Google Alert could vanish soon; it’s time to shift to alternatives!

You may have already seen the signs, and with the shut-down of Google Reader, things are already looking bleak for another of Google’s widely popular services, the Google Alerts. We were notified of the decline in the alerts by many of our regular readers a couple of weeks back, and it lead to an internal check, as we tried to see if we had got any alerts at all. And, certainly there had not been any at all, pointing to a foreseeable shut-down of the service. So we thought we could help you with some really good alternatives, right before any official announcement is made. It’s good to be prepared, isn’t it? Really good alternatives to Google Alerts are a bit scarce, and you may not have a lot of choice, but we found the three alternatives given below to be really acceptable.

#Mention: This is a great service with a very clean interface. Mention integrates your alerts for both business and personal environment. It’s available on Google Play and Apple Appstore. We found that Mention is really nifty when it comes to synchronizing the alerts, and actions to be taken for those alerts. That way, you do not have to go anywhere else to be able to do anything about that alert. Let’s take an example of a tweet that you may have set up an alert for. As soon as you get that in your alerts, you can just retweet it then and there. We thought this was a great feature, and certainly made the service great (& worth a ‘mention’ ).

#Talkwalker Alerts: Another service we stumbled upon was the Talkwalker Alerts. In a way, this is more like Google Alerts than Mention. Talkwalker is highly simplistic, and really easy to create, which makes it really a smooth experience. If you have been a casual user of Google Alerts, and use it to just keep a track of simpler things, this could be the right replacement for you. This is however a web only service and no mention of an app for smart phones could be found on their website. So it’s going to be a bit limited in its usage, but one could always use it from their phone’s browser.

#Drippler: Last but not the least; Drippler is almost completely a mobile device solution for alerts. It works like a charm though, if you need a sophisticated tracking solution for other apps. You can get latest news about new apps, upgrades, and even latest tips about apps through Drippler. The app is available on both Google Play as well as APPSTORE. It’s really not for everyone though. You would love it only if you are big on tracking apps and tech-news.

Obviously this is a very short list for now, and especially because we did not include some of the other services that we thought were not so good. Hopefully, if and when an official announcement comes up, there would be much to add into this list. If you know any other really good alternatives, don’t be shy and share it with us!

After all the hard work and efforts that small business owners put in to setting up their

business and get it running, there comes a point where you need to start hiring people. The

impact of just one new employee joining a small company can be significant. With no room

for error, you need to make the right hiring decisions and choose someone who can hit the

ground running.. However Small Business Owners often realize too late that they’ve made

a poor choice and when they retrospect they realize that it’s probably because of skipping

a few important steps in the hiring process. Here are a few steps and pitfalls to consider

before you start screening for employees.

Ø Determine the job profile that you are hiring for :

It is important that you are very clear about the job profile that you are hiring for. You need

to make sure that you aren’t trying to present the job as something that it isn’t. If you are

looking for a particular skill or type of person to fill a position, then be specific about that.

If you fail to clearly outline the job profile, then you will become frustrated when you can’t

find who you are really looking for, and job applicants will become frustrated when they find

out the job is really something else. Many small business owners find that they need an

employee in the beginning who is willing to take on several different responsibilities. If this is

the case when you are hiring, then you need to make that clear as well. You should let the

job applicant know that their job duties would be determined by what is happening at any

particular moment. When you find employees with such flexibility, you would find that they

are able to adapt better, to a small business environment, and often stay for a long term.

Finally, it is important not to rush the hiring process, since this can be an expensive mistake.

You should make sure that you are taking the time to hire the right person, for the right job.

Ø Do not let “dream candidates” manipulate you :

Make sure you’re not letting emotions and irrational instincts dictate your hiring decisions.

Here are two traps managers sometimes fall into:

The halo effect — You are a victim of the halo effect when you become so enamoured by

one particular aspect of a candidate. It could be anything, the fact that the person is from

your hometown or attended your alma mater, often this fact completely overshadows all

other points of consideration.

The halo effect can also be observed when an applicant has too many exceptional skills and

attributes that make you jump to hire the person without thoughtfully reviewing the hiring

criteria. The worst thing you can do is try to put a right person in the wrong job.

