VinaGecko - Part 36

4 upgrades for your business’s technology

Staying up to date with the latest technological advances is a fantastic way to show that your company can thrive in the modern world. Potential clients, employees, and business links will be impressed by your ability to make the most of all that technology has to offer. That is why it is so important for you to review the digital aspects of your business consistently. Are there any areas that need updating? Could you use new technology to improve your efficiency? How can you invest in technology to save your business both time and money? These are all questions that a tech savvy entrepreneur should be asking themselves. If you are looking for some suggestions on how to get started, look no further! Below are four potential upgrades for your business’s technology.

Upgrade your presentations

Not so long ago, a well-made PowerPoint presentation would be a sure sign of a modern business. However, the standard PowerPoint presentation has now become outdated. Instead, successful businesses are investing a lot of effort into finding new and exciting ways to convey information. If you want to stand out from the crowd, you need to do the same. Prezzi is a fantastic solution that is surprisingly easy to use. When used with a smart whiteboard, this online software will help you, and your staff, to create presentations that have a more interactive feel to them. Instead of a standard slide transition, Prezzi allows you to give a presentation that moves around a larger image. You can switch back and forth from one point to another and make interesting links using visual aids. You can also save your presentations online, and even make them available to the public. This could be a clever way to raise the digital profile of your business.

If you already use Prezzi, why not try creating infographics as well? You can find software online that will allow you to design these visual aids for free. This is a fantastic way to create sophisticated and professional resources for your business. You can download the images and use them in your company brochures. You could even have them blown up to create eye-catching displays or upload them onto your website. It isn’t hard to be creative when you have the technology to help!

Upgrade your devices

Although it may sound like an expensive undertaking, it is important that you upgrade your business’s technological devices on a regular basis. Having access to the latest gadgets is a clever investment, as it can end up saving you both time and money. It can also help to bring in impressive potential employees to your business. It is likely that they will be drawn to a company that can offer them top-of-the-range technology rather than devices that are out of date. Make sure that you engage your staff with the process of making new purchases. Give them the opportunity to tell you what new devices would improve their working life. Is there a certain task that takes up an unnecessary amount of their time? Is there a piece of tech in the office that doesn’t operate properly and slows down your staff? If so, research potential solutions.

Don’t be overwhelmed by the amount of choice available. Write a list of all of your requirements, then shop around for the best deal. You might want to try comparison sites, or maybe wait until the right time of year for a sale. However, it is important not to be too distracted by the price of an item. You must also consider how long it is going to last you. It may be worth spending a little more if it means you are getting a piece of kit that will stand the test of time. Pay attention to the warranties offered, as this is another important way to make sure that you are getting the most for your money.

Analyse the performance of your business

An upgrade in your business’s technology can help you to analyze your performance. By relying on technology, instead of simply asking your staff or checking your books, you can get an unbiased picture of how your business is operating. Technology also removes the potential for human error, so you will know for certain that the information you are looking at is accurate. You can find free software online, or you can invest in more advanced software that will provide an even more specific analysis of your business. By taking this approach, you will get the chance to see things that you would have never noticed without the help of technology. For instance, this process will alert you to areas where your business is spending most of its money. Some of this will make sense to you, but some of your costs may seem higher than expected. You will then be able to review these costs and look for cheaper alternatives. This action might not have been possible if you didn’t have such a specific breakdown of your company finances.

Streamline your sales

If you are a tech savvy entrepreneur, your business may already depend heavily on the use of apps. However, now may be the time for you to get Salesforce to NetSuite connector to streamline operations for your company. This software will use pre-built integration flows to synchronize data between Salesforce and NetSuite. This will allow your company’s system to recognize revenues faster, provide a 360-degree view of customer activity, achieve faster time-to-value, and minimize your ongoing costs. Instead of switching between two different systems, you will be able to get the most out of Salesforce and NetSuite. The two programmes will be able to communicate with each other so that you don’t have to transfer the data manually. This will save you, and your employees, an enormous amount of time and effort. This technological upgrade can also help to improve the relationship you have with your customers. By synchronizing your account, Salesforce will immediately become aware of any changes to the products, or the prices of products, in NetSuite. This way, no customers will be left disappointed by miscommunication or human error.

