AtNetPlus Buzz

Facebook, Your Privacy Has Been Changed…let the stalking commence by Jay Mellon, Partner

2010-09-03T13:59:00.000-04:00

Facebook Places was launched a few days ago, and has generated controversy about user privacy. Hasn’t Facebook learned anything from the other times privacy has been a major issue for them? Apparently not… This new feature is designed to let you ‘check in’ at whatever location you are at and is similar to Foursquare. Unfortunately, with Facebook, the app is installed with public access and even with enabling the privacy settings it appears that you can quickly lose the ability to decide who sees where you are in real time. For more information on how to use facebook ‘Places’, check out this PC World article.

There are some benefits:

• You can keep tabs on individuals. For example, let’s say your son is taking a road trip to Florida. Instead of calling at every rest stop, he can ‘check in’ to the McDonald’s at each stop he makes.

• Businesses can also benefit from it. Although ‘Places’ hasn’t reached the caliber that FourSquare already has, they will soon start to integrate similar features.

There are also some disadvantages:

• Other people can check you in. If your friends take you out for your birthday to a bar, they can post that you were there with them. However, that information may not be something you want everyone to see.

• Also, your friends can check in at your house. One of the examples that a CNN article used involved a brother and a sister. The brother visited his sister and posted it to his Facebook Places. ‘Places’ included a map and the neighborhood in which she and her young children live. Do we really want to give out the address of our friends and relatives to everyone – even if they are a Facebook ‘friend?’ Plus the homeowner has no control over that post. Maybe your sister doesn’t want to publish her address and on Facebook. Even with privacy settings enabled you have no control over who sees what is being posted. In other words, even if you only allow friends to see Places, the friends of your friends are seeing the information and if they haven’t enabled the privacy settings – suddenly your whereabouts are open to the publc!

• Privacy settings automatically allow for open, public access, which means the default privacy settings allow your friends to tag you in Places, and allows others to comment on your ‘Places’ post. (To change these setting, see below.)

• Stalking can and will ensue. If you are constantly posting places you are visiting, it might result in a potential stalking case. This can be dangerous, especially to younger kids who are using Facebook.

So how do you change the settings in your facebook account?

Locate the drop down menu named ‘Account’ at the top right of the screen, click. When the menu drops down, select ‘Account Settings.’ Towards the top of the screen, there are a number of tabs: ‘Settings’, ‘Networks’, ‘Notifications’, etc. Select the ‘Notifications’ tab. Scroll down to find ‘Places’ and deselect the two check boxes.

Why doesn’t Facebook err on the side of caution when they update privacy settings?

Do you think Facebook Places is a good or bad addition to the site? What are your thoughts?

Check Your Junk Folder by Jim Laber, Partner

2010-08-27T14:34:00.000-04:00

Seriously, it’s important to check your junk email folders and/or spam quarantine on a regular basis. Although enterprise level email filtering programs have become very sophisticated it’s still possible for some important email to be blocked by them.

Spammers constantly develop new and ingenious ways of bypassing these programs. By their very nature email filtering programs are usually a step behind spammers in their quest to stop the newest spam attack. Unfortunately, even with the best filtering programs installed on your systems you will occasionally go through periods of time where more junk mail is hitting your Inbox than you find acceptable. Conversely real email messages may get tagged as Spam. That’s why it’s important to add ‘check junk mail folders and email quarantines’ to your list of things to do. It’s easier to take a few moments to scroll through a list of junk mail than it is to explain to your biggest client why you didn’t respond to an urgent email message from them.

How long has it been since you checked your spam folders? We suggest that you take a minute right now to sift through your junk email folder and look at your quarantine. You could be surprised at what you’ve been missing. In addition, consider adding this task to your electronic or hand written To Do list. You may be very glad you did.

For more information on Email filtering and how it works, check out the Wise Geeks.

Questions To Ask Your IT Provider by Jim Laber, Partner

2010-08-19T13:26:00.000-04:00

1. What are your IT provider’s certifications, qualifications and partner affiliations? Are they from reputable sources? e.g. Microsoft, Cisco, etc.

2. How many years have they been in business? Is the company flourishing and growing or are they floundering and shrinking? Check out the awards they have earned (if any).

3. Can they provide reputable references?

4. Does your IT provider offer a guaranteed response time?

5. Can they cover your type of computer – PC and/or Mac?

6. Can your IT provider help you prepare a budget for IT expenses?

7. Is your IT provider a service organization that keeps a close eye on important things such as the network and warranties? Or do they wait for something to break? Generally preventative maintenance is the best route. If your IT provider finds an issue, they can fix it as soon as possible rather than waiting for it to become a problem for you.

8. Does your IT provider have any local affiliations? Ex. Chambers of Commerce, NEOSA, etc.

9. Does your IT provider ask you what is critical and important to you and your business? Example, 100% Up-time, Security against malware threats, spam-blocking, etc.

10. Are they only focused on the ‘bits and bytes’ type issues, or are they advising you on how the technology fits with your business and helping you develop a long range plan?

Great IT service is more than just a friendly face. The relationship is important but expertise and the ability to help your company use technology to your advantage are just critical to

Traveling with Outlook...well sorta by Jay Mellon, Partner

2010-08-13T13:58:00.000-04:00

Outlook has always been a useful tool for maintaining your email, calendar, and contacts. Now it can also help you track drive time – either for business purposes or just to assist you with getting to your appointments on time. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always struggled with whether to schedule meetings in Outlook with the start and end time of the actual appointment or to add my estimate of travel time to the length of the meeting. It gets confusing, especially when you are sharing your calendar with your office staff. I mean, how do they know whether the two hours you set aside for an appointment includes the drive or not? But, if you don’t include it how do they know how long you will really be out of the office?

A solution is finally here: an Outlook add-in that is referred to as “Travel Time” has been created by instyler. You can use it to include real time travel on your schedule. I’ve only been using it for a short time but one of the nice things about it is that it clearly delineates travel time from the actual appointment.

There are a few other beneficial features. The add-in can create an expense report for the drive. The report can be exported into an Excel file, where it can be modified and adjusted as needed. You can also specify the method of transportation, for example, on foot, car, train, etc.