The “cloning effect”— Avoid becoming unjustly impressed with an applicant just because

he or she remind you of a top performer you once had on your team. There is a probability

that you would fail to notice that the individual isn’t qualified for the job.

Ø Make it personal :

In a small business, it is very important to find people who can blend well with the culture of

the company. In fact one poor match could end up causing a lot of problems and mess up

existing group dynamics in your company.

Ø Over estimating the power of MNC’s :

Decide what benefits you can offer. Many small business owners think that they cannot

attract any top level talent because they cannot match the benefits of their larger competitors.

This is not necessarily true. There are ‘always’ incentives that you can offer to entice even

the best of the talent into working for you. Many employees are looking for businesses

where there is a lot of opportunity for growth and potential. A small business is thus often the

perfect opportunity. Of course, there are other perks you can use to tilt the scale further.You

could consider offering options such as: gym memberships or other discounts that may

interest job applicants. Flexible schedules, telecommuting, and even onsite day care are

often all that it takes to hire the right person for the right job. By using some creativity

and planning skills you can find the right employees to help your small business succeed.

Ø Check references:

Once you’ve made your hiring decision, invest time in a thorough reference-checking

process. It may be tempting to skip this step altogether. However, if you really expect to

find the right person for the job, it’s worth the extra effort to try to obtain these insights.

When checking hard-to-check references, handle the responsibility personally and via

a phone call. Instead of passing the task off to someone else, calling a fellow manager

personally can usually yield more candid feedback. It also gives you the chance to possibly

verify the comments made by the candidate during the interview. Be careful about relying

too heavily on information found online. Entering someone’s name in a search engine to

see what comes up may yield inaccurate or irrelevant information, including facts that are

illegal to consider in a hiring decision. Finally, try to cross-verify what you have learnt about

an applicant. Be careful about trusting just one source such as reference checks, interview

impressions, resume data, or testing.

To conclude, it is important that you keep a few key factors in mind while initiating the hiring

process. Hiring for your small business will, in large part determine, how successful it will

be. This means that it is crucial to take the time to adequately plan and carry out the hiring

process. The people who work for you could become one of the most valuable assets for

your small business, if you do it right. Careful attention to the evaluation process can save

you many headaches down the road. Hope this has helped you obtain and retain talent more

easily. All the best and happy hiring!

“I’m still evaluating SOHODOX”
If you’re still evaluating SOHODOX and have not yet purchased any licenses, then you can continue with your Free Trial as usual. When you decide to buy SOHODOX licenses, you will just need to download and install the update setup for Version 8.3, and apply the registration key that we send to you via email. This will upgrade your existing installation of SOHODOX to the latest version. The existing documents and data you have added will remain safe.

“I am already a SOHODOX customer”
Well, in that case read through this carefully…

Why should I upgrade to Version 8.3 of SOHODOX?
SOHODOX8.3 adds useful features that make managing your documents even easier than before! Check out details of new features in SOHODOX8.3.

Will upgrading to version 8.3 affect my existing data?
Not at all! To upgrade to version 8.3, you will have to download the Upgrade setup, and then just execute it as usual. The upgrade setup will upgrade your SOHODOX DB but it won’t alter your data in any way. This means you do not lose your data or documents.

How do I upgrade to version 8.3?
That depends on whether your Maintenance Subscription of 1 year is currently active, or it has ended. If the Maintenance Subscription is currently active, you just need to download and run the upgrade setup, restart SOHODOX, and continue using it as usual.
But if your Maintenance Subscription has come to an end, you will need to purchase new Maintenance Subscriptions – as many as the number of SOHODOX licenses you own. Once you purchase the Maintenance Subscriptions, we will email you the registration key and the link to download the upgrade setup. You can then download the setup file , execute it, and then simply restart SOHODOX to continue using it as usual. Really, it’s that simple!

What are the steps to update my SOHODOX installation?
Below are the 6 easy steps to update to Version 8.3:
1. Take a backup of your DB before upgrading to the latest version.
2. Make sure that SOHODOX is not running on any of the machines when running the update setup.
3. Start upgrading SOHODOX on the machine on which it is installed, in the Server mode.
4. Once the update setup is installed on the server machine, make sure that you start SOHODOX once.
5. The first time you log-in after installing the upgrade setup, you will need to log-in as the superadmin user so that the MainDB gets upgraded to the latest version.
6. Once this is done, make sure you install the update on all the Client machines individually.
That’s it! Once you have carried out the steps above, you are ready to use SOHODOX8.3 to manage your documents even more efficiently than before!

