New Products

SMB Tips for Exhibiting at Trade Shows

February 22, 2010 by Sarah Leave a Comment

You’ve worked hard to start your small or medium business and establish yourself in the marketplace. Whatever product or service you sell, you’re ready to reach more customers, get your name out there, and do more business. A great way to do that is by exhibiting at a trade show. You’ll see as many potential customers in just a few days as you might during several months with your store or office. But what do you need to know before getting involved with one?

First of all, you need to know what type of trade show you’re interested in, which means you need to really know who your customer is and what types of shows they attend. Sure, networking is great, but in addition to making contacts, you’ll want to expose yourself to people who are going to buy your product. Make sure the trade show you attend is not “industry-only” and make sure attendees are the people who would want to shop with you. Talk to someone who is in charge and ask if they have demographic information from past shows – many do! You can also get information about various shows from a number of wesbites including Tradeshow Week and the Trade Show News Network.

You’ll also want to make sure you stand out from other booths. If you’re looking at larger trade shows, think about how you can make an impact. Often times, smaller businesses get lost in the sea of larger companies. Make your booth unique by using items such as audio visual rentals to attract attention or focus on the aspects of your product or business that are unique and promote them to stand out above the rest.

Make sure you reach buyers before the actual event. A great way to do that is with social networking websites such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. If your company doesn’t already have an account on these pages, what are you waiting for? Let your buyers know you’re going to be at the show and encourage them to come. Most people don’t attend alone and friends and family members may turn into new customers. Also, you might even find yourself in contact with other people in you business who can give you tips about the trade show and what you can expect.

Finally, after a trade show, you’re more than likely to see an increase in business. Be prepared for this! Make sure you have the inventory and/or staff or be prepared to hire them. Also, make sure you hold on to contacts and follow up with both other people in industry and customers after the event is over. Remind them that you exist and your product is worth remembering!

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Hewlett-Packard Unveils New Products for SMBs

December 1, 2009 by Sarah Leave a Comment

In an effort to get a bigger share of the IT budgets of the 7.9 million American SMBs, Hewlett-Packard has unveiled a new line of products and services. The new products for small and medium-size businesses include everything from computers to servers. In addition, they’ve introduced new financing options, also aimed at SMBs. They are providing over $1,000 in software and services, and up to $2,000 in rebates for SMBs that make hardware purchases.

As far as computers go, the Pro 3000 series desktop and the ProLiant ML110 and DL120 G6 servers are all new and aimed at SMBs. As is the ProCurve 2520 Switch series which is great for SMBs looking to deploy voice, video, and wireless applications requiring power over ethernet. There’s also a new printer for SMBs, the LaserJetP2055D which costs about $299, along with two low-power monitors, the Compaq LE1911 and the Compaq LE1711.

A number of new storage products including the StorageWorks DAT 320 Tape Drive, the StorageWorks D2D backup system, and the LeftHand P4000 storage area network, were introduced, as were bundles of hardware and software that help SMBs introduce virtualization to their IT departments. They are built on ProLiant, ProCurve and StorageWorks products, as well as Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2.

In addition to the new products, HP also introduced a number of new online services. They allow users to communicate with employees and contacts and make it easier for IT employees to access, view, and control other computers to help with troubleshooting and fixing problems. HP is also offering Huddlenet which allows for easier collaboration, project management and document sharing. A 30-day trial with 20 GB of storage and that’s big enough for 20 work stations is available.

According to Interactive Data Corp, SMBs will spend more on IT than larger businesses as the economy continues to recover. HP is just one of several companies hoping to tap into that business and they could use it. Their profits fell 19% and revenue 2% in the quarter that ended on July 31st.

New Cisco Products for SMB

June 19, 2009 by Sarah Leave a Comment

Cisco Systems recently launched a line of new products and services for small businesses. The company says these new products and services will help Sisco fit the needs of smaller companies and increase profitability. This comes after the networking company put $100 million into SMB initiatives, rebranded its Linksys products as “Cisco Small Business,” and wrapped its Linksys small business partners into the Cisco channel.

According to Andrew Sage, vice president of worldwide small business sales for Cisco, “Fiscal Year 2010 is the year of execution for sales and the channel, the product suite and services for the SMB. Last year we were as committed, but now it’s more concrete.”

At the Cisco Partner Summit, the company unveiled several new services for the SMB market, including ESW 500 Series Switches, switches that integrate with other Small Business Pro portfolio products to build solutions for small businesses. The product comes in 24 and 48 port models, has optional PoE, and a five year warranty and is available starting at $659 to $3,299. For transitioning SMB clients to VoIP, Cisco has launched the SPA8800 IP Telephony Gateway. The box allows small businesses to connect their open-source IP PBX to their current analog phones and fax machines. This product will cost around $600.

Cisco also launched the PVC300 IP Camera, an IP surveillance video camera that captures live video that can viewed anywhere, including on mobile phones. The camera includes software with the ability to manage up to sixteen cameras at once, has pan, tilt, and zoom capabilities, and sends alerts when any motion is detected, integrating with alarms, doors sensors, and security systems. The camera is available for $794.

Version 1.5 of the Cisco Smart Business Communications System was also debuted at the summit. The new version has WebEx Phone Connect for getting to an online meetings in one click, Cisco TimeCard View, and single-number reach and third party networking monitoring and management applications. This system starts at about $450 per user.

In addition to the products, Cisco added several new services as well, including the Small Business Pro Service – a three year technical support coverage plan with next-day hardware replacement and extended support center access. The company also offers community-based support via a virtual community. Rebates for Select certified partners that participate in the global Partner Development Funds program will offer up to $15,000 until July 25. Partners can also leverage extended channel financing for 90 days or six months. Cisco will also be adding a “Buy Now” button on their website for certain SMB products, new smart designs for small business. They are also offering more customer incentives including migration strategies from Linksys gear, discounts of five to seven percent and price reductions of up to 25 percent on the SBCS system.

Partners are encouraged about Cisco’s focus on SMB. “It’s going to make it easier for us to sell products,” Robert Betzel, president and CEO of Infinity Network Solutions told CRN.