One disadvantage to the program is that Travel Time cannot automatically be added for appointments created from a Smartphone. I’m still learning the tool but unless something better comes out, it fills a need.

You can download a free trial version to try it out yourself. If you want to know more information check out the creators of the program, instyler.

A Typical Presentation + Rollercoaster = Prezi by Julie Siller, Marketing Assistant

2010-08-04T15:29:00.001-04:00

We recently hosted another Talk It Over Tuesday event for which we created a presentation in “Prezi.” For those of you who are unfamiliar with the program, it is an online presentation tool that spins, zooms and can take you on a wild visual ride!

There are some shortcomings, but for the most part Prezi can really vamp up your presentation and make it much more interactive and lively. It’s kind of like going on a rollercoaster ride, minus the nauseous, uneasy feeling, and subsequent headache. The presentation spins, rotates, and zooms according to the predetermined path you select.

The tool (as seen below) takes some getting used to, but it doesn’t take long to become comfortable with this new format. Once you use Prezi, it will be hard to go back to standard presentations.

There are some limitations with this tool. First, you can’t print your presentation. Second, you must use their templates which include predetermined fonts, colors, backgrounds, etc. Unfortunately, you can’t stray from those designs regardless of the subscription package you chose. Finally, since it is a web-based tool, there are storage limits for your presentations. However, one subscription option does allow you to save the presentation locally and work offline.

We are hoping that Prezi will upgrade soon with less restrictions on things like font and color selections but even with the current constraints a Prezi presentation is much more visually appealing than the standard software we’ve all seen a thousand times.

My Kindle Experience by Steve Gomberg, Business Development

2010-07-29T13:31:00.000-04:00

As a longtime listener to National Public Radio programming, I found myself reading books less and less frequently. Since I do not watch television and do not subscribe to a print version of the local newspaper, the Internet became my primary source for live visual news and entertainment. Good, but not satisfying. The idea of cozying up in front of warm fireplace in the dead of winter with my laptop for a good read just wasn’t very appealing. And then I heard about the Kindle by Amazon, and I instantly felt it was a solution to the problem.

The Kindle is one of an increasing variety of “e-books.” They vary in size, download capabilities and cost. Amazon claims to have over 600,000 books in Kindle format, and has the goal to include every book ever published.

The Kindle itself comes in two sizes- one with about a six inch screen and the larger one with a nine inch screen. Memory is also substantially larger in the nine inch unit- having the capability to hold roughly 3,500 books, magazines and newspaper editions. Content is delivered directly to the Kindle through the Whispernet network. Essentially content can be delivered wherever there is cell phone coverage.

The most striking feature of the Kindle is the E-ink screen. The resolution, clarity and reflective view are exceptional. Blacks are very black, against a grayish background, and the screen is quite readable, even in bright sunshine. Page turning takes a little getting used to as there is a slight delay as the new page assembles itself. Many newspaper and magazine articles are complete with pictures and drawings. The lack of color rendition is not a problem, though it probably is a limitation in the Kindle’s use for academic textbooks. The prospect of a student being able to carry an entire semester’s worth of books and resource material in a single package weighing less than a pound and being thinner than one third of an inch is most intriguing, and may put a number of Chiropractors out of work.

Page turning is accomplished by pressing either a forward or backward button on the side of the unit. I specifically said side because on the larger version, the screen automatically orients itself to how it is being held - upside down for lefties that wish to operate the buttons from the left side of the screen, and either side for people wishing to read in landscape mode.

The controls are very simple and do not distract from the reading experience. In fact, having now read seven books in the past couple of weeks, the Kindle has seemed to have disappeared. Pressing the buttons is as natural as turning pages with the added advantage of not having to use a book marker- the Kindle automatically saves your place.

The bottom line is that although it is somewhat pricey, the Kindle is an excellent way to return to reading books.

Why Businesses Need Control Over Their Email by Jay Mellon, Partner

2010-07-22T15:06:00.000-04:00

Inexpensive or free email accounts from large national providers are readily available, but are not necessarily a safe and reliable alternative in a business environment. Precautions such as a complicated and unique password minimize your risk but does not completely eliminate the chance that someone will hijack your email account and use it for their own purposes.

Let me give you an example. A business owner, we’ll call him Frank, recently came to work one morning to discover that someone had taken over his web based email account. Frank quickly learned that the usurper had changed the account password and the answer to the ‘secret security question’ which effectively locked Frank out of his own email. This person not only gained access to his account but began emailing all of Frank’s business contacts from his online address book. These emails begged Frank’s business associates to send large amounts of cash to help him with a travel emergency.

Frank soon discovered that no recourse was available from this large, faceless, national provider. There was no procedure to follow to reclaim his account. Worse, there wasn’t any phone number to call where he could speak to a live person and explain what had happened. He was able to submit a form to close the account but as long as there was email activity, the account would remain open for 365 days from the date the request was approved.

Frank’s business was basically non-operational. He has no access to his business contacts (their addresses were all stored with his email account), no way to let his associates know that the emails they are receiving are a scam, and no way to let them know his new email address. All because he wanted to save a few bucks a month by using a free email account.

What Frank didn’t realize until it was too late is that locally hosted email is very affordable and it gives you control over your account. With one phone call, Frank could have stopped the usurper and regained access to his email and contact information. He could have mitigated the damage by letting all of his clients know what had happened and reassuring them that appropriate measures had been taken to correct the problem.

Do you have control over your email? If not, take another look at your local hosted email provider. When the worst happens – it’s inexpensive insurance.

“Please Excuse the Brevity, Spelling and Punctuation”- what to omit from your emails by Julie Siller, Marketing Assistant

2010-07-13T08:52:00.001-04:00

We are all inundated with Email on a daily basis. Lifehacker, which we have referenced on this blog before, recently asked readers to comment on annoying Email habits. When it comes to Email, there are definitely certain things that rub people the wrong way.

The article highlights a few Email-isms to avoid. The one that most caught my attention was using “Sent from My [BlackBerry, iPhone, Droid, Mobile Device].” That particular Email signature really bugs a lot of people. To them it says either

a. “I am too lazy to change the settings on my phone” or

b. “I’m busy and it’s too much trouble to send you a full response.”