What if I do not choose to upgrade to version 8.3?
You can still carry on using SOHODOX as usual, but you would not be able to use the new features in SOHODOX8.3. Also, in case you face an issue requiring support from our side, one of the first things we would ask you to do would be to upgrade your version to the latest one. Often, that by itself is sufficient to resolve the issue. To sum it up, it is always beneficial to keep your SOHODOX updated to the latest version.

My Maintenance Subscription ended on or before 17th June 2013. I want to upgrade to SOHODOX8.3. How can I do so?
If your upgrade and support period came to an end on or before 17th June 2013, you will need to purchase as many Maintenance Subscriptions, as the number of SOHODOX licenses you own. Once you purchase the Maintenance Subscriptions, we will email you the registration key and the link to download the upgrade setup.
You can then download and install the upgrade setup, run it, restart SOHODOX, and continue using it as usual. It’s that simple! Purchase Maintenance Subscriptions now!

Note for both – existing customers as well as users evaluating SOHODOX:
Please do not use the full setup to update an existing installation of SOHODOX -always use the Upgrade Setup. Also, you must not uninstall an existing version and attempt to install the latest version of SOHODOX using the Full Setup. This will not work. Download the update setup and follow the steps given in “What are the steps to update my SOHODOX installation?” above.

UPGRADE NOTES:
1. To upgrade your existing SOHODOX installation, please download the update setup.
2. If your maintenance subscription has expired, then you will not be able to upgrade your current SOHODOX installation to the latest version. You will first need to purchase as many Maintenance Subscriptions as the number of SOHODOX licenses you own. For purchase inquiries, please write to us at sales@itaz.com.

The next post will have instructions about upgrading to the latest version. As always if in doubt, please contact us at support@itaz.com before upgrading.

In the months to come, you can expect more additions to SOHODOX.

If you’re already using SOHODOX, wait for the next post for details about upgrading to version 8.3.
If you are not using SOHODOX yet, you can order now, and upgrade to new versions in the next one year for free! That’s because with every license ordered, you get an annual Maintenance Subscription absolutely free! Click here to download 14 day free trial.

Communication with your customers is key to building meaningful, lasting relationships. However, over communicating will cause your message to become marketing noise and potentially get lost in the Clutter. In today’s modern marketing world, where businesses now get personal with their customers, it is more important than ever to make your marketing stand out; don’t lose your message by over communicating. Can a small business communicate too much or too often with its customers? The answer is yes. Some small businesses can come on too strong and may be perceived as being obtrusive especially when they try to rush into a sale.

The temptation to bombard people with information could prove to be a double edge sword.

It is just like building any relationship, which requires just the perfect mix of assertiveness, understanding and patience. Too much, or little, of any of those qualities will lead to a breakdown.

How to be certain you don’t cross your boundaries when it comes to communications with your customers?

Deliver the Appropriate amount of Communication :
Timely and relevant messaging is essential when sending across your message to the customers. “Customers always think whats in it for them “  Without these factors your messaging can seem impersonal, causing consumers to think. Before sending a communication to customers, put yourself in their shoes and see if it makes sense and is relevant to their current ownership lifecycle. if a service customer was in your service drive today, you wouldn’t want to contact them with a great service offer tomorrow. These types of communications will upset a customer and make them feel like they are missing out.

Divide and Conquer
It’s time to start thinking about your most precious asset, your customers. They want to hear from you, but they don’t need to hear every message from you. Use your database and its information to create segments of your customers. By doing this, you should be able to determine who is most likely to purchase a new vehicle or who should be ready for their next vehicle maintenance.

Don’t share every incentive with every customer
Typically dealerships have several promotions going on at the same time. For example, they may have a national, regional, dealer-specific, and seasonal incentive that customers can capitalize on. This type of messaging can be overwhelming for consumers, which could cause them to either discredit the communications or ignore them completely. So really think about the messaging you will deliver to your customers. Chances are your consumers have already seen the national OEM incentives while browsing the web, watching TV, and listening to the radio. You may want to cut out any additional communication to them about the same incentives.  Really think about the messaging you will deliver to your customers.