5 Ways to Make Your Customers Feel More Valued

Constantly battling to get new customers is an uphill struggle that does not guarantee a payoff. Convincing new people to become loyal customers is hard, and it isn’t the core of your business. Your business is fuelled by loyal customers, the people who keep coming back because they like you, your brand, and your product. You want your customers to personally vouch for you to their friends, their family, and their co-workers. Nothing is better than someone vouching for you, which is why you need to use these 5 methods to make your customers feel more valued:

Communicate with Your Customers

With social media, customers have multiple means of communicating with you. This communication can come in the form of either comments, direct messages, or posts. Responding to these posts in a genuine manner is a great way to make your customers feel more valued, however, it is crucial to respond to complaints. Not only will you resolve one customer’s problem, but you will also demonstrate to others that you not only are available for them, you also care. Be sure to sound genuine!

Offer Ongoing Support

This is more than resolving customer complaints, this is the constant upsell. Offer ongoing specials, sales, giveaways, contests and other means to charm your customers on an ongoing basis. This is to satisfy your customers in the long term and give them incentives to continue their relationship with you.

Alert Them to Changes

People like to be in the know. When you change your terms of service or any other major change to your brand, inform your customers. Be upfront and honest and be welcoming of feedback. You need to either face the flaws in your plans and change accordingly, or you need to be able to defend your decisions. Either way, letting customers know what is happening and allowing them to input their opinion is great for making your customers feel valued.

Personalize their Experiences

Using marketing automation is a great way to tailor each customer’s experience. You cannot manually do this, and that’s okay. Automation works wonders for everything from tailored email campaigns, to social media ad campaigns, to tailoring a user’s experience when they visit your store. Cut out what your customer is not interested in and increase your chances of repeat business.

Be Open to Feedback

People love to give their opinion. Typically, they are more likely to tell you about their negative experiences over their positive ones. Accept the negative feedback as areas you can improve, and otherwise make the review system a simple click. For instance, after someone makes a purchase, ask them how their experience was using faces – smile, neutral, sad.

Your customer is the most important part of your company. They are the reason you exist. Your very purpose is to provide a service or product for them, so it only stands to reason that you should cater the rest of your efforts in making sure they are happy. A happy customer will tell 4 to 6 people about their experience, and if they have a poor experience, they are more than 50% likely to tell others about, too. Focus on making your customers feel valued, and you will have a loyal customer base.

How Mobile Games Are Profiting from Micro Transactions

The Mobile Industry is filled with games these days and all of them are unique and fun in their own way. The number of free games on the app stores is incredible and it’s only growing larger as time goes on.

Most of these free games have in game purchases called Micro-Transactions. Purchases you can make to further yourself with real money or buy little extras for the game.

There are tons of benefits for having Micro-Transactions both for the games themselves and the gamers. So let’s look at a few of these benefits in better detail.

The Benefits of Micro-Transactions

Freedom

Micro-Transactions have been around for a long time and started mostly in MMO PC games back in the early to mid-2000s. Having games that played mostly for free, or even had a fee at some points, while having in game things you can buy was always an interesting thing to mess around with.

In the mobile scene with a lot of the games being free, Micro-Transactions are how the gaming companies behind the game make their money. And by making money they can make the game better with updates and more content within them.

Now the best thing about these in game purchases is that they are completely optional. You can pretty much play the entire game to the fullest with out ever spending a dime or dealing with a pay wall.

But playing completely free, as possible as it is, basically, makes it so some things will take longer for you to do. Where if you bought something in the game it could potentially speed up the process or further you in a good way depending on the game.

What they offer

In a lot of cases, Micro0-Transactions are just for simple things. More in game currency, more time currency to keep playing, or items to upgrade something within the game.

These things are all things that can be gotten in a game just by playing but it takes longer. Having the option to buy these to free up your time is entirely okay to do.

Money is valuable but replaceable, time is valuable and is nonrefundable. That’s not to say you should go out and spend all your money so you free up your time to play more it’s just a matter of opinion.

Micro-Transactions offer a lot, especially in character collector games that involved dozens of different characters to play as. In some games Micro-Transactions allow you to get more ways to obtain these characters.

Where as others flat out let you buy the characters you want with real money instead of taking cases in the random summons or lotto pulls. So it’s extremely helpful and a viable way to play a game if you can afford it and choose to do so.

How Mobile Games really profit

The big thing about Micro-Transactions is how much they help the game they’re in. As stated before, many mobile games are completely free to play and make no initial revenue where most games you pay for often do.

Free mobile games make their funding from Micro-Transactions and these are what give developers the means to make their games better and all around more fun. By giving you the option to support them by paying a little bit of money is a really good way to make you feel like you got the best bang for your buck.

