When the time is right for your business to bring on a Managed IT Services provider, there are several things to consider before signing a contract. Businesses both large and small have certain needs that are better managed by professionals. Contracting with a managed service provider allows owners and upper level management to focus their attention on growing and managing the business. Teaming up with a managed service provider has several benefits – if you choose the right partner. Conversely bringing on a managed service provider that doesn’t understand your needs or one that is unable to provide the level of service required can be an expensive mistake. Here we look at the things you should consider before signing on the dotted line.

1. Does the Managed IT Services contract support the goals of both parties? When it comes right down to it, every business is in existence to turn a profit. When you select a Managed IT Services provider, you want to find one that will work with you to support your business strategy and achieve your goals. A Managed IT Services Provider that is interested in selling services or products that don’t match the needs of your company just for the sake of making money is one that should be avoided. You are contracting with a provider that will maintain vital company systems, therefore you want someone on your side who is able and willing to create a package and price that reflects your needs and not their bottom line.

2. Will Managed IT Services be cost effective? When you enter an agreement with a Managed IT Services Provider, you are agreeing to pay a predetermined amount of money for their support and services. This can be very cost effective versus paying an hourly rate for IT support. When you have a Managed IT Services Provider in your corner, you can feel confident all vital areas are being covered regardless of the number of hours needed to do so.

3. Compare several Managed IT Services companies before making your final decision. It is easy to get lost in the mumble jumble of the IT world when you don’t understand the language being spoken. While this can be disconcerting, don’t let a language barrier lead to a poor business decision. You are hiring a Managed IT Services Provider to cover technological areas outside of your expertise; however, you don’t want to be completely unaware of what is going on within your company. Look for Providers who understand business dynamics at the highest level and can explain how their solutions support your vision and mission, strategic objectives, goals, etc. Be wary of MSP’s who incessantly use “technobabble,” a form of jargon that uses buzzwords, esoteric language, specialized technical terms, or technical slang that may be confusing, misleading, or nonsensical to an outside listener. If you’re uncomfortable now, imagine how uncomfortable your employees are going to be at every touchpoint going forward.

4. Signing a contract with a Managed IT Services Provider ties you to that provider according to the terms of the contract. Once you have taken this step, it is important to remain in the loop regarding services provided. Review progress on a regular basis to ensure the needs of your business are being met. If you have done your homework and signed on with the right Managed IT Services Provider, you will have one less thing to worry about when it comes to managing your business.

Social media marketing provides a way for businesses to increase their “word of mouth” advertising.

Word of mouth has always been a powerful method of promoting products and services. Think about it – when you need a new mechanic for your car, do you trust the advertisements in the newspaper or your friend who tells you how great their mechanic is?

Social networking makes it possible to establish relationships and build trust online, which allows businesses to indirectly market their products and services to people who are more receptive to the marketing messages you are sending out. Generally, people are more trusting of social media sites than they are of more traditional websites selling products or services directly, because the users of social media websites feel that there are fewer people who would have something to gain by reviewing and recommending another’s product or service.

Social media marketing offers a number of benefits you would be hard pressed to find in other forms of marketing, including:

1. Ability to create brand awareness. As more people see your business name and the link to your site, your logo, and other details found in social media profiles, you establish more brand awareness among your potential client base.

2. Trust is established through natural connections and relationships that develop in online communities.

3. Your main website will gain traffic from niche conversations had through social networking websites, discussions, groups, and through blog comments.

4. Search engine optimization is increased through the increasing number of high quality links to your site and/or blog as other community members link to you and as you link to yourself from various social media sites.

5. Increased visibility in search engines will boost the number of visitors who find your website when searching keywords related to your industry.

6. Having a following on various social sites will decrease your dependence on search engines in general, since you’ll have a number of other websites helping to drive traffic to your site or blog.

7. Your participation in social media discussions and groups helps you see what is going on within your niche and find out what people want to see in the products and services you offer simply by listening to what people say to one another.

8. When you are actively involved in social media, you have the opportunity to manage your reputation. You can respond to complaints in a timely manner, encourage people to talk about their good experiences with your company, and keep an eye on what is being said about you in general by your client base.

9. You can discover more about the needs, desires and trends that encourage your market niche to spend money, and use that information to fuel your marketing efforts.

Advantages of Social Media Marketing Linking Strategies

It’s possible to obtain links to your website from a few different sources online – including companies who sell links to your site. One of the primary advantages of using social media marketing is that you obtain numerous links to your website and blog from multiple sources. When you publish a new blog post or an article on your website, you can automatically update each of your social media profiles across multiple websites to reflect the new post – and include a link back to your site. If your followers, fans, or connections appreciate the information in your blog posts or article, you’ll see them announcing these to their followers, fans or connections, quickly growing the number of incoming links through social media. You end up with links to your site strategically placed everywhere your potential client base is already visiting online, which means the people who are clicking those links are already your targeted prospects, and have already established somewhat of a relationship with you through their connection on these social media sites.