Keep your Gadgets Cool: 5 Tips to Help your Devices Beat the Heat

As temperatures soar into the 100s across the U.S., many small business owners are learning the hazards of exposing an electronic device to extreme heat. In fact, many of today's more sophisticated smartphones and tablets have built-in sensors that shut the device down once it gets too hot. Before you head out to the beach with your trusty phone your side, here are five ways to make sure your device stays cool and safe during typical summer activities.

• Seek shade. Just as you need shade to stay cool, so does your device. Avoid leaving your device in direct sunlight at all costs. “If an expensive cover is not in your budget, make sure that you use a bag that can be placed in a shady area when your device is not being used, as to avoid the heat,” data recovery provider DriveSavers advises.
• Keep it cool. Put your smartphone, tablet, or laptop in its case, pack the bottom of a bag with Ziploc-covered ice packs, and store your electronic devices in the bag. The important thing here is to make sure your devices are safe from moisture, which can build up if you allow your ice packs to make direct contact with your device.
• Avoid water. “As a data recovery service provider, we see every day how badly water can damage electronic devices,” DriveSavers advises. “Because of a tablets large screen and thin frame, like the iPad, it is more susceptible to water damage.” Use a case designed for water or keep your device zipped tightly in a bag and tucked beneath dry clothes and other items, far away from the water.
• Buy a protective case. Several cases are available that protect your device from sand and water. While this won't be of much help with the heat, it will at least protect your phone if you're taking it to the pool or beach. The Lifeproof case is pricey at $79.99, but it claims to keep your phone safe in the shower, while surfing, or even working at a construction site. Lifeproof makes cases for the iPhone and iPad.
• Leave your devices in the room. If you're at the beach, the safest place is in your hotel room safe. If you can live without your electronic device for a few hours, you'll prevent permanent damage due to contact with sand, water, or extreme temperatures.

Remember, heat and water isn't the only concern. Be sure to keep your phone safely hidden from those who might not have the best intentions. Whether you're at the beach, or hanging out with family at the park, it's all too easy to leave your smartphone, tablet, or laptop out in the open while you're distracted with exciting activities. A little caution and you'll be able to survive the hot months of summer with your electronic devices intact.

Get Recognition and Valuable Rewards from These Small Biz Contests

Applying for an award or contest can bring your business added recognition and publicity. Awards also fire up your employees! Customers pay attention to awards, too.

Winning awards or contest won't happen by chance e.  It's up to you to take action.  Here's a list of awards and competitions we recommend checking out:

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DYMO â€" Win Expert Advice for your Small Business

DYMO Endicia has partnered with ecommerce and business experts Marsha Collier and John Lawson to bring small business owners the chance of a lifetime:

Two lucky business owners will win a 1-hour phone consultation with either Marsha or John. Ask your burning business questions, get expert advice, and discuss your management strategies with online sales and marketing gurus.

Dell $100M Innovators Credit Fund

Dell has launched a $100 million Innovators Credit Fund, with the purpose of helping entrepreneurs “maximize potential for innovation, speed to market and job creation.” The credit fund will offer both funding and technology resources with IT support, depending on what each start-up needs.

To be eligible, you must have already received some angel funding or venture capital before you can apply. Start-ups can get up to 10% of its current funding or up to $150,000 with limited credit terms. See website for details and application.

Big Break for Small Business
Enter by July 13, 2012

Five small business owners will receive house calls from American Express OPEN and Facebook branding experts who conduct in-depth marketing makeovers. Winners will also receive $25,000 in cash to implement the social strategies they learn from the makeovers.

The local communities of the winning businesses will also benefit. Winning businesses can invite other local entrepreneurs to meet a panel of social media and marketing experts to teach them how to use social channels for their business. See website for details and to enter.

Crain's 2012 Best Places to Work in NYC
Enter by July 13, 2012

This survey and recognition program is dedicated to identifying and recognizing New York City's best employers. Publicly or privately held businesses with at least 25 full or part time employees are eligible to enter.

