About Social Media Today
In his worldwide bestseller, The 4-Hour Work Week, 
Timothy Ferriss repeatedly underscores one overwhelming point: Don’t unnecessarily perform a task that you can hire someone else to do for less.
This applies at every level of business. Whether or not you’re really trying to carve your working hours down to minutes each day, we can all benefit from tools that maximize our productivity.
Cloud computing is far more than just taking what’s on your computer and putting it into the Internet’s ‘cloud.’ At its very core, cloud computing is a way for us to delegate tasks from ourselves to the computer, freeing up time for creative, productive thought.
Many small business owners are intimidated by the idea of moving to a cloud management system. They’re content with their own hardware and ways of doing business, failing to see the advantages that the cloud can offer.
Until a few years ago, cloud computing was, in fact, the exclusive territory of large corporations. The web changes fast, however, and it’s now a free realm for even the most small-scale companies.
Chances are you’re already using the cloud, perhaps without realizing it. Ever uploaded a file to Dropbox? Listened to a song on Pandora or Spotify? Sent an email using Gmail, Yahoo, or any other online service? You’re in the cloud.
For small business owners still on the fence, here are six ways that anyone can benefit from the latest advances in cloud computing.
1. Gain Freedom
If you’re a business owner, chances are that you started out with dreams of one day having free time to do the things you really want to do, from family to travel, while your business runs itself.
That hasn’t happened yet? The cloud can help. Even without switching your office over to a customized cloud system, services like the new Google Drive and Dropbox allow you to share documents between employees via the cloud.
With the right planning, there’s little need for you to be physically present in the office. Using cloud-based file sharing, it’s possible to exchange files and submit work in real time, from your safari in Africa to the office in Michigan.
2. Less Investment
In the past, setting up file management systems in an office required purchasing your own servers, hardware, and software for multiple computers. With the cloud, it’s all pushed into a central location.
Best of all, there’s no guesswork. You pay only for the cloud storage space that you use, so there’s no need to think far in advance about how fast you might grow.
3. Work with Experts
If you’re setting up a new email system for your employees, would you hire a programmer to design it from scratch or use an existing service like Gmail?
Cloud providers are good at what they do. Your system can be tailored and customized to suit your needs, and there’s no reason to build your own from scratch.
4. Monitor Your Growth
Launching a new social media or marketing campaign shouldn’t be guesswork. Cloud software enables businesses to track how users interact with their site. Omniture, a recent Adobe acquisition, specifically charts social media analytics, helping businesses to dial in their next Facebook campaign or Twitter strategy.
5. Automate Your Busy Work
How much time and money do you spend calculating your payroll and invoicing each month? Cloud-based programs like FreshBooks take the tedious numbers game out of your hands and put it on the server. When your regular, non-creative tasks can be put on auto-pilot, your mind is free to dream up your next great idea.
6. Collaborate and Work Faster
Are you still handing a paper printout of a report back and forth between employees? Traditional methods of doing business stole our time, forcing us to wait for steps in the process that are now unnecessary.
By keeping software and working files in a central location that’s accessible to all the people working on a project, it’s possible to make progress far faster than in a traditional, paper (or email attachment) based atmosphere.
