Give Your Employees the Latest Tech Tools, or Else!!

Does your small business have the right stuff to attract qualified employees? Technology stuff, that is. Almost three-fourths (72 percent) of workers in a recent Workplace Options survey say that the better the technology tools a company provides to its employees, the more attractive it is as a place to work. 

That number soared to 92 percent among workers aged 18 to 29.

How important is technology? Half of all workers and 75 percent of those aged 18 to 29 say they assess the level of technology a workplace offers when they’re looking for a new job. A good computer doesn’t cut it, either—employees consider that a given these days. What they really want are smartphones, tablets and presentation tools.

It’s not all about them, either. Some two-thirds (65 percent) of employees in the survey say providing employees with current technology is crucial to a company’s success. But less than half (45 percent) say their employer provides up-to-date technology to all its workers.  More than half (53 percent) say that up-to-date technology is essential in order to do their jobs properly. Interestingly, older employees (in the 45 to 65 age range) were more likely than younger workers to say that up-to-date technology was essential both to their jobs and to their employers, and women were more likely to say so than men.

Employees feel so strongly about technology that more than one in five (22 percent) say they would quit or change jobs if their employers didn’t provide the latest technology. That figure was highest among employees age 29 to 44, with 29 percent saying they would quit for this reason.

Nearly three-fourths of employees (72 percent) say their reliance on technology has increased over the past five years; almost half (46 percent) say it has increased “significantly.” Employees in the 29 to 65 age group were the most likely to say their reliance on technology has grown.

What do these figures mean to you?

 No matter how old your employees are, you can’t assume they will be happy to get by with less than the latest technology. While younger employees in the survey cared more about the latest tech tools, they were also less likely to quit over the lack of them. It’s the workers in their prime years—those who are most valuable to your business—that you stand to lose if you’re making them struggle with inadequate technology.

Today, cloud computing, subscription software and lower hardware prices are all combining to make technology more affordable than ever for a small business. There’s no excuse for not upgrading—not when it can make your employees more productive and your business more successful.

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23 must-have Twitter tools to boost your online presence

Nobody can deny the importance of Twitter anymore. After six years of existence, the social media platform continues growing and providing a free and very effective promotional avenue for entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Looking for tools to leverage Twitter even better and build a targeted audience? Here is a list of 23 must-have tools.

Buffer
Launched in 2011, Buffer, also known as BufferApp, allows Twitter users to schedule tweets to be sent at optimal times throughout the day. The service also comes with a wide array of apps and browser extensions.

Chitty Chat
With Chitty Chat, you can have private conversations with groups of specific tweeps. Include @chitty_chat in your mention, click on the link in the instant reply, and you are good to go!

Dlvr.it
Dlvr.it takes any RSS feed and automatically posts content to Twitter and several other social media platforms, including LinkedIn, Facebook and Tumblr. The service also tracks performance and provides relevant stats (audience, followers, clicks, and popular posts).

GrabInbox
GrabInbox lets you manage multiple accounts on three social networks: Facebook (profiles and Fan Pages), Twitter and LinkedIn. Launched in 2011, this tool comes from the creators of JustUnfollow.com.

HootSuiteWith HootSuite, you can update multiple social networks with the click of a mouse: "Using HootSuite’s unique social media dashboard, teams can collaboratively schedule updates to Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Wordpress and other social networks via web, desktop or mobile platforms plus track campaign results and industry trends to rapidly adjust tactics."

Paper.li
Paper.li is a content curation tool that organizes links shared on Twitter by all your followers and compiles them automatically into an easy-to-read newspaper-style format. The service also sends daily tweets that feature the names of the top sharers, hence putting your followers in the front seat.

Rapportive
Rapportive turns your Gmail account into a communication hub.
Every time you receive an email, the extension for Chrome, Firefox and Safari shows you the sender’s social media information next to the message, including picture, occupation, latest tweets, and links to social networking profiles. You can also leave notes on their profile.
Most importantly, Rapportive turns a Gmail inbox into a mini-Twitter. You can follow, reply and retweet without leaving your account.

ReFollow
ReFollow allows you to discover, manage and protect your Twitter social circle. You can batch follow / unfollow / block users, discover relevant tweeps, filter users, and more.

Tweepi
Tweepi helps you get rid of spammers and deadbeat users and find quality tweeps among your followers.

Twitter Grader
Twitter Grader compares your profile to millions of other users and gives it a score out of 100. The higher the better.

TweetChat
TweetChat helps filter out the noise on Twitter by allowing users to create and meet in hashtag-based chatrooms.

TweetDeckTweetDeck is a stand-alone Twitter client that lets you send tweets, create groups, save searches, etc. It is free and available for desktops and as an application for your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Android, and the Chrome browser.

TweetLevel
TweetLevel measures a tweep's or brand's importance on Twitter. Users receive scores in four categories: influence, popularity, engagement, and trust. The higher, the better.

Tweetizen
"Tweetizen is a simple web-based tool designed to help you filter the daily influx of tweets, and easily find the ones that are relevant to you. Use our simple embed widgets to embed twitter to your websites and blogs."

Tweetwally
Tweetwally lets you search Twitter for messages based on hashtags, usernames or keywords, and create your own "tweetwall" -- updated in real-time. You can then embed it on your blog and / or present it on a projector or on an iPhone.

Tweriod
Looking for the best times to tweet during the day? Try Tweriod! The tool analyzes your and your followers' updates and then tells you when your posted content has the greatest chance of being seen by others.

TwInbox
TwInbox is a free, all-in-one Twitter client that works directly inside Microsoft Outlook. You can basically do all the things you would do with TweetDeck or HootSuite.

TwitBlock
TwitBlock scans your list of followers and separates the wheat from the chaff, by making it easy to find spam accounts and block them.

TwitLonger
If you find the 140-character limit restrictive, here is the perfect application for you: "With TwitLonger, you can write what you need and a link to what you said will automatically be posted to your Twitter account. It’s like twitpic for text.”

TwitSprout
TwitSprout gives you access to in-depth analytics for your Twitter and Facebook accounts. The information is presented in a visually appealing dashboard. TwitSprout also analyzes the Twitter and Facebook accounts of your competitors.

Twitterfeed
Twitterfeed works like dlvr.it. The service automatically updates your networks (Twitter, Statusnet, Hellotxt, and Facebook) every time you publish a new post on your blog.

Twitter Search
Twitter Search is Twitter's own search engine. Use it when looking for Twitter messages and users in real-time. You can also save your searches for later perusal.

TwylahTwylah offers SEO-friendly Twitter brand pages for celebrities and businesses. These pages are based on trending topics.

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