Small Business Influencer Awards 2012
Enter by July 15, 2012

The 2012 Small Business Influencer Awards are now open for nominations! The Influencer Awards honor companies, organizations, apps and people who have made a meaningful and lasting impact on the North American small business market. Impact may mean (i) providing products widely used by significant numbers of small businesses, or (ii) influencing significant numbers of small businesses by being a thought leader, or (iii) providing information or services of note to significant numbers of small businesses. Nominate here.

Rock Your Biz Blogging Contest
Enter by July 30, 2012

Join BizSugar.com for the Rock Your Biz Blogging Competition through July 30, 2012, to learn some great tips on how to take your business to the next level with online networking, blogging, or social media. Gain exposure for your company and a chance to win some cool prizes including an iPad3 from Grafton Media, incorporation or LLC filings from Corpnet.com, mind mapping subscriptions from MindMaple, Amazon gift cards, and credits from JustRetweet.

To enter, simply write and publish a blog post on your blog, sharing tips or advice on how to use online networking, blogging, or social media in a small business. Then submit it for voting at BizSugar under the “Rock Your Biz” category.

DailyCandy Start Small, Go Big Contest
Enter by August 3, 2012

The 2012 “Start Small, Go Big” contest, sponsored for the third year in a row by Ink(SM) from Chase, includes mentors from some of the biggest names in fashion, home, beauty and food including Rebecca Minkoff, Jonathan Adler, Lauren Moffatt, Christiane Lemieux of DwellStudio, Lev Glazman & Alina Roytberg of Fresh, Alison Pincus and Susan Feldman of One Kings Lane, and more. Categories for entry include Fashion, Home, Food & Drink, Health & Beauty, and Digital & Tech. See website for entry details.

Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition
Enter by August 8, 2012

The Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition is an annual international business plan competition in Michigan. The event is the world's largest business plan competition with more than $1 million in prizes. The goals of the competition are to promote Michigan as a venue for innovation and opportunity and stimulate job creation.

The New York Times Make Your Pitch Contest
Enter by August 29, 2012

Submit your pitch on video, telling about your product or service, your marketing plans, your customer base. Tell what makes your business different - why it is one to watch? Do you need capital? If so, how much and what for? Most important, how are you going to make money?

All video pitches that meet the submission guidelines will be featured on The New York Times small-business Facebook page and selected pitches will be featured on the New York Times You're the Boss Blog.

PITCH NYC 2012
Enter by August 31, 2012

After hosting the successful 5th Annual PITCH 2012 in the Silicon Valley, Women 2.0 is excited to launch the inaugural PITCH NYC Conference & Competition 2012 (PITCH NYC 2012).

Open to early-stage high-growth ventures around the world, PITCH NYC 2012 invites companies with at least one female in the founding team to apply. Applying companies must be in beta stage and have received less than a million in funding. They are looking for the most disruptive web/mobile ventures, connected device companies, double and triple bottom line ventures, etc. Prizes include $25k cash, services and more.

See website for entry rules (you have to send in your business plan on a napkin!)

The list of awards and competitions is brought to you by Small Business Trends and Smallbiztechnology.com.

To find more small business events, contests and awards, visit our Small Business Events Calendar.
If you are putting on a small business contest, award or competition, and want to get the word out to the community, please submit it through our Small Business Event and Contests Form (it's free).

Please note: The descriptions provided here are for convenience only and are NOT the official rules. ALWAYS read official rules carefully at the site holding the competition, contest or award.

Just text for a park

Getting caught out by a parking warden when a meeting runs longer than expected could be a thing of the past if Hamish Dobbie gets his way.

The Auckland entrepreneur's software business, Dobsol, has developed a text parking system, RentaPark, that does not require a parking machine.

Drivers who park in a spot that offers the service text a code, and sometimes their registration plate, to the system's number. That information is relayed to the carpark owner, who then knows who has paid for which parks and for what amount of time.

