1 / 36

Technology & Trends to GROW your Business

Technology & Trends to GROW your Business Tim O'Brien, Technology Consultant Tim O’Brien, Technology Consultant Tim.obrien@nebraska.gov 402.326.3104 LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/timothyrobrien Presentation and additional information will be at www.neded.org/grow.html Agenda

RoyLauris
Download Presentation

Technology & Trends to GROW your Business

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Technology & Trends to GROW your Business Tim O'Brien, Technology Consultant

  2. Tim O’Brien, Technology Consultant • Tim.obrien@nebraska.gov • 402.326.3104 • LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/timothyrobrien • Presentation and additional information will be at www.neded.org/grow.html

  3. Agenda • Introduction • About DED • Technology Trends • Investigate opportunity using the web • Technology for the right price! • Wrap-up

  4. Three things to learn • Technology can make your life easier • The website is the MOST important marketing tool • Technology tools for low to no cost!

  5. About The NE Department of Economic Development • The mission of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED) is to develop economic opportunities by keeping Nebraska businesses, communities and people globally competitive. • 4 Divisions • Community & Rural Development • Travel & Tourism • Business Development • Administration & Operations

  6. Business Toolkit by Steve Williams • NEDED (http://www.neded.org/content/view/75/133/) • Doing Business on the Internet • (http://www.neded.org/files/assist/webresources.html) • Contact Steve Williams • Steve.williams@nebraska.gov • 800.426.6505 • Nebraska Department of Economic Development

  7. Additional DED Info • www.neded.org • Nebraska Advantage – www.nebraskaadvantage.biz • Microenterprise • Rural Advantage • Building Entrepreneurial Communities • Value Added Ag - www.ruralnebraska.info • Community/Business Training • Marketing Grants - www.visitnebraska.org • Community Websites & Online Presence • Job Opportunities & Quality of Life Online • Targeted Industry

  8. The Experiential Economy

  9. Trends

  10. Trends

  11. Why Connect Online? • Brick & mortal retail sales worst in 5 years • Yet online sales grew again this year by 19%, the best ever www.comscore.com

  12. Why Connect Online? • Market & consumer are increasing integrated & connected online • Facebook.com alone is now worth $15 billion

  13. More Trends • 36% of online American adults consult Wikipedia • 24% of Teens have a Blog • More than half (55%) of all online American youths ages 12-17 use online social networking sites. • Internet users are becoming more aware of their digital footprint; 47% have searched for information about themselves online, up from just 22% five years ago. • 48% of internet users have been to video-sharing sites such as YouTube and the daily traffic to such sites on a typical day has doubled in the past year.

  14. More Trends • Almost all internet users (93%) have at one time or another done something related to e-commerce. • 81% of internet users have used the internet to do research about a product they are thinking about buying, with 20% doing this on the typical day. • 66% of online users have purchased a product online, such as books, music, or clothing, with 6% saying they do this on the typical day. • 64% have bought or made a travel reservation online, such as an airline ticket, hotel room, or rental car, with 4% doing so on the average day.

  15. More Trends • 26% have participated in an online auction, with 3% doing this on the average day. • 17% have paid to access or download digital content, such as a newscast, sporting event, or radio show; some 4% do this on the typical day. • 11% have bought or sold stocks online, and just 1% do this on the average day.

  16. More Trends • Social Networks • Web Applications • Real Estate • Online Videos • File Sharing • Gaming • Management Styles

  17. Features of Web 2.0 • Enhanced retail opportunities • Real-time web updates • Community support & loyalty • Dynamic web features that increase market visibility & quality • Increased workforce & worker connectivity • Social networking • Professional networking

  18. Web 2.0 Web 2.0 Directory - http://www.go2web20.net/ Examples • Digg.com • Skype.com • Blogger.com • Rocketboom.com • Mahalo.com • LinkedIn.com • Chacha.com • Flickr.com • Facebook.com • Twitter.com • Revision3.com • 37signals.com Web 2.0 Explained on YouTube - http://youtube.com/watch?v=nsa5ZTRJQ5w

