7 Practical Ways to Make More Time in Your Day

Time is money, isn’t that what they say? There never seems to be enough of it these days. How do you make more time?

 

With smartphones, tablets, the Cloud and WiFi, we have the tools that can act as an efficiency flywheel to help run our businesses and our increasingly busy lives. Technology and Apps can help us claw back valuable time – and achieve a higher level of productivity and efficiency and get work completed, wherever and whenever it suits us.

 

But technology can be both a friend and an enemy – sometimes at the same time! Personally, I try to use it where it will help me, not just for the sake of it. Any tools that can help me understand how my team is performing, which way revenue is being driven or to identify trends and gaps in the business are worth investigating. But, too much data actually slow us all down. Find out what is critical for your team in helping them drive your business and focus on those ‘crucial few’ rather than getting data overload and confusing everyone!

So having said all that, here are a few tips for staying in control of the clock:

1. Go mobile

Smartphones give you the freedom to work anywhere and at any time. At the touch of a button you can update the CRM, view your sales forecast, manage appointment scheduling, share documents and implement a couple of TNTs – that could make all the difference to your next sale.

2. Ask yourself when are you most productive?

Just because the traditional working day is from 9 to 5 doesn’t mean it suits everyone. Work around your natural productivity cycle and bear in mind that your customers may have different working hours too.

3. Plan your day

At the start of each day take 10 minutes to plan it, you could save hours each week. Plan your strategy, such as implementing account-based marketing for your existing customer base, and stick to it. Don’t be a grasshopper!

4. Do the most important tasks first

It’s tempting to start with the tasks you like doing or that are easy – leaving the harder jobs for later. Try to rationalise what is most important for meeting your goals and customers’ needs and get these tasks underway first.

5. Rush the unimportant

Blast through tasks that are not critical to meeting your quarterly target – they still need to be completed but shouldn’t take your focus away from achieving key tasks.

6. Avoid multi-tasking

Multi-tasking is often a necessary evil, but will it help you meet your target? Focus on the things that will make a difference to your customers and enable you close a deal.

7. Have a leaving time

Give yourself a finite amount of time to get your tasks done and you’ll see your productivity rise. By switching off at the end of the day you can return refreshed and ready to focus on the next set of challenges.

Double Win for Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific at the World CSR Congress 2016

 

Awarded for Exemplary Innovations in CSR Practices and Leadership

SINGAPORE, March 22, 2016 – Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific announced the winning of the Innovations in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Practices award and the 100 Most Impactful CSR Leaders (Global Listing) award. The awards were recently presented to Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific in the presence of global sustainability leaders and advocates from more than 130 countries at the World CSR Congress 2016 in Mumbai, India.

The awards were given in recognition of Fuji Xerox’s efforts in the Asia Pacific region in creating innovative solutions and products as well as establishing sustainable practices to protect the environment and realize a better society.

Innovations in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Practices Award
A champion in sustainable document and communications solutions, Fuji Xerox has demonstrated excellence in waste management and procurement sustainability programs that drive both business and sustainability benefits to its customers and stakeholders.

Applying a design thinking to reduce the life-cycle impact of its products and realize zero landfill^*1, Fuji Xerox made an unprecedented voluntary industry-leading move to set up a robust Integrated Recycling System which adopts a closed loop approach to collect products and reuse parts, and incorporates inverse manufacturing to design products and components with minimum life-cycle impact at the onset. It minimizes the use of new resources while maximizing resource efficiency, business cost savings and positive user experience. Fuji Xerox has achieved zero landfill since 2001 in Japan, and since 2009 in the Asia Pacific.

Recognizing the increasingly disastrous impact to environment and human health due to unethical deforestation, Fuji Xerox has also implemented a sustainable paper procurement program and developed a holistic assessment and traceability system to ensure that its paper suppliers adhere to stringent guidelines pertaining to the management of sustainable forests, chemical substances and recycled pulp.

100 Most Impactful CSR Leaders (Global Listing) Award
Janet Neo, head of Corporate Sustainability, Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific, was conferred the 100 Most Impactful CSR Leaders (Global Listing) award, a tribute to leaders who have made influential contributions and displayed commitment towards social change. The award criteria was based on the nominee’s strategic perspectives & building collaborative relationships; personal credibility, integrity & ethics; innovative sustainable solutions; incorporating ethical values; involvement in communities & protection of the environment. The nomination selection process was researched by a professional research cell and the shortlisted candidates were then reviewed by a jury comprising senior executives from across the globe.

“CSR is becoming ubiquitous. While that proves its business value, it requires companies to develop proprietary approaches that drive measurable social change and demonstrate effective governance and leadership to be CSR leaders,” said Dr. R. L. Bhatia, founder of the World CSR Congress and Chairman of the judging panel of the awards. “Fuji Xerox is a successful international corporation that practices sustainability in a very big way, thus making it iconic in all respects. The World CSR Day recognizes and believes that the business of sustainability is what drives Fuji Xerox and its leaders.”

Last November, Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific also won the Sustainable Business Awards for Waste Management and Materials Productivity, recognizing the company’s robust standards in full product life-cycle management across its nine Asia Pacific operating companies.

