If you’re not yet into social media, you’re not a part of 1/3 of the world’s adult population.  According to the Nielsen Company, the global average time spent per person on social networking sites is now nearly five and half hours per month (February 2010 data), with Facebook accounting for the majority of that time.  With all of the recent changes and innovations in social media (particularly with Facebook), that number has surely increased.  Some 1 billion people are accessing social media nowadays and it is no surprise that businesses are quickly following suit. The Forum of Private Businesses reports that 69% of SMBs (small-to-mid-sized businesses) currently access social media sites, again, with the majority of the usage coming from Facebook. Among businesses and consumers alike, social media use is becoming more ubiquitous by the day – however, there are stark differences between personal and company use.

The Intent

Social networking in business was founded on a completely different premise than personal social networking.  Businesses identified sites like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn as platforms for marketing and consumer engagement. Soumitra Dutta of the Harvard Business Review clarifies the reasons so many businesses have joined the social media bandwagon, saying social media sites “provide a low cost platform on which to build your brand, allow you to engage rapidly and simultaneously with peers and customers, and they give you an opportunity to learn from instant information and unvarnished feedback.”  Businesses access social media to share information, but generally only when it pertains to their company or industry. It is not so much about sharing opinions or thoughts as it is about engaging consumers and maintaining customer relationships.

Recommended: Attend our Free SugarCRM Series and learn more about Social CRM

Personal social networking began with something entirely different in mind.  It began as a way to keep people connected and to facilitate an easy communicative environment for information sharing.  Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook said in 2010, that his initial intent for creating Facebook was to create a “visual directory in which people with common interests could stay in touch.”  Today, it has morphed into not only a communication tool, but literally a way to rate the world.  With Facebook, if you come across something that you’re interested in on the web, you can ‘Like’ it or share it with a touch of a button. On Twitter if you like what you see, you can retweet it.  Every time you like, share, or retweet something, you are essentially boosting its popularity on the internet.  However, you can also attach negative comments to most things shared this way, fundamentally giving what you shared a negative “rating.”

Do You Trust Me?

The unfortunate reality is that for many businesses, both public and private, social media is a nuisance and is treated as such.  The culture of trust is all too frequently absent for many organizations. Employees are often reluctant to share information on their company’s behalf as not to offend any policy.  Many employees even go as far as blocking their employers in hopes that their disseminations will remain private.  This type of behavior more than likely stems from the fear of getting disciplined or in some cases even terminated.  There have, after all, been dozens of cases where employees have been terminated for sharing things on Facebook, including an employee of National Suisse who was fired for accessing Facebook at home while sick.

With personal social media use, trust is inherently given upon acceptance of the connection.  Most people follow, befriend, or ’Like’ a person/page based on a genuine or common interest.  It is easier to trust and engage with an entity that you have something in common with (and who is not responsible for your paycheck).

Russ Edelman of CNBC states, “in the corporate world, a proactive effort is required to build a culture of trust; one that allows participants to dip their toe in the social networking pool and see the benefits that are duly derived.” Some techniques for building trust with social networking in your business could include recognition of contributions and/or the inclusion of gaming theory (contests and group trivia are some examples) to foster a friendly sense of competition and to motivate the team.

To Regulate or Not to Regulate

Businesses generally have some sort of policy in place that outlines their expectations of social media use within the company.  These policies can often be restrictive, but a business must protect its interests. Consequently, social media use among businesses requires much more rigor than personal use. In the workplace, content disseminated via social media in many instances has to go through an approval process.  The trick to developing a social media policy is to figure out the perfect balance between too much regulation and not enough.

Believe it or not, personal social media use does come with its share of policies and regulations, though many are site-specific.  Facebook for instance has taken a strong stance against harassment of others and posting obscene or offensive material. Most people however have no issues with following these guidelines providing for an environment of basically-free expression.

The Verdict

It is clear that businesses are beginning to master consumer interaction via social media and people too are pros at communicating with or about businesses. It is much less rigorous and involved when using social media personally, and businesses have a lot more to consider when accessing social platforms.  The main issue with SMB’s and social media lies within the culture of trust.  If your own employees are not willing to promote you, consumers will probably have a difficult time doing so as well.

Download our extensive social media 101 guide today!

The post The Difference Between Personal and Business Social Media Use appeared first on Think, The Blytheco Blog.

Do you currently use a Sage Application?  Well you’re in luck because Sage has a bunch of promotions for customers for the month of September.  I’ll be sure to get them out quicker next time, but it’s never too late to save a buck is it?

