@Ping-TechTipsFor some small business entrepreneurs, technology is the last thing they want to think about. But whether it’s setting up your Web site, networking your employees’ computers, complying with data retention laws, or connecting with customers through social media, IT is not something business owners can ignore.
Plenty of Web sites are happy to give you advice on the way to selling you something. Tips from those sources can be perfectly good, but it never hurts to diversify a bit. Here are five sites that give good advice on IT to small business readers.
Small Business Computing
Part of the IT Business Edge network of 27 sites, Small Business Computing features articles, how-to guides, and product reviews on all aspects of IT from a small business perspective. Both their news and their reviews are broken into categories: Networking, Hardware, Software, Marketing, Mobile, Storage, Security, IT management and “Working@home.” They don’t limit themselves to blog posts, either – webcasts and ebooks put information in multiple formats. There’s also an e-mail newsletter and user forum.
Small Business Trends
The Technology Trends section of this Web site eschews a lot of IT department shop talk in favor of translating tech industry news for small business owners. Articles like “Ten Questions Your Web Designer Should Be Asking You” and “New Shopping Habits: When Your Clients Go Mobile” focus on how to manage technical relationships external to your business.
Yahoo! Small Business Advisor
Yahoo! is anything but a small business, but their aggregation of content is impressive. The Technology portal gathers IT-related articles from the likes of Entrepreneur, StartupNation, and Allbusiness, as well as original material from the Yahoo! Contributor Network. If you want tech advice from a variety of sources without bouncing all over the Web yourself, this is the place to go.
IT World
Many sites are about business first, technology second. ITWorld is the other way around, a tech publication with a dedicated small business section. This setup can be especially helpful if your business is growing and you find yourself getting into more complicated technical matters or you’re considering adding your own IT staff. Since their focus is technology, the writers at ITWorld really know their stuff, and the editors filter the articles most relevant to small business down to that part of the site. From there, it’s a cinch to browse any topic that interests you, from Application Management and Big Data to Virtualization and Windows.
IT Donut
For a little perspective from across the pond, check out this British site. Articles range from industry news and opinion to how-to guides for IT operations and staffing. The “Friday Donut Tip” is dedicated to weekly business IT advice. You’ll also get infographics, hardware reviews, and a user forum. Just remember that some UK-specific topics, like laws and regulations, won’t necessarily apply to you.
Above all, make sure to keep reading this site.