*1　Fuji Xerox defines Zero Landfill as recycling rate of more than 99.5 percent

Xerox, Xerox and Design, as well as Fuji Xerox and Design are registered trademarks or trademarks of Xerox Corporation in Japan and/or other countries.

Kodak in surprise inkjet exit

Kodak surprised the print industry today by admitting it is looking to sell its inkjet printing division, and says it is already in talks with rival developers.

The company produces the Prosper platform and Stream inkjet heads, and is about to launch UltraStream at drupa – an inkjet packaging printer.

Kodak says it is selling the division because it believes a new owner will have more effective sales and distribution channels.

Prospective purchasers include rival developers Canon, Screen, Ricoh, HP, KBA and Fuji Xerox. Konica Minolta is also a possible buyer. However ProPrint believes that it is more likely to be EFI, which is cash rich, acquisition hungry, and has no high speed inkjet web.

The Kodak inkjet division has been in the vanguard of the high speed inkjet web sector for six years, however that position has not translated into many sales. Kodak is thought to have no more than two dozen inkjet web Prosper lines installed around the world, although it has more of its Stream inkjet heads on offset web presses. In Australia, it has a monochrome Prosper installed at SOS Print + Media in Sydney.

Kodak says it will continue to invest in and develop its inkjet platforms until the division is sold. It will be showing its entire range at drupa, including the new UltraStream line for packaging printing.

Many industry pundits believe high speed inkjet web will eventually overtake offset webs, although the quality of print is not yet at offset levels. Sheetfed inkjet similarly is poised to make major gains following this year’s drupa.

The sale of Kodak’s inkjet division, along with a 3D printing arm, leaves the company with its offset plates, CTP business, its packaging plates and its Nexpress toner-based digital press platform.

Fuji Xerox confident of double-digit growth

Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific Pte Ltd (Malaysia Operations), which celebrates its 50th anniversary, is confident of closing its financial year 2015 ending March 31 with a double-digit growth despite a challenging business environment.

President Yoshio Hanada told Business Times recently that the optimism stemmed from its impressive growth over the years and also based on the overall good showing of its product range.

He said this was an indication that Malaysian consumer confidence in Fuji Xerox’s brand and products was strong.

He added that it was evident in the multifunction printer market, where Fuji Xerox has been recording excellent sales.

According to Hanada, the local printer market was dominated by Fuji Xerox, with more than a 50 per cent share.

For fiscal year 2016, Hanada said, the company’s growth trajectory remained intact and hoped to keep the momentum moving forward.

“So far, Fuji Xerox has moved beyond its established markets in Asia Pacific and is targeting two emerging markets, namely Myanmar and Cambodia,” he said.

As a company on the forefront of environmental and intelligent printing, Hanada said, Fuji Xerox was always looking to use this expertise to bring flexibility and efficiency to businesses.

Fuji Xerox, one of the world’s largest suppliers of office copiers and printers, is a joint venture that is 75 per cent owned by Japan’sFujifilm Holdings and 25 per cent by United States-based Xerox.

 

Fuji Xerox signs on as a sponsor of BTAS Conference 2016

BTAS is Australia’s premiere event for dealers & resellers in the office equipment, document solutions & managed services arena.

No other forum in Australia offers answers to industry specific needs like BTAS does. We’re excited to see so much continued support from independent dealers, the dealer channel and evolving services. The conference has a growing international reputation of eliminating the sales pitch that can often blur dealer conferences and cuts to the chase with relevant educational content and innovative speakers.

‘Continue the Journey’ recognises that independent dealers and vendors alike have made significant progress, yet there is a long way to go in transforming successfully for the future. Digital is changing everything and there is a need to innovate for genuine transformation at every level within your business; sales and business development, services, capabilities and skill sets, operational efficiencies, and towards aligning employee compensation models to enable achievement of business objectives.

Success in today’s increasingly complex market requires partners that can help. We’re excited that so many local and international companies are supporting you, the Australian dealership, by sponsoring the BTAS Conference. While all of the education sessions will be content focused and not infomercials, you’ll also have the opportunity to talk with and get to know the leading industry partners in a relaxed format in between great education sessions.

Simply put, this is an event you don’t want to miss. The sessions will be full of helpful ideas and best practices that will stretch your thinking. You’ll get to network with other dealers to build helpful relationships. You’ll meet partners with innovations that could help bring your company to the next level. Need more reasons to enroll? Here are our top ten reasons you want to attend:

1. Only at BTAS does this calibre of global industry best practice and thought leadership come together at one event in Australia.
2. Our industry is at a crossroads, your future requires that you reform to move forward successfully, or fail to evolve and allow that future to be eroded out from under you. The BTAS Conference will give you a stronger footing to navigate that future.
3. The best and most up to date education available globally in both your current and evolving industry areas.
4. Network with fellow dealers, the perfect forum to learn, share, and develop together.
5. Meet the leading local and international resource partners you’ll need, all in one place.
6. Discover the competitive advantage you’ve been searching for.
7. Speak with a host of leading overseas presenters and services partners and find out more about what has occurred in major markets like the US and Europe, and how those things will likely play out here in Australia.
8. Ask questions one on one with Bob Goldberg, senior general counsel with BTA in the US, about any legal or convergent industry concerns you might want to explore.
9. Support our industry, and play your part in determining it’s future.
10. Enjoy the beautiful Sydney and all it has to offer at it’s very best, and with like – minded people.

