Tag: business advice

My First Convention Experience: A Memorable Time at ScaleCon 2024
Today’s blog was written by our employee Ashton Fortuna who recently attended his first convention, Scalecon 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This year, I had the incredible opportunity to attend ScaleCon 2024, the very first of its kind, hosted in Las Vegas. As someone relatively new to the convention scene, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I can confidently say that ScaleCon exceeded every expectation and left me eager for next year’s event.

An Event Worth the Hype

Right from the moment I arrived, I knew I was going to benefit from this event. Everything was meticulously planned, from the opening keynote to the breakout sessions and networking events. The organizers of ScaleCon put in a tremendous amount of effort to ensure that every aspect of the event was seamless. The attention to detail was evident, making navigating the convention an absolute breeze.

Top-Notch Speakers and Content

One of the standout features of ScaleCon 2024 was the lineup of speakers. From industry veterans to my peers, every presentation I attended left me with new insights and practical takeaways. Whether you’re in tech, marketing, or ownership, the sessions were packed with content tailored to help businesses scale. I particularly appreciated how each session balanced high- level strategy with actionable tips I could take back to my work. And the best part is no pitching. Not a single speaker spot was purchased and no sales pitches from the stage.

My Favorite Moments

One of the event’s highlights for me was Paul Green’s, from MSP Marketing Edge, closing keynote on Friday. Paul reminded business owners to “pay their staff way above what they’re worth” (wink wink). It was a lighthearted yet powerful statement, emphasizing the importance of valuing your team. He also delivered an inspiring message on how it’s the small, consistent actions we take daily that will shape the future we want. That reminder stuck with me and is something I’ve been thinking about since.

Brian Gillette from Feel Good MSP also shared some simple yet profound advice during his session: before helping a prospective client, we must first ask three critical questions. What do they need? Why do they need it? Why don’t they have it yet? These questions resonated with me as a reminder that understanding our client’s motivations and obstacles is key to offering real value

Tech Tribe owner and resident chief motivational speaker Nigel Moore on stage at ScaleCon 2024.

One saying from the event that will stick with me not just in my position at work but with life came from Harrison Baron of Growth Generators: “Don’t smoke Hopium.” Harrison’s message was a powerful reminder that while being in sales is about helping others see the value of your product, hoping they will see it is not enough. Relying on hope alone holds us back. As Harrison put it, “Hoping it works out isn’t going to make it work out.” Action is what moves things forward.

And finally, Nigel Moore’s closing speech for the entire event struck a deeply personal chord. He reminded us to take care of ourselves, knowing that we can’t take care of other people’s tech unless we’re also taking care of the “grey squishy tech” between our ears. This was a perfect close to a week of intense learning and networking, reinforcing the importance of mental well-being for success.

Unmatched Networking Opportunities

Networking at ScaleCon was an experience in itself. With so many professionals gathered in one place, it was a prime opportunity to make new connections. The event organizers did an amazing job creating spaces for people to interact, whether it was through structured round tables or more informal happy hours. I walked away with a fresh perspective and valuable relationships I’m excited to nurture.

There was no shortage of speakers offering advice on sales, marketing and life in general.

A Special Thanks to Taher and Nigel Moore

I want to take a moment to express my gratitude to Taher Hamid and Nigel Moore (and their teams of course) for organizing such an amazing event. Their vision and leadership brought ScaleCon 2024 to life, and it was evident in every aspect of the convention. Their efforts created an environment where learning and connection could thrive, and I’m truly thankful for the experience they provided.

We were impressed with the variety of swag found at the event.

Looking Ahead to ScaleCon 2025

Attending ScaleCon 2024 wasn’t just about the sessions and networking; it was about being part of something new and exciting. It’s rare to attend the first of anything, but ScaleCon truly set a high bar. I’m already counting down the days to next year’s event, and if you haven’t attended yet, make sure to put ScaleCon 2025 on your calendar. You won’t want to miss it.

Our employee Ashton with ScaleCon co-creator Nigel Moore.

Looking for more to read? We suggest these other articles from our site.
This article was powered by Valley Techlogic, leading provider of trouble free IT services for businesses in California including Merced, Fresno, Stockton & More. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://x.com/valleytechlogic and LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/valley-techlogic-inc/.
October 11, 2024
5 Ways to Establish your Business Presence Online
New Twitter owner and billionaire Elon Musk recently announced he may be opening up the “Blue Check” for $8 a month, rather than the rigorous process you had to go through to potentially get it before.

For most platforms, establishing your business is not a simple monthly charge. It can take time and effort to build an audience on social media or gain traffic for your website. Luckily, the effort you put into one often helps the others, and you don’t need to be an SEO expert to get started.

The average person spends 8 hours a day doing digital activities, there is no shortage of time or eyes to view the content you create but it is a competitive market now (it’s estimated 252,000 new websites are created daily).

How do we definite an online presence? It’s not merely existing online, while just having a website or social media page may get you traffic you can still do things to increase that traffic. Your online presence has three key components: visibility, credibility, and reputation.

Yes, even reputation is a factor that comes in when you’re trying to get your website “ranked” on Google. By ranked we mean having a place in search engine results when a potential customer types in a keyword phrase.

You want to protect your online reputation by posting content that is relevant to your business, if you’re in refrigerator sales the bulk of your content should be about refrigerators not the latest trendy outwear for the 2023 season. Trying to gain traffic by “tricking’ people into clicking will reduce your reputation and your ability to creep up in the search engine results.

