You’ve probably heard a lot about social media marketing, and if you’re not already engaged in it, you probably want to be, if for no other reason than the fact that your competitors seem to be heavily involved. That’s fine, and as good a reason as any to jump on board, but you’re going to need a plan of attack to get the most out of it.

People claim they like new experiences, which may be true, but it is also true that many people don’t like changes in the things to which they have grown accustomed.

In our ever-expanding technological world, most people enjoy the idea of surfing the internet, taking pictures, talking to friends, checking their calendar, etc.

Establishing a great brand that customers love doesn’t happen overnight. It takes careful planning, clean and consistent design, and a stellar marketing plan with a robust technology component. When a business has all of these attributes working well, customers begin to cultivate good feelings about its products and services.

Technology such as computers, email, and the Internet can help make the process of starting and managing a business much easier, but there are certain pitfalls that can delay, or even stop, the growth of an otherwise healthy enterprise.

Here are five common and easily avoided technology mistakes which small businesses make:

1. Low-Quality Hardware or Software

The expense of running a business may tempt you to cut corners on purchases.

Never mind for a moment that the world’s gamers are the single largest market on the planet. For the time being, forget about the fact that if gamers were a country unto themselves, they would be the largest nation on earth, with an explosive growth rate.

The Baby Boomers Lost It, And They Won’t Get It Back

The “Baby Boomer” generation officially lost control of their greatest creation sometime around the year 2000, and they’re never getting it back. A few years prior to Y2K, the internet was commercialized, essentially creating the world we live in today, and the kids who grew up in this brave new world took it from their parents before anybody really even knew what was happening.

Keeping up with technology today can be an overwhelming process. Nearly every month there seems to be a new device, new operating system, or new application available for use that makes older versions nearly obsolete. While there can be lots of advantages to keeping your business’ technology up to date, there are a few questions to ask yourself before making any major technological advances at your company.

Are you running your business the hard way? Are you using out of date systems that could be replaced with ones that would save you time and money?

If you haven’t taken a close look at your business systems recently, you could be missing a way to use technology to do things smarter, faster, and more affordably.

If you haven’t heard much about “augmented reality,” you’re not alone. While it’s making a big splash in Europe and parts of Asia, it hasn’t yet caught on in America; but that is changing. Even better, emerging technologies like the Google Glass project will make Augmented Reality a much more accessible, much more seamless experience than it currently is, and this opens up all sorts of intriguing possibilities for business owners.

For decades, futurists have been predicting the arrival of the “cashless society.” The problem is, it hasn’t actually arrived yet.

Yes, the advent of the debit card meant that your customers didn’t have to bring cash with them when they purchased something from you, but the process remained fundamentally the same.