Surfside Group

We're already halfway through the list of 12 ways you can improve your business in 2010. How many have you started? How many were you already doing? To see the complete list, GO HERE .

So, #6 on the list is to automate as much as you can to simplify your life. This is especially important when running a small business.

Some of the automated services that can have a powerful impact include:

• Marketing campaigns
• Credit card processing
• Lead generation and distribution
• Recurring billing
• Phone campaigns (this works really well if you have an upcoming conference or event where you are reminding people to register and/or attend)
• Fax services
• Email marketing

These are all activities that can be created and scheduled in advance through by using the technology associated with each. You’d probably be amazed at how cost effective these services are. And when you calculate how much time and effort it would take you or one of your employees to manually perform these types of activities, you’ll quickly see the wisdom in automation.

And remember, automation does not mean de-personalization. When done correctly, you can actually strengthen relationships and increase sales.