Intelligence Reporting  - Connector and Report Designer Bundle for Sage 100, 300, and 500 ERP customers	Customers can purchase the Intelligence Reporting Module Bundle for $2,000 (buy Connector Module and get Report Designer at no cost)
Off-Plan Sage SalesLogix and Sage CRM -  Sage SalesLogix and Sage CRM (U.S. and CAN) off-plan customers who have been off-plan for six or   more months To be eligible, Sage SalesLogix and Sage CRM customers must be off-plan for six months or more To qualify, Sage SalesLogix customer must be on Sage SalesLogix version 6.2 or above Sage CRM will be issued a key for the version on record This is valid for U.S. and Canada customers only By purchasing a minimum of ten named-user licenses, the customer  is not required to pay any associated maintenance and support fees, and the customer will remain off-plan and ineligible for maintenance  upgrades or support access (until such time as customer reinstates) If purchasing Sage SalesLogix Cloud, customer will be considered new, and receive all the benefits related to a new subscription Customers who wish to have the benefits of a Sage Business Care plan, can reinstate at        any time and pay the reinstatement fees, and purchase a Sage Business Care plan moving forward that will include the additional users	Off-plan customers can purchase a minimum of ten or more named-user licenses, and their reinstatement fee will be waived. A minimum of ten users must be purchased to qualify Or, Off-plan customers can trade in their off-plan user licenses for a two-year $30 credit per user, per month, toward Sage SalesLogix cloud user licenses
Reinstatement Offer   (N-2)*     N-2 customers (whose last shipped product is generally no more than two versions behind thecurrent version), who reinstate with the election of Easy Pay     *Sage 100 ERP (versions 4.3, 4.4); Sage 300 ERP (versions 5.5, 5.6); Sage 500   ERP (versions 7.2, 7.3)	Customer can receive up to five user licenses at no charge (in any combination of Sage ERP and/or Sage CRM user licenses) Customer  receives Sage Gold Business Care upgrade at no additional charge (priced at Silver)
Upgrade Bundle (Product   Upgrades)     Sage 100 ERP customers   upgrading from: Sage 100 ERP Standard to Sage 100 ERP Advanced or Premium Sage 100 ERP Advanced to Sage 100 ERP Premium Sage 300 ERP customers upgrading from: Sage 300 ERP Standard to Sage 300 ERP Advanced or Premium Sage 300 ERP Advanced to Sage 300 ERP Premium	Customers may receive up to five user licenses at no charge (in any combination of ERP and/or Sage CRM user licenses)
Users  (Add-on user sales  only)    Applicable products include, Sage 100 ERP, Sage 300 ERP, and Sage 500 ERP   (Sage CRM users do not apply to Sage 500 ERP customers), Sage Pro ERP, and   Sage PFW ERP	Buy four users (ERP or Sage CRM) and receive one free

The post September Promotions for Sage Customers appeared first on Think, The Blytheco Blog.

by Cortez NaPue @TheSocialMohawk

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJwbev3w7-s

Haven’t heard of Avalara?  Well, I don’t see why not – they for sure were the most festive booth at Sage Summit, this year held at the Gaylord Hotel in Opryland.  Couldn’t miss the bright orange and Tiki-hut feel of their inviting trade show display.

This year, we were lucky enough again to interview Pat Falle of Avalara, and he exemplified why Avalara often stands out among the crowd.

You can also find out more about Avalara by visiting their website.

The post Sales Tax Pioneer Avalara Interview at Sage Summit 2012 appeared first on Think, The Blytheco Blog.

by Amy-Mae Elliott via @Mashable

In this day and age, many are working from home, and if you do, you owe it to yourself to set up a proper office space. It’s vital you have somewhere to concentrate that’s separate from your home life — and is hopefully a nice space to spend time in. A good working space is even more important if you operate your small business out of your home.

To help you out on this rather specific front, we have pulled together some useful tips from experienced home-workers and chatted with home office expert Lisa Kanarek, founder of WorkingNaked.com. Also keep in mind that having a home office can entitle you to certain tax breaks, so your investment can end up right back in your pocket.

The post 10 Tips To Make Your Home Office Awesome and More Functional appeared first on Think, The Blytheco Blog.

Estimates of the rate of what is described as “CRM failure” range from 40 percent to 80 percent—and it’s generally not because CRM vendors create bad software. It’s because buyers make some crucial mistakes at the very outset. Those mistakes fall into several categories.

