Modern Online Business Tools & Strategies

It is crucial to organize your business to make it run successfully. A business has the following key areas of responsibility:

• Project management. Covers all core functions and activities that are directly related to the business.
• Administration. These are the support services that serve to keep the enterprise operational.
• Communication. Encompasses all channels or media that will be used for communication during running operations.

All of these responsibilities are interrelated and should be managed in synergy with one another. Before the introduction of the Internet, that task would have been tough. But the continued growth of the Internet and the evolution of digital technology, have given rise to the availability of online tools that can attend to these tasks in the most effective and cost-efficient manner.

I have identified some online business tools that you can use for your enterprise. The basis for selecting these tools are online surveys, and product reviews, as well as my experience using them for my online business.

Modern Online Business Tools & Strategies

Project Management

The importance of using project management software can never be over-emphasized. These greatly assist and oversee the progress of your campaign by keeping track of every component of your business. Project management programs are crucial in helping your business stay organized.

The interface of the standard project management program maps out the different tasks and responsibilities and displays how these are interconnected. It establishes the development timetable, defines the critical path, and details how resources are allocated. These are invaluable tools for managing tasks, planning, and ensuring the project stays on course.

With the use of project management tools, you can be regularly updated on the work of your team members and at the same time cascade issues and concerns to everyone without having to send multiple e-mails. You would know right away if everyone on the team was routed in the communication chain.

Listed below are three of the most popular project management programs for small businesses. I have had the experience of using them, and I can assure you of their effectiveness, convenience, and ease of use. Best of all, they are free and completely downloadable.

• Evernote. Evernote is described as a cross-platform application that serves some purposes including a digital file cabinet, a note-taking tool, a daily journal, and for those in the retail food business, a recipe keeper.
• Trello. Its appeal is that people find Trello easy, fast, and fun to use. Think of Trello as your office corkboard where you stick Post-Its, and other notes except it is infinitely more organized.
• Asana. Asana is a highly-organized task and project manager. You can organize tasks into checklists and then provide detailed instructions to your team members who can be seen on the left side of the interface. If your team member completes a task and checks it off the list, you will receive an e-mail confirmation from Asana.

File Sharing

Before the popularity of these online tools, the biggest concerns in managing campaigns in the virtual world were the security, protection, and accessibility of all files.

In my first online business, I had my IT Manager convert a PC into a proxy server which acted as an FTP (File Sharing Protocol) to house all documents coming from my clients and work provided by my people.

The FTP was a costly option because I had to run it for extended periods; 12 to 16 hours six days a week to accommodate the different work hours, and I had to dedicate one broadband line just for it. Also, I had to keep a fan running on the proxy server to prevent it from overheating.

So it was a relief when I was introduced to Dropbox. Once my team became familiar with it, the proxy server was converted back to a PC; I terminated the backup Internet line, and my power bill decreased immediately.

Best of all, it introduced greater efficiency in operations. Files were automatically shared with clients or team members, and the server was highly secure. To date, most of my clients use DropBox. We do not worry about infiltration, and we have not experienced security issues.

It is critical for all online businesses to use a file-sharing platform that is not only reliable but highly secure. Clients would always want to be assured of the protection and integrity of all information they share with you.

• Dropbox. The runaway favorite for most online business owners. Dropbox is very easy to use, secure and efficient. The free membership gives you a large storage space of 2.5 GB for all of your files which can automatically be shared with designated personnel.
• Megaupload. A three-tier system whereby signing up for a free account gives you 200 GB of file storage, a 45-second splash page, and a higher priority in the server queue.
• Media Fire. Its basic account allows you to upload as many files as you want with a maximum file size of 200 MB. Its folder-based organization makes it easy to share batch files.
• Google Drive. Another favorite and an alternative to Dropbox. Google Drive starts you with 15 GB of free Google online storage that you can use to keep photos, documents, recordings, videos, and more.

Social Media Publication

There are several online marketing strategies you can use to market and promote your business. One of the most popular and effective is the use of social media networks.

Social media works because it accounts for a large number of Internet users every day. Of the three billion people who use the Internet daily, 2.1 billion have active social media accounts, and nearly a billion of them are on Facebook. Put simply, if you want to expand the reach and scope of your business to new markets, you have to be on social media.

