Here’s something that might surprise you: Most digital copiers made over the past decade contain their own hard drives that work similarly to the hard drive in your computer. Copiers with hard drives can store an image of every document that has been scanned, copied, or emailed from the machine.

Plus, many copiers are leased and returned repeatedly; or leased, returned, and sold secondhand. Which means that it’s likely that someone else will ultimately have access to your copier … and possibly all the company information stored on it.

In other words, it’s essential to your company’s security, your employees’ security, and your customers’ security that you know whether your copier stores digital information, how to secure the data in your copier, and what to do before returning a leased copier or selling a copier that you own.
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Everything from the cloud to social media to the proliferation of mobile technology has dramatically changed the way call centers operate in recent years.

In an effort to be more efficient and effective, expect contact centers to adopt systems that enable them to reach customers on multiple platforms — from traditional calls to Facebook.

And, as more customers turn to the web to vent their frustrations or seek help with a product, expect to see more industry-wide consolidation of call centers, even as more jobs return stateside as companies hope to win back frustrated customers after the big outsourcing experiment. Read the full entry

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Blogs can be one of the best ways for small business owners to stay up to date on marketing strategies, particularly if they want to continue to improve their online marketing strategies. Here are 20 terrific blogs (listed alphabetically) that can help small businesses develop better online marketing skills.

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Look out your window: if there’s a line of cranky employees outside waiting to punch a time clock before starting their shift it might be time to invest in attendance tracking software.

Using a time clock is the equivalent of asking your employees to yell “here” every morning as you dutifully check off their name in an attendance notebook similar to the one your second grade teacher used. Read the full entry

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Customer service representatives answer phones at a call center in Pennsylvania. Recently, call center jobs that had drifted overseas are returning to the U.S. offering businesses more choices when shopping for a vendor.

When you compare call centers to find the vendor that can best represent your company to customers, one of the most important factors to look at is where that call center is located.

As of 2012, 12 percent of U.S. companies had outsourced their call or help centers to places like India and the Philippines, according to StatisticBrain.com, but that number is part of a downward trend. Read the full entry

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One of the most effective ways to market your service or product is by gaining a good reputation and a loyal following. It’s no secret that people tend to believe what their peers have to say, and that is becoming more powerful each and every day.

In fact, 90% of online customers trust recommendations from people they know, and 70% trust unknown users (Econsultancy, Socialnomics).

Because of this, using positive testimonials on your website can be a powerful tool for gaining new customers and increasing sales. If you have a good relationship with your clients, embrace their satisfaction and use their good words to boost your business. Read the full entry

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Your POS system is not just a cash register. Your system coordinates inventory, purchasing, receiving, and transfers of products. It also tracks sales information and trends, and performs analyses of various elements – cost, price, and profit – as needed.

Using the information stored in your POS reports, you can improve your business’s marketing, staffing, and sales processes. Read the full entry

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Just watch an hour of TV and you’ll find a half dozen 401k companies vying for your attention.

This one wants you to follow a green line. That one wants you to listen to that guy from “Law & Order.” The other one has a talking baby. And they all make your eyes glaze over when they start talking about markets and investing and retirement.

Given how confusing and daunting retirement savings can be (especially in the wake of a struggling economy) it’s no wonder there are so many gimmicks — not to mention so many mistakes made — in regard to 401(k) plans.

But neither companies nor individuals should let talk of tax codes and portfolios bully them into denying their employees a valuable benefit or opting for a retirement-savings-sized piggy bank instead of investing. To administer or participate in a plan successfully, all you have to do is avoid these common pitfalls:

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Chances are, you won’t walk into your office one day to find a giant flashing billboard over your desk telling you that your current payroll system is hopelessly outdated and you should consider joining the rest of us here in the 21st century by adopting much more efficient and accurate time and attendance software.

No, the reminders that it’s time for an upgrade to your old system might be a little more subtle. Like the fact that you break out in hives at the sight of the stack of time sheets on your desk. Or, the fact that you woke up in a cold sweat the other night because you couldn’t remember whether you gave Shirley from customer service her shift differential. Or that you give Bill from accounting the stink eye every time you see him because his 9′s look exactly like 4′s (or is it the other way around?) making it a bi-weekly struggle to translate his time card.

Of course, there are more practical signs that your business needs a time and attendance system — ones that have less to do with your sanity and more to do with efficiency and accuracy. Read on. Read the full entry

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The growth of crowdfunding has allowed smaller startups to be more competitive in their niches by heavily increasing customer engagement with their crowdfunded projects.

But crowdfunding isn’t just for the businesses that can’t afford to manufacture their own products, it’s a way to calculate consumer interest, generate buzz, sell exclusive product packages, and interact with audiences like never before. Read the full entry

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