Pinterest:

1. Invest the time

Pinterest.com requires an investment in time. The key is to build relationships with those who are known for quality “pins” at the site. When these popular sites get to know you and your business, they will be more likely to post about your product. Focus on the users who get the most likes and repins.

2. Keep it simple

The main appeal of Pinterest is that the site is exceptionally easy to use. Everyone has a “board” where they pin images that are all the same size. It is best to use Pinterest’s uncluttered aesthetic. Each pinned photo should includes one link back your businesses site. Pinterest can dramatically boost page views on your site.

3. Connect your physical presence with your online presence

It’s important to connect the dots between a physical location and your Pinterest page. Your physical store can feature online ads and Pinterest promotions. This wiill  increase page views directly from Pinterest and direct sales.

4. Make sure your business is a match

Pinterest caters to those looking for recipes, room décor, and do-it-yourself crafts although many small businesses have found great value in the product

5. Use other social nets to feed Pinterest

Connect your account with your Facebook and Twitter accounts. Not only will it help you gain followers, but making this connection adds social media icons under your profile picture that link to your Facebook and Twitter profiles.

6. Launch a daily pin theme

Create a daily pin to promote your brand. The idea is to come up with a catchy slogan that is tied to your business and is memorable enough so that the images get re-pinned. The daily themed pins usually lead to repeat visitors.

7. Promote more than products

The temptation for any business is to post pins only for products you sell. One key is to post interesting news tidbits, tips, and products from other companies. Pinterest users are savvy in spotting a board that is too self-serving and only posts product photos.

8. Follow the big hitters

One of the best ways to raise awareness about your company is to start following the big names on Pinterest. This is the proven method on Twitter: When you follow popular figures, and they follow you back, other Twitter users get the message and follow the leader. It’s important to find out who is “pinning” your products and to follow them to see if they follow you back.

For more info on how Pinterest can work for you and your business, click here for a free whitepaper.

The post How Pinterest Can Help Your Small Business Succeed appeared first on Think, The Blytheco Blog.

Wal-Mart World Headquarters

So perhaps ‘world domination’ is a bit much, but Earth’s largest retailer seems to be doing it all. Earlier today, Wal-Mart announced its acquisition of social media firm, Kosmix, which makes it official:  Wal-Mart has its hands in everyone’s pudding.  From confections to vineyards, and from oil to now marketing, Wal-Mart is everywhere.

“We are expanding our capabilities in today’s rapidly growing social commerce environment,” said Eduardo Castro-Wright, Wal-Mart’s vice chairman. “Social networking and mobile applications are increasingly becoming a part of our customers’ day-to-day lives globally, influencing how they think about shopping, both online and in retail stores

Last week we saw Salesforce’s acquisition of social media monitoring company Radian6, which arguably makes sense as Salesforce, a CRM company, is interested in strengthening its content management segment, but is Wal-Mart’s acquisition of Kosmix indicative of a pattern for most major retailers?

Kosmix was founded by Venky Harinarayan and Anand Rajaraman, early pioneers of online shopping, whose first company, Junglee, was acquired by Amazon.com in 1998 for $250 million. The founders and the Kosmix team will operate as part of the newly formed @WalmartLabs and continue to be based in Silicon Valley.

According to Wal-Mart, they plan to expand the @WalmartLabs team and expect that this new group will “create technologies and businesses around social and mobile commerce that will support Wal-Mart’s global multi-channel strategy.”

While it’s not exactly clear if Wal-Mart plans to develop social media technologies for commercial use or just their own, it is clear that this is a bold move that will provide a marketing advantage for the company. Wal-Mart currently operates retail businesses in 15 countries and e-commerce businesses in nine countries.

“We are at an inflection point in the development of e-commerce,” Mr. Rajaraman cited recently. “The first generation of e-commerce was about bringing the store to the Web. The next generation will be about building integrated experiences that leverage the store, the Web and mobile, with social identity being the glue that binds the experience.”

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