But social media management is a discipline in itself. Posting articles, engaging, and sharing links on their own will not generate the results you want. Social media management requires thought, strategy, and most of all, purpose.

The design of your social media marketing campaign will be based on the demographics, consumption, and behavioral patterns of your target market.

Campaign strategy will use these data to determine the content of your articles and the most beneficial hours to post them. This is a time-consuming activity and can erode your availability for tasks that require your expertise or demand your attention.

Thankfully, there are online business tools that can help you manage your social media campaign without much need for your time and involvement.

Unlike the project management programs, most of these are not free. You can acquire one of these services if you subscribe to their plans, although most offer a free trial.

• Sprout Social. This tool is the one I heavily use for social media management and monitoring. This social media management tool is created to help businesses find new customers & grow their social media presence. Sprout Social offers a free trial.
• Hootsuite. Hootsuite is a social media management system for brand management. The system’s user interface takes the form of a dashboard and supports multiple social network integrations.
• HubSpot Social Inbox. HubSpot Social Inbox is integrated with a powerful publishing feature that allows you to schedule your posts on your various social media accounts. HubSpot also can track down the performance of your lead generation activities.
• Buffer. This is the preferred program by those who use primarily use Facebook and Twitter for their
  social media marketing. Buffer uses a bookmarklet to schedule your posts and updates.
• WordPress. The number one reason why marketers love WordPress is its ease of use. A user can change, update and connect his social media accounts to carry out automated posts with WordPress’ integration feature.

Customer Relationship Management

If you are in the real estate business and other industries where sales are the primary purpose of your enterprise, then you must use Customer Relationship Management software or CRM.

The CRM archives your clients’ history. If you are managing customer service, having a reliable CRM is crucial so you can immediately attend to the concerns of your clients.

In real estate, the CRM is a vital component of the system because the sales funnel goes through more stages than most forms of retail. The information and status report in a CRM must be regularly updated. This used to be a time-consuming task that cost money. Some companies have invested millions in the design of their CRM.

From experience, I know of a transcription company that spent more than Ten Million Pesos on their CRM and had yet to recover the cost of investment because the margins on transcription are among the lowest in the BPO industry.

But I understood the reason for the investment.

In medical transcription, a reliable CRM is essential to ensure accurate details on records and patient history are kept and maintained. Doctors can give the wrong diagnosis if the records are not updated or if the history was not accurately transcribed.

Remember that if you are starting an online business, you must keep capital expenditures at manageable levels. Do not invest heavily unless you are assured of a long-term arrangement with a client where the stream of income can pay back the cost of the investment.

Now, with the proliferation of CRM programs, you don’t have to invest in building your system. Here are some of the most popular ones in the market:

• Salesforce. People have consistently voted Salesforce as the best CRM program for its ease of use and versatility. It can be used as a project management program and as a file storage facility. Salesforce also has its IT department which is available for troubleshooting when needed.
• NetSuite. NetSuite is the only CRM that has an eCommerce application that connects your CRM to your website. This way, you can track client activity and put together all the collated information into data that you can use to grow your business.
• OnContact. This is one of the few CRM available that integrates both a cloud-based and on-site solution. What this means is that you can connect departments by linking information with everyone involved in a specific campaign.

Web Conferencing

As you know, communication is vital in business. In a brick-and-mortar establishment, management takes great effort in ensuring the availability of communication channels and enforcing the importance of accessibility.

The availability of the proper channels and accessibility have become more crucial when running an online business because oceans and time zones could separate clients, team members, associates, affiliates, and other contact people.

Regular communication is important as it helps you keep track of the progress of work and be abreast of developments, issues, and other concerns which related parties may have in the course of business.

For your virtual team, regular conferencing enhances performance not only because problems are addressed but it gives them a stronger feeling of involvement in the project. Productive conference calls are those that run on a two-way street; there must be feedback, and proactive behaviors must be encouraged.

In an online business, you must integrate Process Improvement systems. The purpose is self-descriptive; it is meant to find ways to improve the current workflows, frameworks, and systems. These are also used as a forum to evaluate or grade the performance of every team member.

In my case, Process Improvement sessions are scheduled every start of the week, end of the week, end of the month, end of the quarter, and end of the year. I have a Performance Analyst, who collects data that measures the accuracy, work capacity, and ethics of each team member. These are relayed to me and are used to track progress as well as identify potential trouble spots in performance.