However, most people just don’t like that it doesn’t add important information to the message.

As with any of these discussions there are opposing points of view as well as long winded rants. All in all, the article is worth the read and will give you something to think about as you try to avoid annoying the people that you Email on a regular basis.

There are several more annoyances on the list. So before you send your next email, take a look at LifeHacker and add a comment below to let us know the Email faux pas that bugs you the most.

Online Popularity – How Well Does Your Company Stack Up? By Ellen Kurr, Marketing Coordinator

2010-07-05T11:25:00.004-04:00

Ever wonder how many search results contain your name or the name of your company? According to the Online Reputation Management Survival Guide, there is an easy way to find out. Within the Google search box, simply type quote marks around the name for which you want results. Google will then include, in small print at the top of the page, the number of results returned for that search. The Guide suggests popularity of the search term can be broken down into the following categories:

Under 1,000 results :: Low Popularity
1,000 – 10,000 results :: Average Popularity
10,000 + results :: High Popularity

Give it a try. “atnetplus” has about 17,300 results. Leave us a comment and tell us how you compare to your competitors in the Google Search Results Popularity Contest.

Watch out, the digital kidnapper might claim your computer by Jared Wesley, IT Specialist

2010-07-01T12:01:00.002-04:00

As you may remember, Jim recently wrote about Viruses and how to prevent, detect, and remove them. His blog was a three part article (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) that was used in conjunction with an AtNetPlus Talk it over Tuesday event.

In his article, Jim briefly discusses the differences between viruses, spyware, and other malware. I recently discovered LifeHacker, a site that has lots of techy information. This article goes into a detailed description of the different types of malware, and explains a new threat called “Scareware”.

Scareware is essentially a digital kidnapper. It all starts with a window that pops up with a fake anti-virus application. It looks real, and is very deceptive – just like a variety of recent computer viruses that have been making the rounds. Scareware doesn’t just install a virus on your system; it prevents you from using your PC at all. Once Scareware takes over you can’t open any applications, and it is very difficult to clean from your computer. All that happens is you get more pop ups asking you to “renew” or “install” this antivirus software in order to ‘clean’ your PC.

The best method of avoiding an infection on your computer is to exit out of the pop up window.

But, WAIT!

That red “x” in the corner of the pop up window could trigger an infection as well. If you see a pop up window alerting you to a possible virus on your system or an unexpected reminder to update your antivirus software, LifeHacker recommends you completely turn off your computer. You can do this by holding down the power button until your system shuts down. However, as we blogged earlier this year, you can also close an open window by holding down “ALT” and pressing F4. This will close the open window and minimize the risk of losing unsaved data.

Computer hackers count on the fact that users aren’t paying attention to what pops up on their screen. Fortunately, LifeHacker delivers good advice on how you can get out of this annoying situation.

Have you ever been infected by a virus? If so, what happened and how did you resolve the situation?

My Training with the LinkedIn Jedi Master by Julie Siller, Marketing Assistant

2010-06-24T13:09:00.000-04:00

Most of what I knew about business prior to joining the KSU MBA program and starting my job at AtNetPlus, I learned through the book “Teenagers Preparing for the Real World.” The book stresses the importance of networking. While it was a phenomenal book, and an incredibly easy read, it only covered face to face networking. Dave Gowel, known as the LinkedIn Jedi, taught me that networking has become so much larger and somewhat easier thanks to the Internet and LinkedIn.

I attended a sold out JumpStart event in Cleveland this past Tuesday. The event featured a two-hour seminar in which Dave Gowel demonstrated how to bring in more business using LinkedIn.

The Harvard alum delivered a gripping presentation. He personalized it by telling his own stories about how LinkedIn has benefitted him and his customers. He demonstrated features of LinkedIn that can help us broaden our networks.

Some of the topics he covered include: Privacy and Security; SEO; Profile Best Practices; Network Growth; LinkedIn Business Tools; Automated Searches; Corporate Strategy; and he touched briefly on information about groups. Gowel spent the better part of two hours detailing and describing the benefits of LinkedIn. He currently runs his own marketing/PR firm and teaches his clients about the tool.

There doesn’t seem to be enough time or space to list all of the details that I acquired (4 pages of notes later…) I will however share my favorite tidbit:

In your profile the Specialties area should include keywords that describe what you do. Think of it almost as you would when you choose keywords for your company. These words add SEO value to your profile.

If you ever have the opportunity to hear him speak, it will be well worth your time.

"Clipboarding" Text Without the Hassle by Jay Mellon, Partner

2010-06-17T09:49:00.001-04:00

As convenient as cutting and pasting text can be – it can also be a pain. It’s frustrating when the formatting from the original text is included as it is pasted into the new document. Sometimes it can take almost as long to clean up the formatting as it would have to just retype the text. Unfortunately, simply retyping is not always an option. Need some examples? URLs are one example. Directions are another.

Let’s say you want to send a less than computer savvy friend directions to your house. Instead of sending him a link, you opt to copy and paste the directions into an email. However, after you “paste” you’re left with a three pages of directions that should be less than a page without all of the extra goodies that the text formatting inserted. But, removing it all is more trouble than it’s worth.

ClipboardFusion eliminates the problem. When you copy and paste using this free tool, you can opt to omit the formatting of the text you’re pasting. You can even choose to always remove the formatting which may be the easiest way to keep from messing up your documents.

This tool has a few other applications as well. For example, ClipboardFusion allows you to store your clipboard data in a secure online account. This not only enables you to exchange clipboard information between computers, but it also stores a history of the data that you have copied.

Another feature is a robust macro interface. Macros allow you perform the same actions on the data using a click of the mouse. So, if you always convert hyperlinks to Arial, 11pt, bold. You could create a macro to perform those actions and then select the macro every time you copy and paste a URL. There is also a free library where other ClipboardFusion users have posted their macros for you to use.

This application has found a home in my list of standard applications to install on my computers. I’m adding it to my list of recommended tools such as: BrowserChooser, Connectify and LastPass.

