No it's not 2014 just yet, but it's a New Year just the same. Just ask my granddaughter Devon Gitchel. She will be starting classes tomorrow at Esquire Hills Elementary School. I know this because she has told me for months (and anyone else who would listen). I hope they are ready for her, I know she is ready to go. The end of summer traditionally marks a renewed commitment to business success. Are you ready to go? Do you have a plan? When it comes to making technology work, people often put buying a new computer or investing in new systems first on their to-do list. "Which new technology should I buy" is a great second question. Your best first question should be, "What am I trying to accomplish by leveraging my technology?" If you start with a goal you are more than halfway there! If getting back to work now that Summer is over is part of your New Year resolutions, here are 5 Essential Elements for making all your technology work, all the time.

Brand

Your digital business brand is more than fonts or colors, it's a reflection of what your customers see and think and feel. Take time to reflect on who you serve and most importantly, what you deliver. What are you trying to accomplish? Are you ready to commit to beefing up your social networking investment? Identify the right audience before trying to do everything, everywhere. Twitter is for Journalists, Facebook is for Consumers, LinkedIn is for business professionals. Invest time to meet your clients where they are.

Acquire

Having your goals in hand makes this step easy. Use your goals and a firm idea of who you serve to acquire the right tools for the job. Research only those vendors who can meet your needs. Where do they invest their time and treasure, is it sales and marketing, or innovation and customer support? If a new software system is part of your plan, try out their top if the line offering for the trial period. Once you choose a vendor, sign up for the shortest time frame available. You can always upgrade to an annual term once your sure it's a good fit.

Connect

New clients tell me their biggest frustration is software that won't play well with others.  The greatest leverage currently available to business is the ability to automate the sharing of information across your web presence. The ability to share a blog post with an email broadcast system to automate newsletter production eliminates 75% of the manual labor involved. You will hear techies talk about APIs. You just need to listen for "Seamless Integration" . Using integration to connect the dots allows your web presence to share automagically.

Create

Giving those who use the web the ability to create their own content was the most important technology innovation of the decade. The value of the Internet is created not in the code but from the content. Now more than ever you need to write for the web. And now you have more choices than ever before, so choose wisely. Limit your blog categories to focus on the content your clients deem relevant. Use the right word instead of all the words to communicate your expertise. Appropriately create and share content to meet customers where they are. Offering PDFs to mobile phone users is pointless. How are they going to print?

Master

Knowing how to swing a hammer was my most important job skill when I was a carpenter. The pace of modern business life demands your immediate response. No longer do you have time to figure out how to use technology when the media is pounding on your door. To succeed you must become the master of your digital domain. Invest the time in training or coaching so you will know how to use your digital tools. Stop sending out messages with broken links. Stop using presentation technology by winging it without rehearsals. Making technology work requires more than hardware or software. It requires liveware, you. Written procedures, training, rehearsals are often the difference between simply owning technology and leveraging technology for business success. Devon has shiny new clothes and sharp pencils. She's ready for the New Year, are you? What are you focusing on right now to make your business a success? I would love to hear what you are up to. Use the comment section to share it with me.