Category: Small Business
Dealing with that mountain of business cards
As computers move beyond productivity enhancement to a more central role in business, we may sometimes overlook some of the common business activities that most of us don’t yet computerize. The exchange of business cards, for example, is an everyday occurrence for most of us, but few business...
At a recent e-commerce seminar in Toronto, a representative from Bell Canada displayed some enticing statistics on the current state of e-commerce, and its projected growth over the next few years.
Bell cites the successes of companies like Dell, which Bell says is doing $4 million worth of business every day on the Internet - a whopping 30 per...
Like the Olympic torch that must be kept burning, your sales have to be kept alive by keeping your eyes on trends and developing strategies that maximize your strengths and those of your associates.
I'll describe some of the techniques I use to more efficiently solve customer support issues and keep an eye on emerging technologies that could end...
Promotion is an evolving art. As those of us with something to sell look toward the future, the Internet looms large as an area of ever-growing importance. And, with its emerging role as the e-commerce market-place, we have work to do to set up our shops, unfurl our banners and get the message out there.
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One of the key ways Internet...
Windows 98 and Windows 2000 support up to nine monitors connected to a PC - slots and IRQs permitting. Your customers may by dreaming of adding a second video card and monitor for use in Windows 98, but will they be able to get them to work?
Following the theme from my April column, I have spent some time performing further tests on multi-display...
Have you seen the Web-based ordering and tracking system called Ironside yet?
The Ironside site at http://www.ironside.com has detailed information on the capabilities of the system, so I won't repeat it here, except to summarize it as follows: If you are a reseller and you want to order a product, you want to know where it is and how long it is...
At a 1998 meeting of the Western Canada Computer Distributor Society, I asked some attendees how their sales were, compared to 1997. The general consensus was gloomy - sales were down about 10 per cent on average, reported more than one distributor.
Those inclined toward gloomy predictions began wondering whether this was the long-feared stall of...
Whether you think Apple's 1997 pact with Microsoft was just another part of the company's darkest year or the beginning of the turnaround for the company - it was clear at that time that Apple was in difficulty, and needed to take some dramatic steps to correct its course. This of course, was the theme of the keynote speech by Apple co-founder and...
At their respective keynotes at a recent conferences I attended in San Francisco, Microsoft chairman and CEO Bill Gates and Apple "interim CEO" Steve Jobs both espoused the power of brand advertising.
To Gates, with his vision of the Web lifestyle still driving The Road Ahead, brand identity is the most important message for a company to...
Are you trying to figure our how to make your Internet site pay? Ever wish you could read your customers' minds? Maybe you can.
For example, the analysis of just one Canadian site shows how the Internet is gaining popularity as a source of on-line information; and how buyers are increasing using the Web to shop for computing products. Looking at...
One of the overwhelming themes observable at Comdex/Canada '97, aside from an apparently endless array of digital cameras and the emergence of DVD as The Next Big Thing, was the inescapable sensation that, for many, the channel has failed.
Five points to consider:
Quality dealers often can't compete on price with megastores. Customers can buy...
"Arguably, WordPerfect 5.1 was that company's definitive "sophisticated" product - especially if you count profitability and market-share."
There's an old saying that good things come in threes. Let's expand on that maxim and say that the third and fifth versions of nearly any product will prove to be the best.
There's plenty...
For Pentium II PCs, portables, or anything else you are selling or up against, you need to have the latest info to be able to earn the business of the net-savvy customers I have written about in previous columns.
Will the inevitable headlines screaming about the just-revealed floating point bug in the Intel Pentium II (you know, the one that...
As the personal computer matures, the logical, evolutionary step is the emergence of more sophisticated consumers. They're increasingly not first- or second-time buyers, but older and (hopefully) wiser, fifth- or sixth-time buyers.
These people need more sophisticated solutions than the hand-holding that beginners demand, and the seasoned consumer...
Resellers - consider the lessons learned in other industries. You may be surprised at the similarities to YOUR business.
"In a lot of ways, the computer industry has just emerged from the automobile industry's 'big fins' era."
"The music business has both mechanical royalty and performance royalty systems that are a nearly ideal...