Check your files

Just like if you post an offensive remark on Twitter, or send a colleague an off-colour joke, when you deal with clients you are liable to be judged by your communication.
The very last thing you want, then, is to send them something that could potentially damage their computer.
Yet, unless you have good antivirus software installed on your system, you could be sending people files that are infected by viruses.
When people think of protecting their computer, they may just have in mind whether their photos or documents could be destroyed. What few people consider is the wider implication of leaving their computers vulnerable to attack.
Once you have a virus on your system, potentially every time you send out an email – especially with an attachment – you are passing it on. It’s like having the ‘flu and deciding that you’ll still get on a plane.
Perhaps, if you sent your client a document attached to an email, that person would simply accept that it was unintentional. But there’s a chance that their own system could be vulnerable, and anyway they might think from that point on that if you were the kind of person who didn’t take the issue of security of your own computer seriously, you’re not someone they want to do business with.
It’s vital, then, that even if you don’t have a lot of money available and choose a free antivirus program, you do the best you can to protect your computer. There are plenty of free antivirus downloads available, not all of which might give you the level of protection professional software does.
If you decide to purchase antivirus protection, there are plenty of sites you can visit to assess which program to use. Antivirus software comes with a variety of price tags and bells and whistles, so you can choose the one you think is most suitable for you. If you don’t trust reviews, you can get a trial version such as Kaspersky free antivirus, and see for yourself.
Don’t forget, though, to check regularly that it’s doing its job properly. If somehow the software has been disabled, or you’re running an outdated version, then you are at risk.

How Has Business Evolved Using Social Networking?

Business communication has dramatically changed since the ready availability of work and personal computers and especially since the invention of the Internet.  We can communicate and indeed do business with customers globally at very little cost.  Prior to computers communication would have been paper based and rely on the postal service to deliver quotations of work or invoices, taking a longer time to complete business transactions.  We can now send quotations to customers almost instantaneously via email and complete a transaction within minutes.

Some say that the wide use of email is not an effective communication medium as there is a tendency to be informal in an email and innocent wording can cause offence, as the tone can be lost in translation.  There are many pros and cons, for example you have a trail of any emails sent and received that date stamps your correspondences.  You can ask for confirmation that your message has been received, no need to wait for any “addressee gone away” notes from the postal service. [Read more...]

Sponsoring Social Media Events

As more and more business people are increasing their use of social media it makes sense to start participating in these events through event sponsorship. Over the past few years more social media events for business have begun occurring. They range from day events and educational seminars, to networking events over breakfast or a lunch date. Therefore sponsorship of these events is a logical next step and cost-effective promotional tool.

Good reasons why to sponsor social media business events:

• Promotion through social media drives, viral word of mouth: a good event will naturally promote itself and its sponsors. Facebook posts, Tweets, and LinkedIn comments will increase visibility and viewers will spread the word.
• It helps to promote your social media properties: this will include links to your Twitter account on tweets and Facebook Page when posted on Facebook. [Read more...]

Origins Of Business Marketing, Business Marketing v’s Consumer Marketing

Historically business marketing took a back seat to consumer marketing for many years. However in the 1970s this began to change and the bulk of research on business marketing has come about in the last 25 years. Today business marketing courses are commonplace at universities and more students begin their careers in business marketing than in consumer marketing. Furthermore for the professionals, conferences on business-to-business marketing are held every year.

Business marketing also known as industrial marketing involves the marketing of goods and services from one business to another, with the business trying to make a profit (business-to-business marketing – B2B marketing). Whereas Consumer Marketing involves providers of goods or services selling directly to individuals or households through mass media and retail channels. It is marketing to an individual for personal use (Business-to-Consumer, or B2C marketing). Therefore in broad terms, marketing can be split into two catergories – consumer marketing (“Business to Consumer”) and industrial marketing (“Business to Business”). [Read more...]

How Buisness Has Evolved?

Business evolution occurs through small encouraged changes that support a culture of creativity. Creativity is now everyone’s business. This creativity is most evident in business communication methods such as web-based communication, video conferencing, reports, presentations, emails, telephoned meetings and face to face meetings. Effective business communication is the key to get your business to achieve what you want it to achieve, and is an essential skill for success. As your business evolves, so must your effective communication. Enter the world of Web 2.0 and the introduction of blogs and social networking communities such as Twitter, LinkedIn, BlogCatalog, YouTube, Facebook, Warrior Forum and Wealthy Affiliate. Social networks can be used as an effective business and social communication tool as it gives ’offline’ businesses an ‘online’ presence. [Read more...]