Dobbie has talked to councils, carpark operators and universities interested in using the system.

He said several councils had expressed interest but for some it was another option to offer rather than a replacement for existing machines.

"RentaPark is ideal for councils with older technology. By implementing RentaPark they can offer new technology and an alternative payment option, with minimal capital investment."

Dobbie said the system had taken a while to develop because of the contracts and negotiations required with telecommunications companies such as 2degrees, Vodafone and Telecom.

The system would run on the existing txt-a-park platform that operates through parking machines.

Dobbie said users would use it in the same way. The cost of parking would be either added to their phone bill or deducted from their prepaid balance.

The only difference would be they would not need a printed ticket from a machine. Cloud-based software would collate information for carpark owners, so they could monitor which cars were parked illegally. The software could be accessed on smartphones or on their existing devices or through a website.

When the parking paid for was about to run out, the owners of the cars would get a warning text. They could opt to renew the parking for another term, or not.

"You can do it if you're stuck in a meeting or can't get back to the car," Dobbie said.

It would save carpark owners and councils money because they would not have to pay for machines, receipts and vandalism. His company would provide signs to carparks detailing the code to text to book the parking.

By Susan Edmunds | Email Susan

Reading The Good Fail Can Make You Successful

The other day I was talking to a friend of mine who is the CEO of a local plastics company.  Somehow the conversation meandered toward the topic of learning from others' mistakes.  We talked about the blessing that it is to have someone in your life; a parent or business mentor, who openly shares the lessons they've learned in their life.  And for those who really pay attention, learning from others' mistakes can not only save you time and money, but heartaches and relationships.

To that end, I'm recommending my latest summer read -  The Good Fail: Entrepreneurial Lessons from the Rise and Fall of Microworkz.  As those of you who read my reviews know, I'm not always the biggest fan of entrepreneurial war stories (but that's just me).  When I read a business book, I'm looking for practical advice and actionable strategies.  And this is what makes The Good Fail a book that I really enjoyed.

What's a Good Fail?

Richard (@icarmagic) defines a “Good Fail” as a “failure that has a learning value that's greater than the offset collateral damage.”  It's a failure that one is unlikely to repeat, but that helps to positively develop the person's managerial style and business acumen.   And Latman has had more than his share.  He's started 11 different businesses, contributed to many others and stumbled through quite a few.  He's become rather adept at failing quickly and cheaply, and that is a lesson every entrepreneur needs to have.

When You Fail, It's Personal

This is Latman's personal story and he starts it at the very beginning.  He describes his idyllic childhood in the San Fernando Valley and even tells the story of the sudden death of his girlfriend at the age of 13.  Latman's father was a baseball player turned entrepreneur - who failed a lot.

But Latman was undaunted.  He was always looking for a challenge and didn't seem to recognize the the boundaries that hold so many of us back from going after our objectives.  But at the same time, his inattention to boundaries was often a mixed blessing.  It was that kind of perseverence that got him into college and it was that same kind of oblivion to boundaries that got him arrested and put in jail for taking VHS videos out of his work environment to watch at home.

Granted, he didn't “realize” that this was against company policy, but you can already see the pattern of going for it that would ultimately be at the root of the demise of MicroWorkz.

Inside The Big Fail

When you think about it, it seems rather counter intuitive to purchase a book on failure and how to avoid it.  I mean, aren't we aiming for success? Will focusing on failure and how to avoid it actually put the wheels of the Law of Attraction in motion and draw me toward failure?  Not to worry.  Latman offers advice for “getting good” at failure and the 19 ways to avoid a Good Fail.

