Last week we posted part two of our three part article on how to maximize your IT savings and resources. Part two covered ways you can maximize resources inside your business by switching to VoIP, investing in the cloud, and working with an MSP. Part three takes a look at things you can do to save external IT costs.

Here are three ways you can save money or get the most out of your outward/customer facing IT resources.

Invest in your website
The website is the new hub of business. Customers expect you to be on the web, and will look to your site to find the information they need. If you don’t have a functional website that provides your current and future customers with what they need and want to know, there’s a high chance that you will be losing sales.

You don’t need a fancy site, just one that looks professional and represents your business well. If you have a good website that is optimized for search results, you can and will see your site show up higher in search results, which means more exposure for your business.

This may seem a bit counter-intuitive – why spend money when you want to save it? However, having a website that appeals to your customers will increase the chances of both attracting and keeping new customers. If done in the right way, more eyes on your name means higher brand recognition. This in turn will lead to more inquiries and potentially higher sales.

Get advertising social
If you have a presence on social media platforms, it could pay to invest in social advertising. The reason advertising on social media platforms has become so popular is that you can target the most relevant people for your product or service.

When it comes to marketing and advertising, if you can target people who are already interested in your service or product, you are more likely to see higher conversions and sales. With other mediums, like paper, TV, etc., the audience is too wide and the cost too great to make it worthwhile for most small businesses. Social advertising is vastly more economical and often more powerful.

We’re not saying you should stop all other forms of advertising, but you can scale them back, save on costs, and invest in more targeted social advertising. If you pitch this just right you should see lower advertising costs coupled with higher real conversions.

Be a bigger part of the environment
Being environmentally conscious is a big deal these days. Customers like to see that the company they are doing business with takes steps to reduce their waste/carbon footprint. Looking at the numbers though, ‘going green’ can be costly, especially if you have a larger office.

The key to remember is that when it comes to “greening” IT-related processes, you should start with conservation. One of the easiest ways to conserve starts with reducing the amount of paper you use. Instead of printing out bills or receipts, why not email them to your customers? If you send faxes or print lots of documents, why not look into a virtual solution? Who knows, you may even be able to get rid of that expensive printer.

Striving to reduce waste is only half of the battle. Environmentally positive actions are a perfect thing to brag about on social media. Saved 300 sheets of paper this week? Tweet it. Customers who are environmentally conscious will look favorably upon this and are more likely to remember you when they next need a service you offer.

There are many things you can do to cut costs and maximize your IT resources. What is your company doing? If you’re not sure, you should contact us. We can help ensure you get the best bang for your buck when it comes to IT.