Do you interact with customers or organization members or any other group using a computer?
If so, there must be moments during your week when you scratch your head and think, “There must be a better way!”
As we begin 2013 and feel energized about tasks such as cleaning up our desks, organizing our files and reconciling our accounts, we should also take a look at wasted time and duplicative tasks. If ever there is a moment for spending 30 minutes setting up a system that will save time all year, that moment is now.
Here are a few examples of tasks that might be part of your week, which could be avoided entirely:
Information Duplication
Do you create information (i.e. a newsletter article, a special offer, a description of a new product) and then spend time copying that same information to several places? For example, do you put that information in an email, and then also put it on your website, and then visit all of your social media accounts to post the same information? Wouldn’t it be great if you could put the information in one place, and it would automatically send itself to all of the other online channels? Well, you can. SiteInSight can help you set up a blog as your home base for new information, and connect that blog so it automatically populates your email newsletter and your social media accounts.
Accounting Tedium
Have you ever bought something for your company or organization, and found yourself entering the expense in several places? Do you write a check, enter the expense in the check register, and then enter it again in your accounting software? There’s a better way. Most accounting software can link to your bank and your credit cards, and automatically import the transactions. You can spend 30 minutes each week categorizing them and be done with it.
Address Books Everywhere
Do you have an email newsletter, but find yourself forgetting to subscribe people to it? Or typing a prospect’s email address into two or three different systems? There is a better way. SiteInSight can help streamline your systems so that your online forms automatically enter email addresses into your marketing database, and your contact lists talk to each other.
Scheduling Craziness
How many times have you heard (or read in an email): “Let’s get together next week. Throw out a few times and dates that are good for you.” What happens after that generally takes a lot of time. There’s back and forth. It’s annoying. The only people who seem able to escape this conversation are people who have their own secretaries or assistants. But there’s another way. At SiteInSight, we can set up a page on the web where others can go to schedule appointments with you. The tool syncs up with the electronic calendar you are already using, so it knows when you are free and busy; When someone schedules a time with you, it puts the details in your calendar for you.
Maddening Forms
Do you ask people to fill out forms online, but you send them a .pdf document they can’t type in, or they have to scan it in to send it back to you? Do you receive forms on paper, forcing you to choose between typing the information into a database, or stuffing it into a filing cabinet and not making full use of the information?
Did you know you can have a beautiful, easy form that works even if you don’t have a website? People can fill out your form online and hit submit. They receive a confirmation. You receive an alert (by email or text or both). The information they submitted is automatically added to a spreadsheet you can download whenever you want.
Take a new look at your marketing efforts and your office systems. If you have that nagging feeling that you are wasting time and doing the same thing multiple times, please give us a call and see how we can help!
SiteInSight is owned by Alice Hohl, a web marketing expert in Central Ohio. The company and its staff provide services including online marketing, online forms, email newsletters and web design in the Columbus, Ohio area.
Improving the odds for small businesses and nonprofits is Alice’s passion. Her company develops digital strategy that works for your company, at a price you can afford. Contact SiteInSight today!
614-887-7483