Here are just a few of the suggestions:

• Build it then sell it.  Be ultra-conservative in your sales approach and enter the market completely confident in your product and your ability to deliver it exactly the way you promised it.
• Surround yourself with hunters and not farmers.  Hunters are proactive in their search for information and opportunities and execute with precision.  Farmers gather and process information buut don't get much done with it.
• You are your own worst employee.  If you see yourself as an expert - or THE expert in what you do, then you are actually setting limitations for what's possible in your business.  This is a variation of “not thought of by me” syndrome.
• Accept “No” as an answer.  Listen to what's behind the “No” and don't just rush in for the sake of doing what you “know” is right.
• Worry about success.  In the case of MicroWorkz, it was the success and PR exposure that was at the root of their downfall.  They simply couldn't keep up.

The Good Fail Can Lead to Big Success

I have to admit that I enjoyed reading The Good Fail so much more than I expected.  Remember, I'm not much into biographies and war stories, and while this book had elements of both, Latman really put the focus on the lessons about failure that would really help entrepreneurs learn from his mistakes.

Small business owners, presidents, CEOs and managers will really enjoy this book.  It's an excellent read for a business trip or a quick summer vacation.

How to Kick the Curse of the Slow Computer

While many people are using tablets in this day and age to get quick and easy access to applications and resources that would help them become more productive, several have also decided to keep the PC or laptop close by in case they need to do some heavy-duty work.

The problem with both the desktop PC and the laptop is that they can get sluggish after a while, destroying your productivity and that of your employees. What are you going to do when it takes a quarter of an hour to get that cursed machine on? A quarter of an hour is worth a bit of money, and that gathers up, drop by drop, to thousands of hours a year lost all due to a slow computer. That equates to several thousands of dollars going “poof” every single year.

How do you get your computing infrastructure faster? Let's see a few suggestions from Eric Townsend, SMB & MSP Director at Intel Corporation:

• Schedule your stuff at off-hours â€" Your computer has a schedule for everything, from disk defragmentation to software update installations. Schedule these things at times that you don't need the computer very much, like weekends and after office hours.
• Make regular backups â€" When your computer becomes unbearable, instead of reinstalling the operating system and starting from scratch, you can back up your data on a regular basis. Schedule the backups to happen at weekends and off-hours like in the advice above.
• Update/install antivirus programs â€" You really need to have top-of-the-line security installed in all computers within your company. If you deal with any sensitive data (and you can bet that you do), you'd do best with an enterprise-level security solution. Malware has a tendency to slow down computers and abuse their resources thoroughly. Want to know a secret? They use up resources more often because they're poorly coded in a makeshift manner, not because they intentionally want to make your computer slow. The best virus/Trojan horse is one that doesn't leave a trace, not even while monitoring resources.
• Create a power schedule - We've already told you that you can install updates and stuff at times when the computer is needed. But how do you tell the computer to turn off when it's not installing anything? Make a power-on power-off schedule that goes around this. Give the computer about three hours to do all its updating and defragmentation and an entire day to back up data. Usually, that gives the computer more than enough time to do all its stuff. In fact, you can take this a little further and have employee computers boot about at least 20 minutes before the work day begins. This makes them more productive, since they don't have to sit around waiting for a PC to start up.
• Consider laptops with long battery life - If you give your employees laptops, give them something that has a battery life that's unbeatable. The same goes for tablets and smartphones. This makes their uptime more efficient.
• Get wireless devices with 3-antenna MIMO technology â€" Three antennas with MIMO technology ensures that laptops don't get lost in a wireless network. They will have a strong signal strength and be able to operate from quite a distance!

You're business depends on computers running efficiently perhaps more than you think. If you apply these practices, you will reap financial benefits while keeping your customer base happy and employee productivity at a maximum.

The Number One Reason Employees Stay in a Small Business, According to Employers

If you're like most small business owners, you've invested a sizable chunk of your company's time and money into recruiting, onboarding, and training employees.  Naturally, you do not want to lose good people - because then your investment is wasted.  On top of that your business may be plunged into a mini-crisis by losing a great performer who is difficult to replace.

But the question on the minds of small business owners like me is, what exactly does it take to attract and retain good employees today?  And can small employers compete with large employers able to offer bigger financial packages?