Everything is optional and everything has its purpose and uses. There is no kind of Micro-Transaction in games that are useless in anyway or tries to scam you by paying for it.

Mobile games take time and money to make from developers and by putting your money in a little bit at a time helps them spend that time and money even better. Keeping Micro-Transactions alive is a good idea for everyone involved.

Keep the freedom and ability to choose to have the transactions and keep the benefits they give to both players and the developers making the game. They are a good system and should be around in all Mobile games for years to come, especially the free ones.

SpyHuman Android Monitoring App Review

In this digital era, you can monitor your employees and control your children using certain app. One of the recommended android monitoring apps is SpyHuman. This application will give you several advantages. You may find other similar programs on the market. However, not all of them have what SpyHuman has to offer.

The benefits of using SpyHuman

Based on the SpyHuman Home Page, this program has various great features. Those features will allow you to have more comprehensive monitoring over your children and workers. This comprehensive app surely gives you more convenience than other similar applications.

This Android program does not only offer you with comprehensive features. It also offers you with other conveniences. One of them is that it has various free features. Those free features are perfect for you who are on a budget but want to monitor your kids’ Android use. They are also suitable for you who want to prove the performance of this app before purchasing the premium version.

This Android monitoring app is easy to install. When you are installing it, you don’t need to root your Smartphone. In addition, this app has powerful user interface. Therefore, you will have no problem in operating. This responsive app will make you feel more in control.

SpyHuman features

Here are some of the features you will get from SpyHuman.

– Call logs monitoring

This feature monitors the call logs on the targeted device. It helps you find out the incoming and out coming call of that device.

– SMS tracker

It helps you track the text messages on the targeted device.

– Location tracker

It helps you find out the whereabouts of your device.

– Social Media tracker

It allows you to track the social media activity of the device. Some of the social media platforms can be tracked by this device are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Other features on this app are web monitoring, live monitoring, monitor gallery, and restrictions.

How to install SpyHuman

To install this Android monitoring app successfully, you must remember to read SpyHuman App Install Guide. This guide consists of step-by-step guide that can help you install the app without any troubles. First of all, you must create an account. You can log on to the home page to register. Once you have an account, you can download the app. To download the app, you can click this SpyHuman App Download Link. Once you download it, you can install it. You need to use your login details. After that, you must log on to the website to check the monitored data.

Top Tips on Designing your Business Card

Even though we rely more on digital technology such as email and text message than we did in the past, there are still a few things that have stayed the same. One of these things is the humble business card, which is still the best form of giving your details to someone face to face. However, to design great business cards, you still need to implement the help of technology, such as design software and printing methods.

The way you design your business card says a lot about you and your company, so you need to think about what you want to portray. Here are a few tips on designing a great business card to hand out to your clients and customers.

Keep to the Basics

Because you are working with paper printing, there are certain things you need to adhere to get the best results. You also need to make sure your font size will be legible at business card size. Also, make sure you’re aware of colors that clash with each other, and colors that are complementary.

Many designers use a grid style for their projects because it helps get all the information on the page and keeps things aligned, so think about putting your information into grid areas.

Get all the Information on your Design

You will only get a certain size to work with for a business card; this is typically 55x85mm. There can be slight variations, but you need to be able to fit all your information into this size. It might call for you to be a little creative with the space available.

You want to include the usual name, email address, phone number and maybe Skype or some other video conference app. Once you have included this information, you can decide if there is anything else you want to add to any space that is left.

Common Mistakes

Although creating your business card design is a fairly simple process, there are some things you should avoid. Even though you want to stand out from other people, try not to go over the top with your design. Maintain a professional touch so that people will take you seriously.

You also need to avoid harsh borders if possible, because it may look crooked if they do not print correctly.

Printing and Design

You don’t need to go to a designer for your business card design, there are other, less expensive ways to do the same job that are much easier. You can design and order batches of cards from websites that will print and deliver them to you. You can also use free software such as Adobe Spark which has a business card maker. You can choose a template and design your business cards easily; then you can either send the design to be printed or print them yourself if you have a printer that’s capable.

You need to remember that the design of the card is a reflection of you and your business. Use your cards to show your clients and customers that you are a professional person who can be trusted with their important projects. Just a simple business card can make all the difference.