Connecting the Clicks, Part 2 by Ellen Kurr, Marketing Coordinator

2010-06-09T10:35:00.000-04:00

In my last blog, Connecting the Clicks, Part 1, I went into great detail about how, when and to whom you should send an Email campaign. But how do you know if your e-mail blast was effective? In part two of “Connecting the Clicks” I'll talk about some of the tracking features included in Email Marketing tools like iContact.

Connecting the Clicks
Although I prefer the ease of use and flexibility of iContact over the other Email marketing tools that I have tried there are many options available online. For Example, Mailchimp and Constant Contact are very popular alternatives to iContact. Most of the features I covered in Part 1 are available through any of these programs. For simplicity I'll 'Connect the Clicks' using features available on iContact.

One of the most powerful features of these tools is the ability to track who is opening your messages and which links they are following. iContact has several features that help you determine the impact that your Email has made. There are a number of things that can be tracked including the number of bounces, opens, clicks, and how many recipients have unsubscribed. You can also view how many people clicked on each link you provided in your message.

The Tracking Dashboard uses graphs to provide an overview of the message recipients, views, clicks, and complaints in the last 30, 60 or 90 days.
Detailed tracking for each Email blast includes:
• The subscribers that opened the email
• The subscriber Email addresses that bounced
• The links each subscriber clicked on
• Who unsubscribed
• The number of complaints submitted by subscribers

This information has many uses. For example, a segment could be created to include the subscribers that opened a particular email or clicked on a specific link. Those segments could then be targeted with follow-up emails or a personal sales call.

Bounced Emails can be researched to find and correct valid Email addresses for those subscribers. iContact will automatically move a bounced Email address to the Do Not Contact list after five bounces.

Pay attention to unsubscribes. There could be an instance where a current client has unsubscribed which means no Emails can be sent to that Email address using iContact. That situation could have unforeseen consequences. Once someone unsubscribes they are removed from the mailing list.

Therefore, if your company uses iContact to send out newsletters and service bulletins - a client that unsubscribes from the newsletter will also be removed from the service bulletin blast. iContact does have a procedure to re-enroll an unsubscribed Email address but it is deliberately cumbersome to ensure that unwilling subscribers are not placed back on your list.

The Email addresses associated with complaints are not visible to the list manager. This is for the protection of the subscribers. Complaints mean that the recipient flagged your Email message as junk mail. It is very important that everyone you add to your Email list has agreed to receive messages from you. A large number of complaints can cause your company to be tagged as a Spammer and... Nobody Likes A Spammer.

The following are some free resources to help you kick off a successful e-mail marketing campaign. Good luck!

FREE Resources
Email Marketing Tactics that Work
9 Strategies for Smart Email Marketing
Email Marketing Best Practices White Paper from iContact
iContact
Constant Contact
MailChimp
SurveyMonkey

Connecting the Clicks, Part 1 by Ellen Kurr, Marketing Coordinator

2010-06-04T14:35:00.000-04:00

Is anybody really reading your Email blasts?

When used properly, Email marketing can be an incredibly powerful tool for spreading the word about your company and reaching potential clients. It is more cost effective than physical mailings, and usually has a higher return on investment ($43.62 for every $1 spent). However, when used incorrectly, Email marketing is not only ineffective, but can be detrimental to your business.

Here are some tips for a successful Email Campaign
(Many of these tips are discussed in more detail in "Email Marketing Best Practices"
by iContact

Start with the right tool
Use an Email marketing tool such as iContact. These tools are designed to prevent your company from being identified as a Spammer, and nobody likes a spammer. Plus they have many built in features to help you track whether or not your Email campaign is reaching your audience. Connecting the Clicks, Part 2 will cover that in more detail.

The Who makes a difference
We all glance at two things before we read an Email. First we look to see who the message is from and then we peek at the subject line. Email marketing tools allow you to specify different senders for different messages. Take advantage of this opportunity to customize the sender to the target audience. Avoid generic Email addresses such as info, sales, marketing, etc. Use the names of real people within your organization. Even if the recipient doesn’t know that particular individual a name increases the chances that the message will be read.

The Why is important too
Subject lines should be short, simple, and enticing. Which would you open?
“Track Your Open Rates with Effective Email Marketing Techniques that Improve ROI”
or
“Connecting the Clicks”
Obviously Connecting the Clicks got your attention or you wouldn’t be reading this blog article. The question is would the first subject line have had the same effect?
Probably not.

There are a number of words that should be avoided in the subject line (see - Don’t Use That Word). These words trigger spam filters and virtually guarantee that your message will hit the junk mail folder and never be read by anyone.

Content is King
Once the reader has opened your Email, don’t make the mistake of losing them with poorly written or uninteresting content. Give them information that has value and they are more likely to read future Emails from you.
Think about what you want to accomplish through the Email. Do you want to generate a lead, entice them to attend an event, make an online purchase, or simply provide them with useful information? What you want to achieve drives the content.
The call-to-action is critical to the success of your campaign. Don’t make them guess about where to click or what information to provide. Tell the reader exactly what you want them to do and make it simple for them to complete the task. Limit their choices. In Email marketing (and website landing pages) — options equal inaction.

HTML or Plain Text?
It is best to use both HTML and Plain Text messages in order to reach more people. It’s estimated that 5% of Emails are opened in Plain Text, which means that 5% of your Email recipients will not view your message if there is no Plain Text version.
On the other hand, HTML messages are more visually engaging and can attract the reader to your message whether or not they were drawn to the subject. Providing both versions is a simple click of a button for most Email marketing tools.

Time of Delivery
You want the recipients to open the Email, not just delete it or ignore it in the lackadaisical haze
of a Friday afternoon. The best time to send Business-to-Business Emails is in the middle of the week: Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday between 9:30 am and 3:00 PM. Statistically, the best time is 9:30 AM or 1:30 PM but variety is good. Otherwise, you’ll never have the chance to stand out against the dozens of marketing messages that arrive at the optimal time every day. For Business-to-Consumer, the best time to send Emails directly to consumers is between 5:00 PM and 8:00 PM Tuesday through Thursday and Friday afternoon through Sunday. Keep in mind the time zone in which your customers and prospects are located.
You should also consider the frequency of your messages. Sending too many can become overwhelming and irritating to recipients. Annoying your potential readers will ultimately cause them to unsubscribe – once that happens you can never reach them again using your Email marketing service. Large companies with huge budgets for mailing lists can afford the risk of losing subscribers but for small businesses each unsubscribe is a lost sales opportunity that is difficult to replace.