A recent survey has some good news.  Among employers polled, the number one benefit offered was … drum roll please:  paid vacation time.  That is the top benefit that employers surveyed in the GrowBiz Media Small Business Hiring and Retention Survey 2012 said they offered their employees.  Over sixty-seven percent (67.7% to be exact) said they offered paid vacation.

To me that's not surprising - it doesn't necessarily cost anything out of pocket to offer paid vacation.  So it's within the reach of more small employers to offer paid vacation than to offer benefits that cost additional out of pocket.

If anything surprised me, it's the percentage of employers who said they do NOT offer paid vacation.  I find it remarkable  that in this day and age, that nearly one third of the employers said they do do not offer vacation.

The Top 5 Benefits Offered

And what about other benefits? The benefits most often offered by small employers with between 2 and 50 employees  include, in order:

• Vacation time â€" 67.7%
• Personal days off â€" 63%
• Health insurance â€" 57.5%
• Flexible working hours â€" 56%
• Bonuses â€" 55.3%

The Number One Retention Factor Is Not Benefits At All

But if you really want to know what keeps employees around in a small business, it isn't benefits at all.  It's the relationship the employee has with management - at least, that's what employers say.  Those surveyed said the following were the top factors influencing employees to remain:

• Manager-employee relationships â€" 78%
• Company culture â€" 66%
• Employee benefits â€" 53%

The survey results did not include a question about salary, so we don't know where pay fits into the mix.

No Upside to Burning Out Your Employees

When you look at this list, it shows you that investing in relationships and working conditions help your business  compete against larger employers for the available talent pool, and yield good results.  From the employer side you are getting something good in return.  Refreshed, happy, well-balanced employees  are typically better performing.  They are more likely to stick around longer term, meaning less turnover and repeat hiring, onboarding and training for you.  As a result, your business runs more smoothly and there's less churn.  That's good for business.

Let me offer an analogy:  employees are an asset like anything else in your business.  You wouldn't run a valuable piece of equipment into the ground without maintenance, until it breaks and is worthless.  Your employees deserve at least as much consideration and respect.

And remember:  this is not asking employees what factored into their decisions to stay with their existing employers, but rather focused on what employers thought influenced employees to stay.  Still, it points out that small business employers believe they have something to offer that employees want:  good working relationships and a good company culture.  Oh, and some benefits, too, especially quality of life benefits.  View the full employer survey results.

Are you surprised?  And employees, you've heard from the employers - now, what do you say?

Manager and Staff Photo via Shutterstock

Jim Fowler of InfoArmy: Creating An iPad Army of Competitive Intelligence

Imagine an army of iPads marching towards you, about to hand you all of the valuable research data you've been searching for in the blink of an eye. Sounds great, doesn't it? Even better, that vision has actually manifested into reality. Tune in as Jim Fowler, CEO and Founder of InfoArmy, joins Brent Leary to share these latest developments in the world of technology, data and research.

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Small Business Trends: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and InfoArmy?

Jim Fowler: After we sold Jigsaw, I took some of my winnings and funded InfoArmy.  We just launched about a week ago. The concept for InfoArmy is recruiting an army of disciplined global researchers to build a data base of what we call competitive intelligence reports. In three words, the concept of the company is “crowdsourcing competitive intelligence.”

Small Business Trends: How does this compare to what you did with Jigsaw?

Jim Fowler: The concept is similar.  InfoArmy is just a much bigger and more ambitious project than Jigsaw. Jigsaw was about business card records.  InfoArmy is about taking a big form that we have our researchers fill out about a company. In particular, we are looking for specific things like what other companies like this particular company competes with.  We call this a competitive eco system.

We are looking for people at the company.  We are looking for estimates of revenue and a number of employees. Each one of these competitive intelligence reports is completed by the researchers and then we compare the data and track them over time.  So our ambition is to create a really, really invaluable set of data that can be used broadly across many industries.

Small Business Trends: How does the iPad figure into this?