The first type of mistake is a failure to candidly examine the issues within a business that drive the need for a new CRM solution. Problems are by definition unpleasant, and exposing them to the light of day can be embarrassing and uncomfortable, especially for the executives under whose watch those problems have developed. Highlighting these issues is seen by many as a career-limiting move. For that reason, there can be a tendency to downplay, deflect or deny problems during the requirements gathering phase, and while that may temporarily assuage anxieties, it sows the seed for far greater problems in the future. Automating processes that don’t work is only going to get you to failure faster—and with a much higher price tag.

Recommended For You: Free SugarCRM Admin Training Series

The second common mistake is to put the priority on technology from the outset. Even if you clearly define the problems you need to address, you’ll have problems if the technology you choose cannot align to solutions those problems. If the team choosing a solution becomes enamored with a particular CRM feature, but that feature doesn’t map to a problem their company is suffering from, it shouldn’t be a major consideration in their choice. Worse yet is the solution that is impressive in its functionality, but which forces your employees to change the way they work—especially if they’re already successful. This almost guarantees a problem with user adoption, the major killer of CRM in the post-implementation phase, and can force management to employ heavy-handed tactics to force employees to use CRM.

The third common mistake is a failure to clearly define the goals of a CRM implementation, or to change goals as the decision and implementation processes are in progress. This is very common; often, the ideas built into CRM applications are new to buyers, especially small to medium-sized businesses. Exposure to sales and lead management ideas that form the basis of some CRM functionality can trigger new thinking about these aspects of the business, which is good, but that can also cause the goalposts to be moved when it comes to viewing how successful the CRM solution is, which is bad. The question, “why can’t my CRM do this?” is a painful thing to hear after the application has just gone live. The goals need to focus on today’s problems,
with consideration of problems that need to be tackled in the near future—but frequent re-prioritization of these goals will hurt your decision-making process and damage your perception of how successful your CRM solution is. A CRM application has no chance of real success if the objectives that led to its selection changed before it could be implemented.

Now that you’ve read the 3 most common mistakes to avoid, download the 10-step guide to buying the right CRM solution.

The post 3 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Making a CRM Selection appeared first on Think, The Blytheco Blog.

Got a business with international ambitions?

Sage ERP X3 is a proven solution for mid-market customers with international ambitions and multi-national requirements. Sage ERP X3 technology is available on all leader platforms in the market with End-to-end process integrity and data consistency in your Webtop across the enterprise.

Generally, X3 is ideal for businesses with 50 to 5000 employees, subsidiaries of group, international companies, and companies with a strong growth in manufacturing, distribution and services industries.

[Video: Is Sage ERP X3 Right For Me?]

1. Functionality, not complexity

When engaging in your ERP selection process looking for less complexity does not mean that you need less functionality. Sage ERP X3 provides your company with deep and broad first-class functionality, while remaining simple to implement and to use. Put together a list of your key requirements and look what systems are able to support them all within a simple, integrated design. Of course, you can simply consider looking at Sage ERP X3!

2. Integration, not interfaced

As you start you ERP selection process, you’ll realize software integration does not mean just applications that work together. It also means that they exchange real-time information,share a common database and user interface and, more importantly, they evolve together. Many ERP systems are hiding functional gaps by offering a ‘modular design’, which often requires custom interfaces and complex maintenance. Only Sage ERP X3 gives you both rich and fully-integrated functionality in all areas of your business for accounting and financial management, purchasing, inventory, sales, customer relationship management AND manufacturing.

3. Scalability

Evolution means the ability for your ERP system to grow with your business. Sage ERP X3′s integrated design provides your company with all thefunctions it needs now and in the future. You can simply activate the functions as you need them. It’s all there from the beginning. It is also a flexible system that can be easily parameterized to fit your organization’s changes, scaling up to more than 2,000 users. After your ERP selection process you’ll find you can rely on Sage ERP X3 to help you grow!

4. Web-native, not web-enabled

Web-native means that your system can be accessed the same way in both client/server and Web mode. Some ERP software systems may offer a customized web connection to dedicated functions, but few can provide your company with the ability to operate the system locally or through the web in the exact same fashion. Think of the advantage you could have with this advanced communicative architecture when expanding your business over multiple sites, or considering developing relationships with premier suppliers, partners or customers!

