Cameras can be a good thing!

When the average business owner thinks of cameras and video, the images that come to mind are security, discipline, and keeping an eye on things. I recently met someone who changed my thinking on the value of video cameras and current video technology in creating a top performing business.

Imagine your employee is sitting alone at the shop. A customer walks in, complaining about a purchase they made that did not meet their expectation. Your employee engages the frustrated client, listens to their story, determines the root cause for the dissatisfaction and provides a solution which pleases the customer. The customer walks out with the solution and a pleasant feeling about your company.

Now, imagine while sitting at your desk - maybe miles away, you get to see and hear this employee, taking care of one of your customers. Later that afternoon, you walk into the store, tell your employee how much you appreciate they way they handled the customer and give that employee $20 or a gift card, or some other token of your appreciation. Imagine what would happen in your work force?

My business friend, Ryan Reid of ICU Security, LLC, has been providing camera systems to clients for over 15 years. While some clients acquire the systems for traditional surveillance and security functions, Ryan has a whole group of clients that he has trained to use these systems in a much more profitable way. They are using their video systems to:

• Improve Customer Service
• Increase Employee Productivity
• Increase Suggestive Selling
• Accurately Evaluate Employees
• And Reinforce Training

All of these activities contribute to improved business operations and add dollars to the bottom line. Obviously, the investment in such a system can protect against the negative side of business in terms of reducing theft and misappropriation of company assets as well. So, if you are looking for a way to improve the customer service aspects of your business, give my business friend, Ryan Reid, a call and see how he can help you grow your business and your profits through a different way of using video systems. You can visit the ICU Security website by clicking [here].

Search Engine Optimization for Your Business

For those who may not be familiar with the term SEO, it stands for Search Engine Optimization. This term refers to efforts to get your website to appear at the top of a web search results page, say in Google or Yahoo or any other web search engine. Getting your site to display ahead of your competition can be a significant boost to your business!

There are many companies that offer SEO to their clients. As in all business opportunities some are good businesses that explain exactly what they can and can not do. There are others that can get you the number one ranking - based on search terms that are seldom used. As with all services, make sure you understand what is being offered, what you will have to pay and what performance standards will be used to determine if the work has been accomplished.

Now, to most of us, SEO tends to be a bit like voodoo. Search engine providers create a system of scoring websites to determine which is most likely to have content which matches the interest of the searcher. A number of factors are considered in calculating this score. Once a website owner knows the components of the scoring system, the website can be modified to achieve a higher score for specific searches. SEO Optimization companies work with website owners and businesses to modify their web pages with the objective to appear in the first entry on the first first result page.

As in most rules based systems, there are those who seek to bend the rules for their own benefit. The search engines modify the rules on a regular basis to keep website owners honest. For this reason, search engine optimization is never a finished task. If you website is an important part of your business presence (and it should be) the SEO optimization is important to you.