VKS Group

02/06/2024

Tips for small and mid-sized businesses trying to sell online:

Tip 1: This may be obvious, but create a website or update your website if you don't already have one.

Tip 2: Embrace Digital Marketing

Tip 3: Make sure you are operationally ready to service and ship your eCommerce orders.

07/24/2023

Do you think the name change will change perceptions (positive or negative) about how people already feel about the platform?

Twitter has removed the iconic bird logo and adopted 'X' as its official logo after Elon Musk made the announcement over the weekend.

04/25/2023

Remote working? Hybrid? In office? We are a fairly new company that may be taking a route most small companies in our industry are not. We embrace hybrid. That means we recognize the need for flexibility while also acknowledging that sometimes you need to collaborate in person. We do this when we are brainstorming creative and innovative ideas for our clients.

We signed a lease earlier this year at our new headquarters in Wheaton, IL

Even though we are a digital strategy company, we like our in-person face-to-face time.

02/24/2023

On Monday night, my son and I started feeling under the weather. It turns out we both got a stomach bug. On Tuesday, we were both down for the count. My son was home from school, and we both just rested up. Thankfully, today we are both feeling much better.

I'd like to think that our sickness had a fast recovery because we are both relatively healthy by eating right, working out, etc. While it was an inconvenience, it was not detrimental.

You might be wondering why I am talking about getting sick. Getting sick made me think about my company, VKS Group, and the software and systems we develop. You see, just like our physical health, maintaining your "digital health" is just as important.

In a perfect world, there would be no bugs, and we would never get sick (wouldn't that be nice). Just like we cannot prevent getting sick in our day-to-day lives, we cannot necessarily avoid software and system bugs from occurring. What we can do is mitigate the effects as much as possible. Here are some steps we take:

Preventive Maintenance - Just like it is crucial to maintain our physical health by eating right and exercising, we focus on maintaining our client's digital infrastructure. We don't build a system and then let it sit. We maintain it and improve it.

Nurse Ourselves - My son and I relaxed and rested throughout the day yesterday. In other words, we focused on getting ourselves back to health and pushed other issues and things we needed to do to another day. With your digital infrastructure, it is essential to do the same. Get the system back to running efficiently and handle other issues another day.

Get Better and Learn - We are better now, but this was yet another opportunity to remind my son of the importance of washing hands. We are always learning from our experiences and applying those learnings to everything we do.

I apply the same principles to VKS Group. When building software, systems, and digital campaigns for our clients, we always think about how to build in the most health-oriented way. After we are done building, we are always looking to maintain and improve the health of the systems we create.

Last, sometimes there are positive effects of sickness. My son and I got to hang out the entire day on Tuesday. Silver linings right?

Ketan Shah
Founder - VKS Group

02/15/2023

02/15/2023

We were surprised to hear that it is estimated between 25% and 30% of small businesses do not have a website. It is also estimated that 81% of shoppers research a company online before purchasing (via online reviews and/or searching for the business website). 44% of B2B will abandon a small business website without contact information.

VKS Group helps SMBs with building a website or redesigning an old website. We don't just build the site, either. We work with you to understand your business and ensure that the website's content is relevant to your customers and contains the best SEO practices.

Check out our blog post about why it is essential to have a website today and why it is vital to keep that website up-to-date. Please get in touch with us with any questions on how we can work with you on your digital needs.

https://vks.group/why-every-small-business-needs-a-website-and-manage-it-in-todays-digital-age/

Sources:
https://www.zippia.com/advice/small-business-website-statistics
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/28-of-small-businesses-dont-have-a-website-according-to-new-survey-data-301226897.html

02/08/2023

Have you heard of the term "Digital Transformation?" Take a look at our blog post about how digital transformation is leveling the playing field for small businesses and helping them to compete with larger businesses! 💻💡
As the world becomes increasingly digital, it's crucial for all businesses, big or small, to embrace technology and stay ahead of the curve. From streamlining operations to reaching a wider audience, digital transformation offers a wealth of opportunities for businesses to grow and succeed.
Check out this post to learn more: https://vks.group/leveling-the-playing-field-how-small.../

🚀"

02/01/2023

Marketing Analytics (Google Analytics) Acronym Definitions

So many acronyms....what do they mean?

DAU - Daily Active Users. These are the number of users over the last 24 hours.

MAU - Monthly Active Users. These are the number of users over the last 30 days.

WAU - Weekly Active Users. These are the number of users over the last 7 days.

11/24/2022

10/24/2022

Happy Diwali to those that celebrate including our team in India!

We wanted to point out one of the things that Diwali celebrates because it exemplifies what VKS Group does as a business.

Diwali celebrates "victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance"

Victory of light over darkness - we partner with our clients to find the light and help implement solutions that are tailored to your business

Good over evil - We ALWAYS put morals above profit, and in partnership with our clients, we help solve problems that benefit the greater good

Knowledge over ignorance - There are so many ways you can transform your business through technology, but it can be overwhelming to know what the right solutions are. No business is the same and we always start with gaining knowledge about your business first, and then work with you to implement solutions that work for YOUR organization.

10/02/2022

Take action while the idea is hot and the emotions are strong when engaging with your prospects and customers….and in life.

09/29/2022

and are strategies to give you the tools needed to help break through the noise when engaging with or . But at the end of the day, a human is behind the messaging in some way, shape or form.