5. Multi-country by design

Global trade requires global tools. Not only is Sage ERP X3 available in ten languages and legislations – including China – allowing users to access the system in their own language wherever they are, but country-specific parameters, such as legal and market requirements, are centralized to offer a single global solution. Sage ERP X3 makes it easy to share common data and processes between different foreign sites or subsidiaries, while respecting their own specific usages and business rules. During your ERP selection process keep in mind that more than 3,000 companies worldwide are using Sage ERP X3 in more than 53 countries and 165,000 users.

6. Low cost of ownership

With functionality and ease of use, cost of ownership might be among your first selection criteria. And of course, all ERP vendors claim to provide their customers with the best possible return on investment. But when it comes to the total cost of YOUR project, the cost might not be as low as you thought, as your company certainly will require more services to customize its solution! We built Sage ERP X3 to dramatically reduce the time of implementation and customization, while providing most of theadvanced features you need as a standard, because reducing the cost from the implementation on is the best way to guarantee a faster return on investment!

7. Commitment to success, not loyalty programs

How much time have you spent arguing to get some support from well-known software vendors? With a business unit entirely dedicated to Sage ERP X3 operations, Sage offers you the best of two worlds: a reactive mid-sized organization committed to our customers’ success, backed by a world leading business software provider and its first-class R&D centers.

 For more info on how to reduce cost and risk with Sage ERP X3 download this whitepaper.

The post 7 Reasons to Implement Sage ERP X3 appeared first on Think, The Blytheco Blog.

By Mark Grimes, @DF_LLC

Zero percent (0%) financing offers originated in the automobile industry but have long since spread to other industries due to their effectiveness in attracting customer interest. Properly utilized and managed, these programs can be valuable promotional tools, helping you close more deals in a competitive business environment. However, like any financing program, it’s important to know all the facts before offering a 0% financing option to your customers.

A product or service purchased with a 0% financing plan allows your customers to avoid paying interest for a predetermined period of time. As a result, cash-strapped customers can get a jump on working away at the full purchase price of your products or services since their regular monthly payments go directly toward the principle.

[Is 0% Financing Right For You? Find out how to share your thoughts and #blyDEA here]

Offering 0% financing is a great incentive that may help you stimulate quick sales volume during periods of reduced activity. These offers are also an excellent way of closing difficult deals, enticing “on the fence” customers to buy and clearing out excess or aging inventory.

Of course, as with any funding arrangement, 0% financing comes with some fine print caveats. While an attractive offer like “No Money Down” or “0% Financing For The First 12 Months” may draw potential customers to your door, the fact is that these no-interest opportunities are, more often than not, limited to buyers with excellent credit scores who have never missed a payment on past loans. Unfortunately, in many cases, those aren’t the buyers most attracted by the offer. Depending on the policies of your leasing partner, customers who don’t qualify for the 0% offer may be eligible for an extended payment structure or a slightly higher interest rate of perhaps 4-5%.

But before we delve too deeply into the benefits to your customer, let’s take a closer look at how 0% financing offers work from a vendor perspective. One potential drawback is that most 0% financing programs require vendors to provide a blind discount or down payment requirement. Depending on the credit term and funding amount, your leasing partner will pay between 86% and 92% of the final invoice and request a typical no-interest repayment period of between 24 and 36 months.

Here’s an example of a theoretical 0% financing program breakdown based on a $50,000 purchase price:

• 24 months = $2,083 per month to customer
  • Lease company pays you 88% or (50,000 * .88) for a total of $44,000
• 36 months = $1,389 per month to customer
  • Lease company pays you 86% or (50,000 * .86) for a total of $43,000

Of course, despite this blind discount or down payment requirement there are a significant number of advantages as well. In addition to helping you overcome the interest rate objections of potential customers, one of the biggest vendor benefits of a 0% financing program is the ability to control the sales opportunity. Since 0% financing allows you to offer an on-the-spot purchasing solution, you are better prepared to keep your customers from looking elsewhere for a better deal.

What’s more, 0% financing allows you to avoid the hassle of dealing with each individual customer’s bank, keeping your sale from getting caught up in the red tape of their financial institutions’ funding policies.

For more helpful advice and guidance on creating the equipment financing program that’s right for you and your customers, click here to contact Dimension Funding or call  800.755.0585 to speak with a member of our Business Finance Funder (BFF) team.

The post Is 0% Financing Right For Your Business And Its Customers? appeared first on Think, The Blytheco Blog.

