Starting a new business can be tough. What can be even tougher is getting people to pay attention to it once you’re up and running. In the digital age, word of mouth moves fast and trends spread like a wind-driven wildfire. The tricky part is generating the spark in the first place.

So, how do you get the word out? If you’re saving money with reasonable hosting prices, you can also use a number of inexpensive methods to get your business noticed. These tips will help you begin generating interest in your new business to spread the word.

Think ahead and budget for advertising

Have you created a budget for your advertising or public outreach? If so, you are already ahead of the game in comparison to other fledgling businesses. However, most young companies prefer to put off advertising until they can afford it. This really depends on your goals and your financial obligations.

That being said, having the cash on hand to invest in an advertising strategy is a huge help in spreading the word about your company. Common strategies include paying for ads in the local newspaper or pay-per-click advertisements on popular search engines.

Social media is a powerful tool

When you’re starting a small business, there won’t be a lot of extra money. As a result, advertising can be last on the list budget-wise. Social media platforms sometimes offer deals or limited-time discounts on promotions and advertisements from your business. These are usually month to month arrangements. That way, when you decide you’ve gotten everything you can out of the deal, you can cancel it.

Engagement Builds Followings

Speaking of social media, one of the best ways to spread the word is to be active and engaged. When you get feedback from customers, whether it’s negative or positive, responding to them helps build your brand. Existing customers like being able to communicate directly and new customers will see how much you care about customer satisfaction. This can also serve as damage control if a customer is unhappy. Being responsive and proactive can nip problems in the bud before bad press can propagate and harm your business—particularly when it’s just getting started.

Cross-promotion and networking

Networking with other small businesses can reveal cross-promotion possibilities, in which you can help one another generate business. With cross promotion, complementary organizations agree to promote one another in social media and on their websites. A jewelry company can promote your brand of silver polish, just as a sporting goods store can offer discounts for outdoor activities. Finding a symbiotic business willing to exchange promotions may take some time and effort—but it’s always worth it when it works.

Word of mouth is a powerful Tool

Having a solid product or a service people can count on is just as important as getting your brand out there. If what you’re providing is of high quality, satisfied customers will tell others what made them so happy. While social media, networking, and publicity are all key to generating interest in your new business, providing people with something they need and doing it well is what will tip the scales in your favor.

You're reading Spread the Word: Generating Interest in Your New Business by Paul Salmon, originally posted on Technically Easy. If you have enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Paul on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and Pinterest.

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Pretty much every computer monitoring software will let you track and monitor activities taking place on computers in your workplace – but their capabilities can differ quite a bit.

If you want to have a tool that can help you to increase productivity by minimizing time wastage and improper computer use, it is important that you look for software that has the features you need.

In particular, there are five features that you should look for in computer monitoring software that could make a world of difference:

1. Automated scheduled reports

Although sometimes it can be helpful to manually track employees’ activities, for the most part you will want to use automated reports.

It helps if these reports provide relevant overall data as well as specific information about individual employees that can be used to evaluate and assess them at predetermined intervals.

2. Logging and searching

By logging keystrokes it is possible to find data breaches or other security risks. However it is important that the keylogging itself is customizable, and provides a reliable and user-friendly way to search through logs rather than having to scour them line by line.

3. Web usage timers

Being able to filter out certain websites and online platforms is a useful part of most computer monitoring software, but it is even more useful to have web usage timers.

Essentially these timers will let you allocate a certain amount of free browsing time, in order to allow employees to access the internet freely for a fixed duration so that not too much time is wasted.

4. Easy installation and setup

The level of complexity involved in installing monitoring software varies – but one with an easy installation that doesn’t take long to set up is definitely preferable.

Not only will it make it faster and more convenient, but it will also mean that installing it on new workstations that you may eventually add will be easier as well.

5. Customizable alerts

Every company is bound to have different needs and may need to keep an eye out for specific types of computer activity. That is why it helps if your monitoring software has customizable alerts that you can set up to encompass any activities that are relevant to your company.

Ideally these alerts should instantly notify you of any issues, so that action can be taken immediately.

Of course in addition to these features you should make sure that the software you select is user-friendly and is something you can easily familiarize yourself with.

The user interface, controls, settings and other aspects of the software will all play a role in that regard.

As you can see the scope of computer monitoring software can vary quite a bit, and its features will definitely dictate exactly how it can be used to track and monitor activities.

By ensuring that these features are present, you should be able to choose a powerful monitoring software that can be tailored to suit any requirements.

You're reading 5 Features to Look For in Powerful Computer Monitoring Software by Paul Salmon, originally posted on Technically Easy. If you have enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Paul on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and Pinterest.