However, if you don’t send messages often enough you will struggle to establish brand recognition and value to your readers. The secret is to decide on a delivery schedule and structure your campaigns so that your recipients aren’t accidently hit with multiple Emails in a short period of time. Set a schedule and stick with it. Email marketing companies make that easy. They all provide delivery scheduling as a feature of their programs.

List Segmentation
Segmenting your list can prove to be helpful. Different messages for clients and prospects is key to successfully attracting more business. For example, your message could upsell to current clients but provide an introductory offer to new customers. Whatever the context, at some point you will want to Email targeted lists. It is best to use the segmentation option to do so.
Basically, segmentation requires the creation of a field with specific content that identifies the campaign in which the recipient is grouped. A segment uses logic to select only those contacts to which a particular Email message will be delivered.

There is tons of good resources for Email Marketing available online. Before your next email blast take a few minutes to review some basic tips and techniquest. The effort will definitely pay off. In the next installment I'll go into more detail about using Email Marketing tools to track who is opening, and clicking on your messages.

The Droid just keeps getting better by Todd Fisher, Director of Operations

2010-05-27T09:36:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in my previous blog, Droid Lives Up to the Hype, the Droid has benefitted me in many ways, especially in the business environment. Over the past months I have discovered some handy and free add-on tools for the Droid. All these applets are available on Droid’s Market; the icon for Market is already on your Droid.

Missed Reminders can be programmed to remind you (independently) of SMS, MMS, missed calls, and Gmail.

MotoTorch utilizes the Droid camera’s LED flash as a flashlight and has several configurable settings. If you are anything like me, you have used your cell phone more than once to find an object, such as a set of keys, or a light switch. This is when MotoTorch is the most useful.

Wifi Analyzer can come in handy in the field. Essentially, the application displays the Wi-fi channels that exist near you, and it aids in finding a less crowded channel for your wireless router.

Wefi Connect makes finding free WiFi a whole lot easier, because it does it for you. It manages connections that you have established so you can reconnect easily the next time. It also makes it easy to turn on the WiFi receiver.

Voice Recognition and Voice Search are incredibly useful built in tools. Voice Recognition is great for texting because it converts spoken words to text with high accuracy. Voice search works well with the Google GPS mapping applet on the Droid, easily finding a spoken location on the map so you can get navigation instructions (in voice) from your current location to the desired location.

DroidRecord is a sound recorder that can capture voice memos or a speaker at a meeting or convention.

Radar Now provides access to looped weather radar images. Using the phone’s GPS Radar Now positions a map of your current location on the screen and overlays the last hour loop of radar images

All these applets receive updates and improvements and notify the user of the availability of a newer version. Updating is as easy as a few clicks on the screen for each update.

Quick tip - park a Calendar widget on your home page using the Widget function (press and hold a blank area of the home screen). You can choose to show the next scheduled appointment subject and time. A touch of the icon opens the calendar and displays the most current appointment. Past and future appointments are available in a scrolling format.

The market for applications that run on the Andriod operating system is ever changing, and the Droid version of the operating system is occasionally updated. Check the Market applet frequently for new programs. There are hundreds of free or low-cost applets for the Android operating system and most work great on the Droid. If you haven’t looked into them, I recommend giving the Droid Market apps a try.

What makes your customers happy? by Jay Mellon, Partner

2010-05-24T10:21:00.001-04:00

     Customer service… business people talk about it all the time. Most of us tell ourselves (and anyone else that will listen) that it is what sets us apart from our competition. But do we really do it well? Taking a hard look at how we are delivering on customer service can be painful – there is always room to improve. Stellar customer service is all-encompassing. It touches every area of our business from hiring standards, employee training, and results measurement to daily execution. The obstacles surrounding it can seem insurmountable.

     Maybe we should just start small. The first step toward improving customer service could be as simple as asking the question, “As a customer, what are you really asking from us?” You may be surprised at the answer. Too often we take questions or complaints at face value instead of considering the underlying cause.

    Need an example? We’ve all become irritated by Doctors or other professionals that keep us waiting long after our scheduled appointment. Are we really angry about spending 20 extra minutes at their offices? Do we really want them to rush someone with a serious illness out the door just to get us in on time? Probably not… we simply want them to acknowledge that our time is just as valuable as theirs. Informing us that there has been a delay and offering the opportunity to reschedule is probably all that it would take to keep us happy. More often than not, we’d choose to patiently wait without resentment. It’s the lack of communication that makes us unhappy. So, when the receptionist at the Doctor’s office hears, “How much longer will it be?” she might want to consider the underlying problem before she answers.

     Disney understands this phenomenon and they train their employees to always look below the surface for what is really being asked. Their most famous example is, “What time is the 3:00 parade?”
     Duhhh… 3:00?
     Wrong answer.
     Their guests are really asking for information and advice. Things like:

How far in advance should we stake out a spot to watch the parade?
Where should we be to get the best view of the parade?
What time will it get here?
Which direction will the parade come from?
Are there restrooms near the parade route?
Do we have time to get refreshments before the parade starts?
How long does the parade last?
What time is it now?

Finding out what the guest really wants to know delivers the exceptional customer experience for which Disney is famous.
What are your customers really asking? It may be time to find out.

High School Kids take up the Tech Challenge by Jim Laber, Partner

2010-05-13T12:43:00.000-04:00

Technology and the Internet have opened new doors for many businesses, allowing them to become more efficient and profitable. It has also given rise to new opportunities to high school students. NEOSA is again hosting their annual website competition among Northeast Ohio students. This year over 60 teams submitted original website designs varying in content from school sports teams to sites boasting fictional products and much more. The designs were judged based on Content Quality, Design Quality, and Information Architecture. In addition, the websites were required to function properly on a typical web browser as well as on a mobile device.