Your customers are being bombarded by marketing messages, and by communicating with them regularly, you will stay top-of-mind and drive more traffic to your dealership. However, if your communications become part of the marketing noise, then your message will never be heard.

Document Control  can not only improve the  management of  your  data but also help build up efficiency and consistency of your business. When you have control over all your documents It saves time so there is no time lost scanning, filing and retrieving documents  it helps you focus on your core business activity.

5 reasons why you should have control over your documents

Retrieval of Documents :

Retrieval of documents is one of the major concerns that every organisation faces . The efficiency of the organisation depreciates if retrieval of documents is cumbersome. Document control will help you always retrieve the correct information within a reasonable period of time hence improving efficiency (In other words, no time wasted searching for a document, or information).

Traceability:

Who sent this document to whom, when, and with what technical or commercial content ? Why traceability? Because it ensures that you will never lose track of what happened on documents / on your project / in your department

Managing your documents :.

Getting control of documents (including latest modifications, updates, etc.) means that you will be certain that the information at hand is the most up-to-date. With document control, all revisions of a document are stored, and the document at hand is always the current one.

Your Information is secured:

By defining the rules for accessing documents (who can access a document?, who can read it?, modify it, etc) and by implementing these rules within the document management software, document control prevents uncontrolled changes on documents as well as un-authorized access to documents. At the same time ensuring that any person who needs access to a document has access.

You can definitely be assured about Consistency:

When you have your documents under control it means you are working with consistent standards and complying with industry regulations and legal requirements. This mean hassles are minimised and work can be carried on a systematic and consistent basis

Monday
Go Paperless or use less paper

• Let’sstart with a simple exercise of “Think before you Print”. Print only those documents which are utmost necessary.
• Make an online module to update policies such as upcoming birthdays or holiday schedules which are easier to update.

Tuesday
Let’s be Bright about Light

• Make it a habit to turn off the lights when you’re leaving any room and use natural light wherever possible.
• A policy must be made to buy Energy saverlight bulbs and fixtures.They use at least two-thirds less energy than regular lighting.

Wednesday
Do not print unnecessarily

• An average U.S. office worker goes through 10,000 sheets of copy paper a year which is a lot.
• Make it a habit to print on both sides of the paper or try to minimize the use of print by going paperless. Only if there is need for a print do it.
• For rough work, use the other side of used old documents. Avoid colour printing and print in draft mode whenever feasible.

Thursday
Plan your travel carefully

• Make it a habit to take the Public Transport whenever feasible instead of a rental car when travelling on business.
• Invest in videoconferencing and other technological solutions that can reduce the amount of employee travel thus saving company costs and fuel.

Friday
Create a healthy office environment

• Brighten up your cubicle with plants, which reduce indoor air pollution. Make it a habit to use nontoxic cleaning products.
• Make it a policy to buy furniture, carpeting, and paint that are free of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and won’t off-gas toxic chemicals.
• Smoking should be allowed only outside office premises.

Saturday
Maximize computer efficiency

• Computers in the business sector unnecessarily waste $1 billion worth of electricity a year.
• Make it a habit to turn off your computer—and the power strip it’s plugged into—when you leave for the day. During the day, setting your computer to go to sleep automatically during short breaks can cut energy use by a whopping 70 percent.
• Make it a policy to invest in energy-saving computers, monitors, and printers and make sure that old equipment is properly recycled.

Sunday
Recycle and Reuse

• Recycle everything you possibly can.. Take advantage of curbside recycling if it is offered in your area. Keep recycling bins in a convenient location so that you won’t be tempted to toss recyclable items into the garbage.
• In addition to recycling services, you can recycle items by reusing them. If you forget your reusable grocery bags when you go food shopping and use plastic bags instead, save them for other tasks.

Let’s take one day at a time, change one habit a day. Let’s go green. Let’s go paperless.