Don't forget about the human connection you are making when engaging. Send us a message if this resonates with you and you want to learn more!

08/25/2022

There is no shortage of companies that provide services similar to ours.

One of our core mottos:

"See the big picture without losing sight of the small picture. Likewise, see the small picture without losing sight of the big picture."

What does this mean? It means that we aren't in business to just "take your order" and build. Whether building a website, creating a digital marketing campaign, or building a custom application, we want to understand who you are and where you want to go. When we know where you are going, we all win!

And yes, this means that we earn your trust. We don't ask you to sign up for massive contracts (unless you want to).

If you are curious, please send us a message.

08/15/2022

Our team in the United States would like to wish our colleagues in India a Happy Independence Day! We hope you are enjoying the festivities and the time off!

08/08/2022

Are you tired of getting marketed to? Do you hate getting an ad delivered to you and you are interested in learning more, but when you click on the link you are being asked to provide a boatload of information just to get to an article or get a phone call back?

At VKS Group we call ourselves a digital strategy company. We focus mostly on consulting, web design and development, digital marketing and even custom web apps. If you are a small business that knows you need to do something different but aren't quite sure what yet, that's where we shine. We can help you through that process.

And we won't ask you for a boatload of information just so you can get a human being to contact you. We care more about you than filling in our CRM with data.

If you want to learn more about us, have a question, or just want to drop us a line, send us a message through messenger. A human being will message you back. Who's the human behind this post? My name is Ketan Shah and I started VKS Group because I feel that too many companies have forgotten that there are humans behind the technology.

07/16/2022

Many people have said that has made the customer experience worse than it used to be. Unfortunately, in many cases that is indeed the case. There is often a loss of with our fellow humans because of an overall poor digital experience.

Last night I had a craving for Domino's Pizza (don't ask me why....just a guilty pleasure I guess). I went into the app and ordered curbside pickup. Placing the order on the app was a simple process. When I got to the store, I opened the app and clicked the "I'm Here" button, and in about 45 seconds, the friendly associate came out with my pizzas, put them in my trunk, and waved to me with a friendly smile.

On my way home, I couldn't help but think how the entire experience was great at weaving together digital with humans to create an overall positive . Undoubtedly there were countless people involved in this entire process such as , architects, , and (just to name a few).

Now, I realize that the average customer is not thinking about all this when they are ordering their pizza....and that's the way it should be.

Don't forget to use to support, not hinder, your employees. That way they can provide the friendly smile that your customer will remember.

- Ketan Shah - Founder of VKS Group

07/13/2022

What's your favorite digital innovation that came out in force during the height of the ?

Mine is being able to order something online and decide whether I want to pick it up at the store or have the associates bring the product out to me.

I'm really impressed with small businesses that were able to offer digital solutions with limited technology. Remember, digital experience IS customer experience.

07/01/2022

I usually don't like to brag when a client or colleague gives me or my company a compliment. While I appreciate the compliments, that is our job.

With that said, I want to talk about a specific encounter that I recently had. I was helping an individual that really loves technology figure out how to navigate a screen (that to him was not very easy or intuitive). He was confused about what to do and where to go to accomplish what he was trying to do. I could tell by the look on his face and the sound of his voice that he was very frustrated, so I told him I would help. I stopped what I was doing and immediately went to him to guide him and teach him.

In short order, he was able to finish his work. He was so happy. He said, "Dad, you are really good at computers." Yes, he is my 8 year old son and that was the best compliment I could ever ask for!

Getting that compliment from my son continues to motivate me to serve clients the best way we know how. I mean, I can't let my son down right?



P.S. - If you are wondering, he was working on Scratch (computer programming for kids - https://scratch.mit.edu/)

Post written by Ketan Shah (founder of VKS Group)

Scratch is a free programming language and online community where you can create your own interactive stories, games, and animations.

06/16/2022

I quit my job about 7 months into the pandemic to start my own company. The pandemic made me realize you only live once. We love working with that are trying to figure out their . Please give us a follow or contact us to learn more.
www.vksgroup.co

06/15/2022

When walking my dog, I prefer paths in forest preserves and parks where there is a general sense of peacefulness. Today is Nature Photography Day. Do you think that photographers will start selling NFTs of their photography?

kbs - Founder of VKS Group

06/13/2022

Do you think the is related more to financial conditions or the general technology? We think aka technology is something that will continue to grow. It will be interesting to see what happens as the technology matures. What are your thoughts?

06/01/2022

Warm milkshakes are gross. Make sure your digital experience does not lead to a warm milkshake.

https://vksgroup.co/its-not-just-the-tech/

A few days ago I was sitting at my desk pounding away at my keyboard when I started to get hungry. I had a taste for a milkshake. People that know me know that I have a sweet tooth. I had a small window in between meetings to

01/03/2022

11/23/2021

Cosmetics company Lush has announced that it is quitting its social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat because of the what the Facebook whistleblower said.

We have had multiple clients starting to ask the question of whether they should continue to use Facebook and while nobody has decided to flat out quit Facebook, many are staying on reluctantly.

Do you think that this is a trend that is here to stay?

And yes, we understand the irony of posting this message on Facebook.

Here's a link to the article about Lush:

Lush's UK operation announced in 2019 it would shut down some social media, but says it returned in 2020 as the pandemic drove customers indoors.