The results of the competition will be announced at NEOSA’s Best of Tech Awards on May 19 (more information can be found below). The winners of the competition will receive scholarships in addition to Best Buy gift certificates. All of the contestants will receive a T-shirt as well as a gift card to Chipotle.

We look forward to the announcement of the winners at the awards ceremony next week. The websites were all well designed. Bravo to all of the teams involved for putting so much time and effort into this competition. You are the future of technology.

NEOSA Best of Tech Awards Dinner
Date: Wednesday, May 19
Time: 5:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Location: Corporate College East (4400 Richmond Rd.)
Cost: $25 for NEOSA Members, $40 for Nonmembers

The Dreaded Computer Virus Part 3: You Think You're Infected, Now What? by Jim Laber, Partner

2010-04-28T10:53:00.000-04:00

Your computer is acting weird... maybe it seems sluggish, or strange messages keep popping up. Worse — you keep being sent to websites that you don’t want to visit. You think you have a virus. Now what do you do? Don’t Panic! There are a few simple steps you can take to minimize the damage.

Steps To Take After An Infection Occurs

1. Scan
Generally the anti-virus software you have installed has the ability to scan for viruses. You should already be running system scans on a routine basis. However, if you suspect you have been infected — update your virus definitions and run a full system scan right away. If you don’t have anti-virus protection, you can go online and find a site that will perform a free scan. An example is HouseCall from Trend Micro. This is a free product that will scan your computer for viruses.

2. Clean
The purpose of anti-virus software is to prevent viruses; however these tools also try to quarantine and clean the virus out of your system. If your software cannot remove the virus, there are malware cleaning programs available online. Malwarebytes and Hijackthis are two effective tools. Please be careful that you are not removing files that are required to keep your computer operational. If you are unsure of how to handle your problem, contact an IT Technician for assistance.

3. You’re Not Out Of The Dark Yet
Don’t declare victory too soon. Sometimes a malicious infection has a tendency to be buried deep in your system and affect multiple programs. It is recommended that you scan your computer again after the virus has been removed to ensure that it is completely gone. Even then, proceed with caution and seek help from an IT professional if you suspect that you are still infected. They have access to tools that can get to the root of your problem and make sure you are no longer at risk. If they cannot remove the infection, they can help you wipe your system and rebuild from the operating system up. At that point, an up-to-date backup of your data is invaluable.

Even with expert assistance, re-infection can still occur. Anti-Virus products act as a vaccine against infection but they are not 100% effective.

4. Change Your Passwords
If you have discovered a virus, use a secure computer to change the usernames and passwords for the sites that contain information you want to keep private. Do this for personal and business sites that you have visited using the infected computer regardless of whether or not you saved your passwords on that computer. As a rule, it is usually safer not to let your browser save your passwords for any website. There are tools available to help you securely manage your passwords. LastPass and eWallet are two secure password management programs available for free online.

The key to successfully avoiding infection and serious damage from computer viruses is to use a common sense approach:
Maintain a backup of your data
Install and maintain adequate anti-virus and firewall protection
Think before you click
Perform routine system scans
Act quickly if you think you are infected.

The Dreaded Computer Virus Part 2: Think Before You Click by Jim Laber, Partner

2010-04-22T20:31:00.000-04:00

In Part 1 of 'The Dreaded Computer Virus,' we discussed basic steps that everyone can take that will help prevent infection or will help recover valuable data should an infection occur. In this installment, we'll talk about how to avoid infection altogether. Often a common sense approach will go a long way toward stopping malware from getting into your system. If you behave as though the situation were occurring face-to-face it can help put the anonymous side of the Internet into perspective. Consider these 'scenarios:'

Scenario One: “Doctor in a Park”

Let’s say you see a man in a park wearing a white lab coat and a stethoscope. You sneeze. He walks up to you and tells you that you probably have the flu. He hands you some pills and instructs you to take them until you are better.

What would you do?

Most reasonable people would refuse the pills and walk away — or even call the police. Why? The situation is out of context. You’re not in a health care facility requesting treatment. So, there is no reason for you to believe that this person is a real doctor or is prescribing real medicine.

The same concept applies to surfing online. Say you are browsing a site looking at office furniture. Suddenly, a screen pops up claiming that you have a virus. You are instructed to “click here” to download anti-virus protection or to remove the infection from your system. The context of the message simply isn’t credible and therefore is likely to be an attempt to install malicious software on your system.

Even if the message looks realistic never click on it. The safest course of action is to exit out of the pop up screen and run a system scan using your anti-virus software. If the message was legitimate the scan will find the virus again.

Important tip: Often the ‘close’ button or even the red ‘x’ at the top of the pop up window are programmed to infect your computer. If you click on either of them you may inadvertently install a virus. The safest way to exit a pop up window is to use ‘Alt’ F4. (Press and hold the ‘Alt’ key and then press F4). For more information, read Dan's Blog.

Consider the context before you click.

Scenario Two: Follow you where?

Suppose a business acquaintance made plans to meet you for lunch at a well known restaurant. Early the day of the appointment you receive an Email directing you to someplace you don’t know and weren’t expecting. Would you just follow the directions in the Email or would you find out if the change of venue was intentional?

Again, most reasonable people would ask about the change. It’s the same on the Internet. Links do not always take you where you are told you will go.

When you mouse-over a link in an Email it will either create a new Email message or open a web page in your browser. Whichever it is, when you scroll over the hyperlink, the actual address will pop up on the screen. Always make sure that the address matches where you think you are going.

The same is true for a hyperlink on a web page. When you scroll over the link, the actual URL will appear in the bottom left-hand corner of the browser window. It’s always prudent to check that the address is relevant to the page you are expecting to view. Read carefully, as the address is often composed in a way to appear legitimate at a casual glance.

Consider where the link is taking you before you click.

Scenario Three: The latest and greatest

“But wait... there’s more!” How many times have you heard that from someone pushing you to buy more than you want or need? Most of the time you ignore it for the ‘pitch’ that it is. Use the same careful consideration every time your computer pops up a window instructing you to download the latest and greatest plug-in for an application or to view a website.