These data give me a three-dimensional approach to evaluating my team: Technical (accuracy), Fundamental (capacity), and Behavioral (ethics).

When conducting web conferences, it is important to use a platform that not only ensures the stability of the call but these should also present features designed to augment productivity such as video, screen sharing, chat support, and file sharing. Here are some of the most popular web conferencing platforms:

• Onstream Meetings. A consistent winner in most online surveys, Onstream Meetings, has screen sharing, face time, and document sharing capabilities and offers flexible payment plans to accommodate both large and small-scale companies.
• GlobalMeet. GlobalMeet has one of the easiest interfaces to use even for those who have no experience using web conference tools. Similar to Onstream and Intercall, GlobalMeet also has screen-sharing, video conferencing, and file-sharing features.

These web conferencing platforms require a subscription fee which although customizable depending on the needs of your business may present a budget breaker for some of you. If you don’t feel you need to spend on web conferencing programs, other alternatives are similarly effective and will not cost you a centavo. This include:

• Skype. The old reliable. Despite the existence of these high-tech web conferencing platforms, many businesses use Skype to make business calls and conduct meetings. Skype has video, screen sharing, chat, and file sharing capabilities but there will be latency issues the more features you utilize. The video feature is not available for conferencing on the free version.
• Google Meet.  Formerly known as Google Hangouts is another one of the old reliable. If Skype cannot remain stable, I usually transfer the call to HangOut. Similar to Skype, you will experience latency issues from time to time.
• Viber. For those who struggle with managing their mobile phone bills, Viber is a godsend. With Viber, I can have an hour-long video call with my accountant who is now based in Canada without having to worry about my mobile phone bills. One thing I have noticed is that Viber calls are clearer when made to international destinations. Viber calls within the country are not clear and very unstable. It can still be effective however for messaging.
• Zoom. One of the most popular tools nowadays. Zoom is a cloud-based video communications app that allows you to set up virtual video and audio conferencing, webinars, live chats, screen-sharing, and other collaborative capabilities.

There are other online business tools that you may wish to consider for your business which I did not categorize here but could prove to be invaluable for your operations. One such category is time-keeping. If you are paying your team members on a pay-per-productive basis, a time-tracking program could be indispensable.

Among the popular ones are Klok, ManicTime, and SlimTimer, which have favorable online reviews and are free and downloadable. I have only used TimeDoctor and Toggl, which was effective for the campaign we ran. Eventually, we figured out that with proper planning, the correct workflows, and the distribution of clear and concise instructions, Skype itself could be a time-tracking device.

Another device you may wish to consider is call recording software. One of the first programs I downloaded to my PC was a Skype call recorder. My purpose for downloading a Skype call recorder was to make sure I would not miss out on important details during meetings. After every Skype call, I would play back the recording and make a transcription of all the important discussion points of the meeting.

Putting It Altogether

With so many choices to make, it can become a challenge to figure out which programs you should use. It would serve your decision-making well if you followed this checklist before you make your selection:

1. Determine your business purpose and objectives. If you are running a consultancy business, a CRM will not be necessary at the beginning.
2. Determine the size of your business. If you are running a 1-2 man operation and managing only a single campaign, you can probably get by with a project management program, file-sharing platform, and Skype for communication.
3. Test the programs. Many if not all of these programs listed offer a free trial for up to 30 days. Give
   each one a test drive and see which one will suit your capabilities and business needs.

Keep in mind that your selection may also be influenced by the operational demands of your client. For example, I’ve had clients who preferred to conduct web conferencing via WebEx and some who prefer GoToMeeting. I have a client who uses Asana as their project management tool in conjunction with DropBox and Skype and another who uses Salesforce for everything.

For starters, however, you should have online business tools in place that will support your day-to-day operations. When I started, I had Skype for communication, Dropbox for file sharing, and Asana for project management. I had a few associates who recommended other programs, and I did give them a try, but I had to go back to the systems that I was comfortable with.

Although the programs detailed here were based on online surveys and reliable consumer reviews from reputable sources, you should always choose the systems that accurately meet your business needs and are in line with your technical competence. Owning the system with the most number of bells and whistles will not guarantee a successful campaign. In the end, it will always come down to your ability and skill in managing a business.

Next read: 10 Steps to Opening a Successful Online Business