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 Jose Pagliery @CNNMoney

The federal government in 2011 missed its target of awarding 23% of all contract dollars to small businesses. That makes six straight years.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — For the sixth year in a row, the government has missed its goal to award 23% of all federal contract dollars to small businesses.

On Tuesday, the Small Business Administration reported that federal agencies gave out 21.7% to small companies. That sounds close, but means that small businesses did not receive $3.8 billion set aside for them.

The awarding goal, which was raised slightly to 23% in 1997, was part of the same 1953 law that established the SBA. It was created to support small companies and avoid having large ones, such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin, gobble up all the federal money.

Related: What Healthcare Reform Means for Businesses

But the government has missed the target consistently. Small businesses have missed out on at least $25.7 billion in contracts since 2006, the last year the government reached its goal.

The SBA did not provide comment about the failure of agencies to meet the goal. It pointed to a blog post that discussed its efforts to minimize fraud and increase participation of small companies.

The chairman of the House Small Business Committee, Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO), has pushed legislation that aims to increase transparency in contracting and punish the agencies that fail to meet the goal.

The legislation also provides for educating contracting officers who often mislabel contracts worth millions as “small business” contracts, even though they’re directed to subsidiaries of major corporations.

A provision in the legislation also raises the goal from 23% to 25%, which sounds unrealistic given the track record.

But Graves insists even the higher target is achievable.

“Solutions to both of these problems can be accomplished at the same time. The goal hasn’t been met, because there hasn’t been an incentive for agency staff to do so,” Graves said.

The government has reached its 23% target only three times in the past dozen years.

One group long critical of federal contracting procedures said the situation is worse than it appears.

The American Small Business League, which analyzes thousands of contracts every year, points to mistakes by federal contract officers and said they inflate the numbers.

“I endorsed Barack Obama for president, but I couldn’t be more disappointed,” said Lloyd Chapman, the group’s president. “Ending the diversion of federal small business contracting to corporate giants around the world would create more jobs than anything President Obama has ever proposed.”

The post Federal government misses small business contract goal – again appeared first on Think, The Blytheco Blog.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5zU1y_0Geo

There’s been a lot of commotion recently over the upheld health care mandate – some say it will destroy the economy, while others say it’s a dawn of a new era of equal access for American healthcare.  Neither is probably correct.  Though whether you agree with it or not, one thing is certain – the Affordable Healthcare Act will indeed affect individuals and businesses alike.  Often when new policies are introduced, regulation becomes more confusing and so can the rule of law.  To this day, many Americans, including myself, still don’t fully understand the breadth and intricacies of the 2600 page policy recently upheld by the Supreme Court.  We just know that it’s going to affect us somehow.  As tedious as the bill is, it might actually help to add some clarity and ground rules for businesses to follow.

Supreme Court Decision

What the ruling says. It’s a decision that stunned some pundits and will undoubtedly send ripples throughout the business community. The Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that Congress acted within its rights to require most Americans to carry health insurance. The law also carries requirements for businesses regarding healthcare for employees.

What it means. What the decision means to you depends greatly upon the size of the business you operate. For example, if you own and operate a one person business, the impact will be much the same as it is for an individual. If you have more than 50 employees on the other hand, the impact on your business could be quite different, depending upon whether or not you currently provide healthcare coverage for workers.

Clarity and the Economy

“There is a perspective on the economy which is argued that laws of regulation have imposed a lot of uncertainty on businesses,” said Gerry Wedig, an economist with the University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business. “Now, there is a lot more certainty about what the rules are going to be.  That might allow firms to move forward with their plans.”

That includes hiring healthcare personnel to meet the increase in demand sure to come with increased preventive care, said Dan Seiver, an economist at San Diego State University. And jobs are the one thing Obama needs right now, given the economy’s lackluster performance — something that was underscored by Thursday morning’s report that the nation’s first-quarter GDP growth was slow, as expected.  The decision will also increase demand for schools providing healthcare worker training, he said.

Many, including several House Republicans have declared the SCOTUS decision as a large detriment to businesses everywhere. The Small Business Majority, on the other hand, applauded the court’s 5-4 decision, calling it a “victory for small business owners who have struggled with the excessively high cost of health insurance for decades.” The group says the Act tackles small business owners’ top priorities—cost and accessibility—and predicts that the law will “significantly rein in costs while providing more health coverage options for entrepreneurs.”

How do you feel about the Supreme Court decision?  Leave a comment below.

The post What the SCOTUS Healthcare Ruling Means For Your Business appeared first on Think, The Blytheco Blog.