Imagine you are on vacation in New York city and you decide to go buy a watch at an expensive speciality store. Along the way you see a street vendor selling what looks like the exact watch you wanted but for considerably less than you expected to pay. Would you buy it and assume you were getting the name brand product or would you expect that it’s either a knock-off or stolen? Again, most reasonable people would realize that you can’t buy an expensive watch on the street and get the same product and warranty that you would get from a reputable store.

In any situation where downloading a file is necessary, there is always a risk of virus or spyware infection. Legitimate, well-known vendors carry less risk than unfamiliar companies. If someone is giving away software for free consider their motive. Most things are not truly free.

Before clicking, always ask yourself whether or not you will really use the application or add-on. If you decide you want the download try to go directly to the source rather than following the link in the pop up. For example, if you need Acrobat Reader go directly to Adobe.com to download it.

Although open source software can provide very useful tools, be extremely careful. By definition, open source is accessible for modification by many different people. Some products are policed better than others. Most open source is perfectly acceptable — you just have to be careful about which sites you trust.

Consider the source before you click.

Scenario Four: Is this Email legit?

We’ve all opened an Email message the just doesn’t seem quite right. You might not be able to describe why, but you just know that something is wrong. Follow your instincts and don’t click!

or example, you receive an Email warning you that your bank account my have been compromised. It sounds feasible, until you notice the “log on” button is not taking you to Your_Bank.com. Instead, it’s sending you to an unfamiliar URL. Account verification Emails should always be considered suspicious, but often unsafe Emails throw off warning signs. They have unusual sentence structure, common words misspelled, or the logo or colors are not quite right — something appears a little off. Any of this should send up a red flag. It’s better to be safe than deal with the inconvenience of an infected computer or stolen information.

Email can include another easy source of infection — attachments. Before opening an attachment, make sure that the person you are receiving the Email from is someone you know and trust.

Unfortunately, spoofing (making an Email look like it came from someone you know when it really didn’t) means that a message from someone you know can still contain a virus. Also, there is always the risk that your colleague is forwarding you an infected Email. Therefore, always use anti-virus products that scan your Email for viruses before you download them.

E-cards are generally safe when the Email contains a LINK to a website where you view the E-card. However, once again, you need to make sure that the URL to which you are being sent matches the link on which you are clicking. If they don’t match you are probably being lured onto a site that can infect your system. You should never download an E-card attachment from an Email message.

Consider the warning signs before you click.

Scenario Five: Phishing for a big payday

Never verify personal information in an Email. Legitimate private, government, or financial organizations will not send an unsolicited Email to you to confirm or provide confidential information.

Picture this: You are sitting at home reading the paper and your phone rings. You answer and the caller says that they are calling from your bank to verify your checking account number and balance. How would you respond? Hopefully, you would hang up and call the bank back to find out why someone would call you to ask those questions.

The same goes for Email messages that ask those same types of questions. Ask yourself, how do I know this is legitimate? If you can’t be sure, do not respond. Instead, call the institution that supposedly sent the message and find out why they are requesting personal information by Email.

Remember to use a number provided by the organization, not a phone number listed in the Email itself. Also, keep in mind that anyone can include a link to a website within an Email. Phishers are very good at creating websites that look almost like the site of an actual business or government agency. Always have your guard up in these situations and use another source to determine if the request is legitimate. More often than not, it’s a scam.

Consider the source before you click.

A lot of infections can be prevented by simply thinking before you click. If you wouldn’t trust the situation in “real life” - you shouldn’t trust it online. Refusing to click or to respond to questionable pop up windows or Emails has very few negative consequences.

Unfortunately, the opposite is true if you don’t...

Think Before You Click.

Coming soon...

Part 3: You Think Your Infected, Now What? Steps for Removal

2010-04-21T14:28:00.001-04:00

Just returned from the GAC KNOW luncheon - the speaker was fantastic. Hearing Leslie Ungar was well worth my time. http://ping.fm/4jSOP

2010-04-20T15:21:00.001-04:00

AtNetPlus won an MVP award for Taskfire at the Autotask conference in Miami. Jay, Steve and Todd attended. commlive

The Dreaded Computer Virus Part 1: Basic Protection by Jim Laber, Partner

2010-04-14T09:10:00.000-04:00

Any discussion about computer viruses always starts with two questions:

What is the difference between Malware, Viruses, and Spyware?
Malware is any form of malicious code, including Viruses, Spyware, Worms, and Trojans. Once viruses are downloaded to your computer they can destroy data or cause your computer to malfunction. Viruses are self propagating which means that they plant themselves in your computer and keep spreading. Spyware, on the other hand, collects confidential information from your computer and typically requires user interaction to spread.

Why do people create viruses?
In the beginning, computer geeks created them for bragging rights. Unfortunately, writing these attacks evolved into a lucrative business. Today people create these programs to blackmail individuals and companies and to obtain important financial information from their victims. Some virus authors want to ruin or sabotage an organization or an individual. They also make money by selling software to stop the virus. Unfortunately, viruses have become a form of virtual terrorism.

Steps To Take Before An Infection Occurs

1. Backup your data
It is vital to have an up-to-date backup of your data. If a virus has seriously infected your computer, often the only way to destroy it is to reinstall the operating system which will cause you to lose all the data on your system. A current backup ensures that you can fully recover from an infection.

2. Install Anti-Virus Software
Frequently infections occur because the user doesn’t have effective anti-virus software. Keep your computer protected with an anti-virus package from a reputable company. The software you choose is critical. Periodically re-evaluate the vendor you have chosen and ask your IT service provider for a recommendation. In a business environment a layered approach should be employed. Your workstation, server, and Internet gateway should all have Anti-Virus protection from different vendors.

3. Update Virus Definitions
New viruses are emerging every day. Once anti-virus software is installed it has to be continuously updated to protect against these constantly changing threats. Allow your software to automatically apply updates to the virus definitions to defend against the newest threats.

4. Allow Firewall Protection
Either allow the firewall technology built into the Windows operating system to protect you or enable the firewall protection that can be purchased with anti-virus software. In a business environment firewall appliances should be installed on the network to prevent malware from getting into the system.

