October TechFocus-Simple way technology can double productivity!

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to make your business run faster, simpler & more profitably.

October 2011

Double Your Productivity Without
Working Longer Hours

Contribued by Suzi Sevcik, Inside Technical Sales Specialist

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Today's small businesses have to do more with less. More work, less people. At Infinity Technology, we're a small business too & understand the need to get the most productivity from our people. One of the most economical ways we've found to increase the productivity is to simply add a second LCD to our desktop - don't just take my word for it, research has shown that productivity can increase from 9-50%*

That's it? How does adding a second LCD ramp up production you ask? By taking advantage of the MS-Windows platform that allows you have multiple programs open at once you can organize your desktop to optimize your work flow. I've had a dual LCD setup here at Infinity for the last 4 years and I've found I can't live without it. The majority of my day is spent either creating quotes for customers or purchasing the equipment that I've quoted out. With a dual LCD setup, I can have my quoting application on one screen & my browser open on the other screen to search for products. Instead of constantly having to flip between applications, minimizing screens, I can have both open and quickly & efficiently complete my tasks.

OK, that's great. But, how difficult is it to setup a dual LCD display? It's actually quite simple & there are several options. Some of the newer, higher end models of PC's and workstations come with dual video cards already configured. All you need to do is plug in two LCD's. But if you have an older model, there's still easy ways to make it work. There is a USB to VGA adapter that costs about $50 & it plugs into your USB port on your PC & the other into the 2nd LCD. Run an install CD & you're up and running in minutes. The other option involves a bit more technical work and that's installing a dual-LCD video card. Typically those cards run just under $80 and will need to be installed inside the PC.

One tip I have for the dual LCD setup is to use monitors that are the same size and resolution. I've found through trial & error that having different size monitors makes it a bit tougher to visually switch between screens.

Several of our customers have starting implementing dual LCD setups & the results have all been pretty consistent. They'll start with one person, just to try it & within days they're contacting us to have more of their workers setup with dual LCD's. But don't take my word for it...I invite you to try it yourself. Adding monitors could just be a money maker for your company.

*Microsoft Research - Two Screens Are Better Than One
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/news/features/vibe.aspx

Business with a Tropical Attitude

With winter approaching, it's a good time to remind ourselves we can still "think" tropical at the office.

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By Paul Johnson

Think business, think tropical. At first, they may not seem to go hand in hand. Yet, you'll be more successful - and have a gas doing it - when you approach your business with a tropical attitude. You can find it all in the tropics - even the energy of life itself! You just have to see what's already there, and bring it to work with you every day.

Click Here to read the entire article.

How to Get a List of Ideal Prospects for Free

With LinkedIn.com, you can build lists of people who match your ideal prospect - and even get introductions - all for the cost of a few clicks.

For example, if you want to reach the HR managers at companies in a certain geographic area, simply go to LinkedIn and follow these steps:

Set up an account and connect with your clients, friends and vendors. The more "connected" you are online, the easier it will be to get introduced to new prospects.
Click on the "Advanced Search" link located near the main search form.
Customize your search by entering in the industries, title, location and keywords that would be related to the prospect you are looking to find. For example, you could enter "HR" or "Human Resources Manager" in the title search, and then narrow your results down using the "Postal Code" lookup and "Within X Miles" setting.
Unless you want a particular industry, leave that area unchecked.
When the list comes up, do a sort by "Relationship" so that those with the closest relationship to you or your contacts are ranked towards the top. If you find someone you want to connect with, look for people YOU know who can introduce you.

Ideas for Staying in Touch With Your Clients

At Infinity, we try to reach out to our clients on a consistent basis to keep them up-to-date on what we're doing, the value our business provides for them, and to show our appreciation. As most business owners know, this is often times easier said than done. Perhaps you know the feeling. The following is a list we gathered of just some of the ways to stay in touch with your clients.

Mail out a printed newsletter
Do an email newsletter
Put video tips on your website
Detail your company vehicles
Rent a billboard
Update your website
Post to your Facebook
Pick up the phone to catch up
Send out small client gifts
Host a client open house
Consider a client outing
Send a written thank you note
Send a card for illness or other situations
Send new clients a welcome kit
Send out a quarterly service survey
Tell them about new products or services launched
Here good news about them? Let them know that you appreciate having clients who work hard to get results and are successful.
Here some not so good news about a client? Reach out & communicate your empathy - maybe there is a way you can help.
Engage clients in something fun - have a prize drawing for correct responses to trivia.
Host a seminar or webinar

2920 Walker Dr | Green Bay, WI 54311 | 920.430.1117 | 800.261.0040 realpeople@infinitytechnology.com

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"As a business owner, I know you don't have time to waste on technical and operational issues. That's where we commit to excellence. Call us and put an end to your IT problems."

-Dennis Challe, President

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