Five Gadgets to Take on Your Next Camping Trip

Roughing it on a primitive camping outing is always a lot of fun. Yet, with all of the technologies and gadgets we have at our disposal, why not make it a bit more convenient? You don’t have to camp when you can glamp. Yet, you’ll still have the unforgettable experience of being one with nature. Think about it, you can take a hot shower, hang from a tree and sleep in a comfortable bed. What’s not to like? That is why we have rounded up a few of the best gadgets to take on your next camping trip.

How Can High Brightness Monitors Help My Business?

High Brightness Monitors are an innovative new way to help your business. Utilising Digital Signage in this way allows your shop to get more attention from those passing by. Placing any Digital Signage in a window display is one of the more complex Digital Signage applications because of the issues surrounding sunlight. I am going to tell you how to ensure you get the right High Brightness Monitor so you and your business can start reaping the benefits.

Strong natural sunlight is normally a benefit for any regular window display; providing customers with a clear view of your window and what is inside. However when placing a Digital Signage display things become more problematic. Regular Digital Signage displays, televisions and computer monitors are optimised for indoor usage. Their brightness levels are set to a level that is readable indoors. This kind of brightness level does not translate well when placed in direct sunlight. That is why the initial need for High Brightness Monitors was born within the Digital Signage sector. These bespoke monitors are bright enough to be readable, even in direct sunlight. A television on average has a brightness of 300cd/m², we recommend a High Brightness Monitor should have at minimum a brightness level of 1500cd/m². As technology is advancing we expect to see the brightness levels of screens rise to even brighter levels.

The only way that a High Brightness Monitor can produce the increased level of brightness is by regulating the temperature of the LCD panel. The panel needs to be kept at the optimum temperature; neither too hot nor cold to work effectively. High Brightness Monitors should either have internal fans or an alternative temperature regulatory system in place to avoid issues with the display.

Updating content on a High Brightness Monitor should be no different to updating any other Digital Signage display whichever way to do it. High Brightness Monitors can be updated via a USB or upgrading the display so that it is networked, this allows the screen to updated remotely. Deciding which way to go comes down to a) how easily accessible is the rear of the display? And b) what do I want to show? If the rear of the display is easy to access and you only have images and videos to display, the plug and play solution will not let you down. However if the rear of the High Brightness Monitor is difficult to reach or you want to display more features on screen such as RSS Feeds or live webpages to name a few, then updating your screens via a CMS is perfect. According to Thomas Fraser-Bacon of Allsee Technologies Ltd “If you have multiple screens in a single window display, if networked; you can synchronise the displays to create a real wow moment for your window.”

How to mount your display is often left to the very end of a High Brightness Monitor project, how the monitor is mounted can drastically affect the overall look of the finished product. If within your Window display there is an enclosure it could be simply mounted onto the back wall. This is not likely to be the case for most applications that require a High Brightness Monitor though so we would recommend either mounting on a floor stand or trolley or by mounting the High Brightness Monitor from the ceiling.

Once you have considered all of these points and purchased a commercial Grade High Brightness Monitor you can finally get the benefits from the display. According to Fedex, 8 out of 10 consumers have entered a store because a Digital Sign had caught their interest. A window display with a High Brightness Monitor is not in its own vacuum for those who see it, that High Brightness Monitor and window display reflects the quality of the business and the quality of the products too. Business owners should take advantage of the most valuable advertising space they have; their windows! With a High Brightness Monitor installed it allows for communication with potential customers in a way that wasn’t possible before. High Brightness Monitors will change your business for the better.

Everything you need to know about SQL – in simple terms!

SQL is an acronym that you’ll find thrown about any digital or tech agency and can be a topic of some difficulty – especially for people who aren’t exactly tech-savvy. Sadly, for those who operate a website on larger scale – especially those centered on e-commerce – then SQL may be the saving grace your growing website needs to remain fluidly operational.

Here we’ll provide you with an overall view of SQL, how it can help your business and the contingencies in place if things go wrong. We’ll try to keep the technical language down to a minimum!

Before we start – what is a database?

Before diving into the wide world of SQL, we need to know what a database is.

The dictionary defines a database as ‘a structured set of data held in a computer, especially one that is accessible in various ways’. Essentially, it’s a place where you can easily access and change datasets, providing you information on your customers – or staff – quickly and efficiently.

Imagine having a library of books, but instead of the titles being unique you simply name them Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, etc. Now, nobody would ever do that because as your library grows, it becomes more and more difficult to find that favourite novel of yours. Was it Book 77? Could it be Book 4532? This becomes a very inefficient system – one that’s going to cost time and money when applied to the data your business stores.