Well, there is not much we could normally do to show concern for a planet fast entering into a dangerous phase. It’s true! Check out this graphic, and you would know what we mean. Horrifying right? This is exactly why this year we thought of coming up with something that is a step in the right direction. An incentive to buy a product that not only helps you manage your work more efficiently, but also helps the planet.

Yes, we must really be out of our mind. Jokes apart, the discount of flat 30% is exclusively available on all SOHODOX orders placed till the end of this month, to celebrate the Earth Week! Here is how you can get the discount.

1. Go to the SOHODOX order page

2. Input your order details

3. Go to secure payment page & enter your details along with
the coupon code “ EARTHDAY2013” & it’s done!

So what are you waiting for? You don’t get the opportunity to do something good for a cheaper price every now and then. Make most of it, and be the difference. Have a Happy Earth Day

“I’m still evaluating SOHODOX”
If you’re still evaluating SOHODOX and have not yet purchased any licenses, then you can continue with your Free Trial as usual. When you decide to buy SOHODOX licenses, you will just need to download and install the update setup for Version 8.2
, and apply the registration key that we send to you via email. This will upgrade your existing installation of SOHODOX to the latest version. The existing documents and data you have added will remain safe.

“I am already a SOHODOX customer”
Well, in that case read through this carefully…

Why should I upgrade to Version 8.2 of SOHODOX?
SOHODOX8.2 adds useful features that make managing your documents even easier than before! Check out details of new features in SOHODOX8.2.

Will upgrading to version 8.2 affect my existing data?
Not at all! To upgrade to version 8.2, you will have to download the Upgrade setup, and then just execute it as usual. The upgrade setup will upgrade your SOHODOX DB but it won’t alter your data in any way. This means you do not lose your data or documents.

How do I upgrade to version 8.2?
That depends on whether your Maintenance Subscription of 1 year is currently active, or it has ended. If the Maintenance Subscription is currently active, you just need to download and run the upgrade setup, restart SOHODOX, and continue using it as usual.
But if your Maintenance Subscription has come to an end, you will need to purchase new Maintenance Subscriptions – as many as the number of SOHODOX licenses you own. Once you purchase the Maintenance Subscriptions, we will email you the registration key and the link to download the upgrade setup. You can then download the setup file , execute it, and then simply restart SOHODOX to continue using it as usual. Really, it’s that simple!

What are the steps to update my SOHODOX installation?
Below are the 6 easy steps to update to Version 8.2:
1. Take a backup of your DB before upgrading to the latest version.
2. Make sure that SOHODOX is not running on any of the machines when running the update setup.
3. Start upgrading SOHODOX on the machine on which it is installed, in the Server mode.
4. Once the update setup is installed on the server machine, make sure that you start SOHODOX once.
5. The first time you log-in after installing the upgrade setup, you will need to log-in as the superadmin user so that the MainDB gets upgraded to the latest version.
6. Once this is done, make sure you install the update on all the Client machines individually.
That’s it! Once you have carried out the steps above, you are ready to use SOHODOX8.2 to manage your documents even more efficiently than before!

What if I do not choose to upgrade to version 8.2?
You can still carry on using SOHODOX as usual, but you would not be able to use the new features in SOHODOX8.2. Also, in case you face an issue requiring support from our side, one of the first things we would ask you to do would be to upgrade your version to the latest one. Often, that by itself is sufficient to resolve the issue. To sum it up, it is always beneficial to keep your SOHODOX updated to the latest version.

My Maintenance Subscription ended on or before 18th April 2013. I want to upgrade to SOHODOX8.2. How can I do so?
If your upgrade and support period came to an end on or before 18 April 2013, you will need to purchase as many Maintenance Subscriptions, as the number of SOHODOX licenses you own. Once you purchase the Maintenance Subscriptions, we will email you the registration key and the link to download the upgrade setup.
You can then download and install the upgrade setup, run it, restart SOHODOX, and continue using it as usual. It’s that simple! Purchase Maintenance Subscriptions now!

Note for both – existing customers as well as users evaluating SOHODOX:
Please do not use the full setup to update an existing installation of SOHODOX -always use the Upgrade Setup. Also, you must not uninstall an existing version and attempt to install the latest version of SOHODOX using the Full Setup. This will not work. Download the update setup and follow the steps given in “What are the steps to update my SOHODOX installation?” above.