On a similar note, credibility is another factor and you can greatly amplify that by connecting with other websites in the form of “backlinks”, basically they link to your website and you link to theirs. In our refrigeration example, if you sell refrigerators but don’t repair them sharing links with another business that does would improve your businesses credibility online and give you a boost from whatever traffic that other business sends your way.

Finally, visibility is what happens when you combine your efforts in improving your reputation and credibility online by posting and sharing valuable content to your audience. There’s a world of difference that happens traffic wise when you appear on the first page of Google vs the 2^nd page and beyond.

It doesn’t stop with optimizing your website though, here are 10 other things to work on to improve your online presence and give your business a boost in traffic that could lead to a boost in customer conversions:
1. Have an easy to navigate site: The first is a no brainer, if your website is clunky or slow to load people won’t stick around to see what you’re selling. Google has a page speed tool that can give you some insight on how your website stacks up.
2. Start a blog: If you’re not currently writing a blog (like this) then you’re missing out on a weekly (or daily, or monthly, whatever works for your schedule) injection of new keywords to your website. Landing pages are great but they’re one and done, you can strengthen your online presence by adding new content about your business through a blog.
3. Post on social media too: You don’t need to be on every social media platform, some may not be relevant to your business. We encourage you to think about the platforms where your customers are likely to be, and then post daily on those platforms. You can create simple marketing graphics with a tool like Canva which practically does the work for you.
4. Use hashtags too: Hashtags allow you to connect your content to people who enjoy the same content or are interested in a specific topic. Going back to our refrigerator example, if there’s a new model from a popular brand then using that brand name as a hashtag could make sense in the announcement post about it.
5. Don’t ignore business directories: If you’re struggling to find a way to share links with other websites, starting with the free business directories is one of the best ways to improve your online presence and have your business linked from somewhere else. Start with the big traffic sites like Google My Business, Facebook, and Bing.
Wondering what makes a good website? Here are 6 bonus tips:

Click to view the full size version.

Trying to work on your online presence can be difficult if the technology you use in your business Isn’t up to the task. Imagine taking the time to write out that first blog post and your computer crashes, you may be done with it before you even get started.

Valley Techlogic can help you with your technology goals, and having a service plan with us is like working on any of the topics we covered in this blog, you will see a net overall improvement across the board. Learn more with a free consultation today.

Looking for more to read? We suggest these other articles from our site.
This article was powered by Valley Techlogic, an IT service provider in Atwater, CA. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://x.com/valleytechlogic.
November 4, 2022
The 5 Biggest Mistakes Business Owners Make With Their Technology
Running a business requires wearing a lot of hats. You must dabble in a little bit of everything – accounting, management, human resources, technical support.

We’re all told the best leaders know how to delegate but that can be hard when you’re talking about the business you’ve painstakingly built with your time and effort. Most business owners don’t clock out when the 9-5 day is over, a Gallup poll found that 39% of business owners work more than 60 hours per week.

It’s not just about time logged either, there’s more stress and more on the line. You can’t simply find another job if your business fails, once you’ve owned your own business it can be impossible emotionally to untick that box and work for someone else. That’s not even considering the fallout of a business failing and the mess it leaves behind.

But enough of the doom and gloom, as a technology company we’re here to support the businesses we take on as clients and lead them down the best possible path. That includes guiding business owners to smarter decisions when it comes to their technology.

Here are the 5 biggest mistakes we see business owners make from a technology standpoint.
1. Not keeping your hardware up to date. Look, we get it. Hardware is expensive, especially if you’re making a larger purchase for multiple employees or investing in a new server. However, this is not something you can put off until later. Waiting until your hardware fails will leave you with both the expense of new hardware and the expense of the downtime while you’re waiting for that new hardware to be deployed. We don’t think it makes sense to wait and be double billed, do you?
2. Not keeping your software up to date either. Updates can feel like a hassle (especially if you’re performing them yourself) but it’s not a good idea to put them off until later. There’s a cumulative effect when you wait. What was once a simple update becomes a complex package of updates that will take longer and leave you with a gap in your coverage that could leave you open to the negative effects those updates were trying to prevent.
3. Speaking of negative effects, ignoring cyber security. We get the “it will never happen to me” line all the time, and equally as often we hear from those same people later when it The phrase “Don’t be a statistic” is used frequently in cautionary tales and this is no exception. 76% of businesses will experience a cyber-attack and we personally don’t recommend rolling the dice and hoping you’re not part of the majority.
4. Forgoing any kind of training for employees. In the same vein as #3, some training in technology and how to use the equipment you’re providing employees is a must, and even if you operate on a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) model you’re not off the hook. Most cyber-attacks happen due to human error. By not training your employees you’re not just giving hackers the keys to your office, you’re holding the door open for them.
5. Thinking you can do it all yourself. Like we said, the best leaders know when to delegate. If you’re not a technology expert but you’re performing most or all of your own IT services what are you doing? How often does a technology snafu turn into an all day (and night) event? Are things in your business being neglected because you’re the only one that knows how to maintain them?
There is a better way. Outsourcing is a scary word to many business owners, but the truth is help is out there and it’s local to you. We help business owners across the Central Valley who find that once the technology headache is taken off their plate, they have more time and energy to put back into growing their business. If you would like to find out more, reach out to us for a free consultation here.

Looking for more to read? We suggest these tech articles from the last week.
This article was powered by Valley TechLogic, an IT provider in Atwater, CA. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://x.com/valleytechlogic.
June 3, 2021