SQL is a language developed by various tech giants to allow your computer to read and categorize the information held on your website. It’s read and manipulated by specialized tools such as MySQL – one of the most advanced data management tools on the market. SQL allows your blog to categorize posts; to organize your galleries – it’s an absolute necessity nowadays for big business.

Sure – but what’s MySQL?

You know how there are three main varieties of GUI (graphical user interface) for computers – Windows, MacOS and Linux. Well, MySQL is one of the leading programs that can read SQL. Here you’ll be able to visualize all the data you hold on your customers or clients. It’s a freely available RDBMS (Relational Database Management System), which sounds a lot more complicated than it truly is. It just means it’ll split your information into tables, fields, rows and columns, as opposed to just lumping a load of information on the screen. Basically, it’s a clean-cut version of Excel, where you don’t have to create the tables yourself.

But is MySQL secure?

Of course, like many programs, MySQL has the potential to corrupt information held on any of your systems. Fortunately, SQL database restoration is widely available with a number of specialist tools, and so, if you’re concerned about whether SQL is safe, you shouldn’t be. Most programs are built with a contingency in mind, and MySQL is no different.

SQL is essentially an advanced database language which is interpreted with programs such as MySQL. If you’re looking for a way to categorize and demonstrate information quickly and simply, you’ll be one step closer to doing so.

4 Common Software Development Mistakes that People Keep Committing

Depending on your source, between a third and three-quarter of software development projects fail. These failures range from projects that spend forever in development before being abandoned to brand new software releases tarnished by bugs that shouldn’t have made it out of development. Here are four common software development mistakes people keep committing, as well as advice on how to avoid them from hurting your project.

Assuming Software Development Is Easy

If software development was easy, we wouldn’t pay software developers, coders, and project managers this much. If software development was easy, we wouldn’t have tools like Doors specifically for managing software project requirements and multiple suites for managing code libraries as they are changed. You wouldn’t see software development raised to its own, unique discipline exemplified in the online masters in software development the same way international business and big data analysis are worthy of their own MBA programs. The online MSSD degree by Maryville University is unusual for specializing in software development, but it builds on the IT management MBAs that are becoming commonplace as a whole host of IT development standards, laws, and liability rules are applied to IT projects.

Anyone Can Manage a Software Development Project

One common mistake in software development is to put the senior developer in charge of the project. This is akin to asking your best surgeon to head the hospital. Just because they are an expert in their field doesn’t mean they are qualified to manage other experts. And adding management to their list of tasks takes your best talent away from the work that needs to be done. The better solution is bringing in experts in software development project management. You want someone who is familiar with managing technical people and implementing the controlled, structured approach that maximizes the odds of a successful software development project.

We Can Add These Little Changes before We’re Done

It is the rush to add a few more things to the software release that kills far too many projects, by taking time away from the testing and debugging of the major software changes and implementing changes without the proper resources to prevent problems with these additions.

Another variation of this problem is failing to define the user’s needs properly, so the solutions implemented get changed at the last minute, regardless of the risk.

Poor Resource Management

Software development projects regularly fail because of poor resource management. One example of this is assuming that your IT department, already fully loaded with software support, can develop software patches or new products without cutting something, somewhere. Another problem is the tendency to only add team members after the project is behind schedule instead of assigning them at the start.

Conclusion

Software development isn’t easy, which is why professionals are well paid and so many software tools exist for niches like requirements management. There is a bad habit of adding on extra “little” functions that either slow down the project or take away from the appropriate testing to ensure success. Too many managers assume that anyone can manage a software project and that it can be done by your existing team with the headcount and resources they already have.

A Look at the Traits of Successful Project Managers

Whether running a blog, a marketing campaign, or a business, project management is one of the skills that you will need to nail in order to be successful. Once your project or business reaches a certain size, it will no longer be possible to do everything yourself, and so you will need to delegate effectively in order to maintain it.

According to the online MSMPP program of Brandeis University, successful project managers share a number of common traits. Among these are the ability to communicate clearly, the ability to delegate effectively, the ability to be politically sensitive, and the ability to mobilize workers. Good project managers also tend to have high self esteem and a lot of enthusiasm for the project they are working on.

You can find out more about successful project management from the infographic below.

Brandeis University M.S. in Project and Program Management Online

This infographic was created by http://projectmgmt.brandeis.edu/.
Creativejasmin.com