  19. E-Commerce • Internet • Understand the web and trends • Know how information is organized and located • Business Model • Business objectives, value delivery, revenue model, Management • Marketing • Build traffic, establish loyalty, pricing models, distribution • Goal: Satisfied customers

  20. Why have an online business? • Liquidate inventory • Enhances Value • Reduces Inefficiencies • Streamlines Supply • Links Business with Customers • Everything Is Faster! • Eliminates Boundaries What separates the little guy from big companies in the e-commerce world? There's no way a big company can give the customer service you can

  21. Do I need to Sell Products online? • No • Create a “Brochure” website • Who you are • What you do • News • E-mail Lists • Blog • Discussion Boards • User Profiles • Why?

  22. Software – Office Software • Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, Publisher) ~ $400 • Alternatives to MS Office • OpenOffice.org ~ Free • Includes Alternatives to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access • Opens and Saves into MS Office Formats (.doc, .xls, ect.) • One Click PDF Creation • Other Programs included Math & Draw

  23. Software – Office Software • Lotus Symphony ~ Free • http://symphony.lotus.com/software/lotus/symphony/ • Google Docs & Spreadsheets ~ Free • docs.google.com/ • Share & Collaborate • Web Based • StarOffice ~ $70 • http://www.sun.com/software/star/staroffice/

  24. Software – Desktop Publishing • Layout Programs • Microsoft Publisher ~ $150 • QuarkXPress ~ $800 • Adobe’s InDesign ~ $700 • Scribus – Free - http://www.scribus.net • Photo Editing & Organization • Adobe’s Photoshop ~ $650 • Adobe’s Photoshop Elements ~ $100 • Gimp – Free - http://www.gimp.org

  25. Software – Desktop Publishing • Microsoft Photo Gallery – Free with Windows Vista • Organizes & Edit Photos • Google’s Picasa – Free - http://picasa.google.com/ • Organizes & Edit Photos • Picnik http://www.picnik.com/ • Free & Web Based!

  26. Software – PDF Creation • Adobe Acrobat Professional ~ $450 • Create & Edit PDFs • Nuance PDF Convertor Professional ~ $100 • Create & Edit PDFs • CutePDF Professional ~ $50 • Simple Edit Tools & Creation tools for PDF • CutePDF Writer ~ Free • http://www.cutepdf.com/products/CutePDF/writer.asp • Create PDFs

  27. Online Communication & Collaboration • Skype • http://www.skype.com • GizmoCall • https://www.gizmocall.com/ • Google Talk • http://www.google.com/talk/ • Live Messenger • AIM • WebEx

  28. Online Communication & Collaboration • Microsoft Groove • Microsoft Live Meeting • 37signals.com • Basecamp - Collaborate with your team and clients. Schedules, tasks, files, messages, and more. • Highrise - Keep track of who your business talks to, what was said, and what to do next. • Backpack - Gather your ideas, to-dos, notes, photos & files online. Set email and mobile reminders. • Campfire - It's like instant messaging, but optimized for groups. Especially great for remote teams.

  29. Web Design – Content Management Systems • Who uses content management systems? • Nearly all large websites (www.nytimes.com, www.vw.com, www.theonion.com,) • How much do content management systems cost? • Most are open source (free) to millions of dollars • The examples I included above all run on open source CMS systems!

  30. Web Design – Content Management Systems • Content Management Systems I recommend • Joomla – www.joomla.org • Drupal – www.drupal.org • Reviews and demos of nearly all CMS can be found at - http://www.opensourcecms.com • Joomla Demo

  31. Test Sites Username for all is Admin with Password Letmein1tourism.obriendigital.com  with back end management attourism.obriendigital.com/administratorecommerce.obriendigital.com with back end management at ecommerce.obriendigital.com/administratorhttp://ecommerce3.obriendigital.com/  administration at http://ecommerce3.obriendigital.com/admin/login.php

  32. Thanks! Questions? Presentation located at www.neded.org Tim O’Brien, Technology Consultant Tim.obrien@nebraska.gov 402.326.3104 LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/timothyrobrien Back up your data frequently! Use CDs, DVDs, or an external Hard Drive

More Related