Coming soon....

Part 2: Think Before You Click, How to Avoid Viruses

Part 3: You Think Your Infected, Now What? Steps for Removal

Printing can save you money? by Jeff Phillip, Web Services Manager

2010-04-09T10:58:00.000-04:00

During this tough economy, individuals and companies have been searching for new and creative ways to spend less. Some people are witty with their ideas, and some go completely overboard. However, you don’t have to cut costs by bathing only once a week, or by limiting the number of coffee breaks taken by employees. There are ways to save money on simple things that don't inconvenience anyone.

Printing costs are a good example of this. Printer ink/toner is a necessary evil, but there are lots of ways to use less of it. Share these tips with your boss and you can become the hero that saved your company thousands of dollars a year while helping the environment at the same time. I can hear them playing "We are the Champions" in your honor right now.

The articles referenced below were based on inkjet printers but the same strategies could also be applied to laser printers using toner cartridges. Digital Media's article, 'The right font can save you money' relates savings results for both ink jet and laser jet printing.

Printing in Draft Mode – Many people don’t think to use this feature when they are simply printing an e-mail or proofing documents. Most printers provide an option for printing in “Draft” or “Fast Mode,” which reduces the amount of ink used by a considerable amount. This can also be set as a default in most programs.
Images and Clutter – who hasn’t sent webpages to the printer only to realize the content they need either didn’t print at all, or was surrounded by colorful ink-hogging advertisements and images. As a rule, always use the Print Preview feature when printing to ensure you are printing the information you desire. Also, I recommend checking out “Readability” – a small bookmarklet which can be utilized to remove images, ads and other clutter from web pages. It can also change the default font used.
What Printer Are You Using? – PC Magazine has a very interesting article on the cost of printers vs. the cost of ink used in them. While the up-front cost may look appealing, the cost of ownership is far more expensive. You should read their article before you invest in your next office printer. This doesn't mean that the printers used for comparison in this article are appropriate for your business environment. Ink/toner usage is simply another criteria on which you can evaluate a printer before you make a purchase.
What Font Are You Using? – Most programs come pre-loaded to use the Arial font by default, but in truth, this is a font which uses a considerable amount of ink and toner. Imagine being able to save 30% of your company’s annual budget, just by utilizing a font like Garamond to print e-mails and other documents for your company. In the picture below, you can see the difference in each of these fonts. Additionally, there is a new font available called ecofont. The font itself has holes which are not visible to the reader but may result in considerably less ink being used.

Don’t Buy Too Much Ink – Many companies stockpile ink to have it ready to replace when a cartridge runs out. But, keeping too much on hand can result in the ink cartridge not getting as much yield. The ink in the cartridges tends to dry as it sits in storage.

To give you an idea of how much you can save by implementing some of these ideas, let’s consider a company that prints 50,000 pages per year or essentially 100 pages per day:

According to the study by PC Magazine, the average for black and white printing is 1.4 to 4.4 cents per printed page and the average for color printing is between 5.9 and 10.7 cents per printed page. So, saving 30% or more by using a different font, or draft mode, could mean savings of over $1000 per year. That’s a healthy bit of savings for a few simple adjustments to processes.

Cutting down on printing costs using these methods can save you money, and it doesn’t even require a great deal of thought or creativity. Plus, it has the added bonus of being good for the environment.

Let Browser Chooser Open Your Web Application by Jay Mellon, Partner

2010-04-01T12:41:00.000-04:00

If you're like a lot of people, Internet Explorer may not be your preferred browser. Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera are popular alternatives for many of you. Unfortunately, some web-based applications work on certain platforms better than on others. Browser Chooser lets you select, in advance, how to open each application or website.

Essentially, Browser Chooser becomes your default browser but only in the sense that it lets you predetermine which of up to 5 browsers you want to use to open various sites. For example, if your online contact management system works best in IE, then you tell Browser Chooser to open that site using IE. But, if your web-based document editor work best in Chrome than you can tell Browser Chooser to open that particular application with Chrome.

You can set which sites will open with each browser ahead of time, or have the program prompt you to choose after you click on a link. The best thing about the program is that it is free! Although, if you like the tool, there is a link on the website to make a donation to the developer of Browser Chooser.

Those of you that use a variety of on-line tools and have preferred browsers for each of them will really like Browser Chooser.

Turn your Windows 7 Computer into a WiFi Hotspot By Jay Mellon, Partner

2010-03-24T11:49:00.000-04:00

Connectify makes it easier for you to share Internet access from virtually anywhere. This free software essentially turns your Windows 7 laptop or PC into a router. With it your computer can take an available Internet connection and grant wireless access to that connection to any other computer in the vicinity.

There are several situations in which this technology can benefit you:

1. At Your business: A blog post on connectify.me gives an example of the perfect scenario for using the software. In their example, the owner of a salon wanted to provide Internet to her customers. She downloaded Connectify, and instantly granted Internet access to her clients through her existing Internet account. Using Connectify, she was able to provide this service free of charge to her customers.

2. Public Access: At many establishments such as Panera’s or Starbucks, WiFi costs a designated amount of money per hour. With Connectify, if one person purchases the connection, they can open up the access to anyone else in the restaurant. So, for example, a group of students that were studying together could all gain Internet access for one fee instead of each of them purchasing separate access. However, before using Connectify, it is your responsibility to make sure you are in compliance with the Internet usage regulations of the business you are patronizing.

3. In your house: These days, everyone has several electronic devices that have WiFi capabilities: iPhones, Desktop Computers, Laptops, Cell Phones, Palm Pilots, and gaming systems. It’s sometimes difficult to keep up with a seemingly endless list of WiFi enabled devices. System restrictions can limit the number of devices that can connect on a single network. Connectify eliminates those restrictions and can boost your Internet range. In addition, Connectify allows you to grant what is essentially ‘guest’ access to the Internet to friends and family without giving out the secure passkey to your home wireless router.

The best part is you can download and use it free of charge!

You can learn about the story behind the development of this product in addition to helpful information about the security, benefits, and more suggested uses at connectify.me.