Why You Need to Be Found By Search Engines (four ways that help)

“Okay I get it, I need a website, but how do I get to the top of Google / bing / Yahoo?” – Good question!

This meme went viral a few years back, but I think you get the point.

Whenever someone is physically in your sales territory and searching for a product that you sell, your site needs to be on page one of the search engine results pages (SERPs) and preferably near the top.

What search engine should you prioritize?

The simple answer to this is Google. According to NETMARKETSHARE Google is the number one search engine globally, with over 66 percent market share for Desktop devices in 2015, and a staggering 92% market share on mobile and tablets for the same period. Bing and Yahoo are also important, but each only accounts for about 10 percent of market share.

Is Google – your new homepage?

Given the overwhelming dominance of Google, perhaps you should think of Google as your new home page. This perspective shift is a key first step into making your business more discoverable by prospects.

Anatomy of a results page and why organic matters

If you run a Google search on “multifunction printer”, the results page could contain up to four main sections:

• Paid search listings – up to three ads in the top-left slots of the page
• Organic search results – the items below the left hand paid listings that connect users to rich content on the web
• Product listing ads (PLAs)– up to eight product ads in the upper right-hand corner
• Additional paid search listings – up to eight ad slots in the lower-right quadrant

Google only shows PLAs when it believes that the search term is likely to be an online purchase. They may also change this up, so those top ads will go to the bottom, or they may not show any additional paid search ads. Worst case, up to three-quarters of the first page could be flooded with ads.

That is why it is essential to take the right steps to get your website to rise to the top of the organic search results and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the key.

The SEO silver bullet

There are reputedly over 200 “signals” affecting Google’s decision algorithm, and only Google knows the secret formula – and by the way, they are experimenting with constantly (see note above about ad positioning). If you are looking for an SEO silver bullet, you are going to be disappointed.

Think of it this way. The quality of the organic search results is where Google earns audience trust. That’s why they try hard to ensure that those organic search results are the most appropriate.

They do this by prioritizing high-value, interesting “organic” content over keyword “stuffing”. More on this below in bullet 1 below.

Four ways to position your site for SEO success

1) Start with “natural” language keywords and phrases

Effective websites speak to prospects and customers using their language. So start with keyword research for your specific market. Google provides free tools to help you.

• Google Trends helps you find out what’s trending on Google at the moment.
• Google Adwords Keyword Planner is helpful for get performance insights and see keyword ideas.

These are great, but your knowledge about how prospects and clients describe your products is equally valuable.

Example: multifunction printer vs multifunction system vs all-in-one printer vs copier-printer.

Aim to use phrases and terms that people use in your region to describe your products and services. Use the terms in your pages as often as you can whilst remaining natural. Avoid trying to “trick” search engines into prioritizing your page simply by repeating key words in the same sentence, or any other “hot” tactic. Bottom line – always write your pages for your audience, never write your pages for a search engine.

2) Get other sites to link to your website

This is known as inbound links. When other websites link to your website, it acts as a vote of confidence. Not all sites are the same though. Getting your Aunty Margerie to add a link from her crocheting site to your home page is not as valuable as getting your vendor to link from their “Where to Buy section”. Please don’t tell Aunty Margerie I said that!

3) Optimize for mobile

Mobile devices, including tablets and smart phones, are fast becoming the preferred tool for web surfing—even for business users. Both Google and bing now give higher priority to mobile-optimized sites for searches from mobile devices.

Check if your website is mobile-friendly by visiting Google’s checker:
http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

If your site isn’t built for mobile or doesn’t use a responsive design, you really need to build this into your future plans.

4) Add a blog and update it regularly

Essentially, by creating regular articles about topics your audience cares about, you are sending the right signals to the search engines.

Ask your vendors for help

Getting to grips with SEO can be a challenge for channel partners with limited marketing resources. Ask the vendors you work with for any of the following:

• Online training modules – that can quickly explain the principles of SEO
• Access to in-depth guides – written by search engine experts such as WebCertain
• A list of third party agencies – that can provide sound advice and help
• A list of high ranking keywords for their products – that you can quickly review to make sure you include them on your pages
• Inbound links from their website – so you can benefit from their “vote of confidence”
• Inbound links from their blog posts – If your vendor blogs about your business and links to your site this acts as a further “vote of confidence”

It is a marathon, not a sprint

Whilst there is no silver bullet to getting a high “organic” search ranking, there are steps that you can take to set off on the right foot. Steer clear of anyone telling you that they have the secret to getting to the top of Google, but perhaps consider working closer with vendors that can be your support team and help you along the journey.

 

 

 

Taken from an original article by Andy Hill