Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’

The Internet has become a vital part of business. As a precautionary measure, businesses have restricted access or blocked entire sites to employees because they are distractions. Unfortunately, some of the sites that are blocked are vital to today’s business operations.

Many companies still block sites such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter from employees because of the invitation to get side tracked from work. However, blocking these sites in today’s business world is also behind the times. Professionals need access to these sites as well. They are a means of modern business communications.

Back in the early days when bandwidth was limited, network administrators capped what sites and services could be accessed so that the connection would not be burdened by employees doing unnecessary tasks. However, now some of those limitations are actually prohibiting employees from doing necessary work.

Although it was always stated that bandwidth was limited and setting limits had to be done, there was always the underling reason of keeping employees on task. However, with new social media and online portals, it has become harder to lock out sites that were once forbidden.

Young employees just getting out of school depend on these services as they depend on their legs for walking. Therefore, not having access to these tools is an impediment to their working. So, the question becomes in the workplace, “What is more important, performance or Internet usage?”

When I was going for my Masters in Business Administration, my professor used to make reference to the need to look at a person’s performance as opposed to the amount of time they spent at the job. The same principle pertains to how we must look at the Internet and all of its tools.

We have to remember that the Internet has become a huge tool for doing business. It allows us to gain access to information that at one time would have taken days of research to accumulate. Therefore, do we bite off our noses to spite our faces to keep people in line or do we begin to learn how to trust and evaluate on a different level than before?

Businesses exist only because of one thing, customers. Without customers there is no business. Therefore, customer relationships  and how they are treated are key to the success and growth of your business whether online or offline.

There are many ways to develop great relationships with customers. The old fashioned way was to visit them in person and make the face to face contact so that the connection was made on what you do, what they do and how your service could improve their bottom line. Most of the time this was done using real world examples that existed and could be referred to in a conversation.

The new kid on the block for developing quality relationships with customers is social media. This new online development which came as part of the Web 2.0 philospohy has made developing relationships with prospective customers huge. In the past, your relationships with prospects was limited to how far you could travel in a day, unless you traveled overnight to a distant locale. Now through the Internet, it is now possible to build a relationship with someone in not only another city, but in other countries in the same day.

We are all familiar with comfort foods. They are the foods that make us feel good. Customer relationships work the same way. Customers will build trust in you after a while and begin to turn to you for their answers the same way they turn to their favorite comfort food when in need of something tasty and close to the heart. Therefore, it is important to keep the trust in place between you and your customer.

It has always been my belief that the customer should be treated with the utmost respect as they are the reason why you remain in business. If the customer keeps coming back to you, it is in your best interest to also help them out in some way so that they continue to spread the word about you. Great customer relationships will result in great word-of-mouth advertising, something that is greater than any advertising method available. However, it is up to the way customer relations is addressed that will determine your destiny as a professional.

I’d like to introduce myself .  I’m Stephen Kriso and have been working in the Technology field for over 10 years. In 2001, I established SAK Information Systems as a total solutions provider for networks and web technologies.  Since then, I have investigated just about every new concept and tool that can be used to enhance the Internet marketing experience.

It has always been my goal to share with friends, family and clients my thoughts on business and especially ideas when it comes to the Internet and its direction. Therefore, the reason that this blog has been established is to be able to comment on new discoveries and technologies in the world of Internet communications and marketing.

The main goal behind establishing this blog is to communicate directly with the public on a more personal note about what is happening within Internet marketing and ways to embrace emerging methodologies. The Internet has grown since its inception in the 90’s and will continue to grow as a communications medium. Even though it seems like it has matured, it is still a young medium and trying to find its own way in our evolving world.

It seems like everyday there is a new web marketing tool coming to the foreground that can help market yourself or your business. Some of them work well from the start and others needs some maturing before they become viable. That’s the essence of this blog, to talk about emerging technologies and how to incorporate them.

As the Internet changes to mold to current trends, I encourage you to comment and make suggestions on services and products that enhance uses of the Internet.