Jim Fowler: We have built our product from the ground up for consumption on the iPad.  Meaning that these reports are designed to be read on the iPad. Our basic thought is information on an iPad is a living, breathing thing.  On paper, it is as dead as the tree that it is  printed on. You can learn in two minutes what it would take two days or more to learn on your own with the ability to move through data quickly on the iPad.

Small Business Trends: Do you foresee changing the way that the analyst community works because of the approach you are taking with InfoArmy?

Jim Fowler: You know, I do Brent. At the beginning there is no question we are creating a set of data we think no one really wants to collect. Our researchers update these competitive intelligence reports every quarter so we think it provides a baseline of information everyone can use.  It just does not exist right now.

Over time, we do believe that we will start offering higher end products that start encroaching into where the analyst lives today.  But for now, we just have to build a critical mass of these reports.

Small Business Trends: What are your expectations for InfoArmy, if we look out a year or two, or even five years from now?

Jim Fowler: Eventually, we want millions of these reports globally in multiple languages.  You have a global set of data and you can read a Twitter report in English, or German, or Swahili, because we will have tens of thousands of researchers that are building these reports.

The other big goal is to have a platform that researchers can literally earn a living on. We have a vision that there is a lot of need for business information.  It is a multi-billion dollar business.  We would like to see the old rules change, where you can use the crowds, and crowds can actually earn a living as researchers on this platform.

Small Business Trends: Would you have been able to do something like InfoArmy five years ago?

Jim Fowler: I think the technology existed to do this concept, but people would have been reading these reports on the web. Now the web is a step up from paper and tablets are a step up from the web from a consumption standpoint.

Our researchers are building these reports on the web as it is too difficult to actually input the data on an iPad.  So the input is done on the web. But I truly believe there is no way they can have the power of consumption and the power of readability that living, breathing data has on an iPad.

I'd encourage people to download the free InfoArmy on iPad app. We have a bunch of free reports available. Look for ones that have trend analysis.  Every quarter they're updated and you can literally just swipe through quarter over quarter and see the change. That is really when you see the power of the mobile device.

Small Business Trends: We are now at a point where we are actually able to provide the kind of things that we always wanted for consumers?

Jim Fowler: I think so.  But I think the crowdsourcing movement is the bigger change here. The tablet is the next step of the technology, but crowdsourcing is the next step of how people work, think and build information together. To me that is the part that is most exciting.

Small Business Trends: So technology is the enabler of the crowd being able to collaborate and the outputs of that collaboration is more exciting to you?

Jim Fowler: You nailed it.  Exactly Brent. You think about the massive transformation and information, and then look at Wikipedia. I mean the crowdsourcing model has taken this industry and completely changed it. It's like Encyclopedia Britannica is basically dead.  They have quit publishing books on paper.

I think if you look at business information, models like Jigsaw and InfoArmy have the ability to take big established brands like Dun & Bradstreet down completely.  I think we are going to see that happen.

Jigsaw had great success in taking an old industry like business contacts and making it into a crowdsourcing play that had a lot of value. Jigsaw was purchased by Salesforce.com for $175 million dollars.  It was a relatively small database of 21 million records.  You can put that on a flash drive now.

Small Business Trends: Where can people learn more about InfoArmy?

Jim Fowler: Visit InfoArmy.com and you can go in and see the reports or you can sign up and become a researcher.

This interview is part of our One on One series of conversations with some of the most thought-provoking entrepreneurs, authors and experts in business today. This interview has been edited for publication. To hear audio of the full interview, click the right arrow on the gray player below. You can also see more interviews in our interview series.

Whether you're growing your business or starting a new venture, BlackBerry solutions provide you with the freedom you want and the control you need. [Series sponsor]

 

Seven Rules to Becoming a Facebook Tastemaker

When the New York Times referred to Facebook as a “Tastemaker” in an article last September, the term perfectly captured this era where one person can influence so many others. The internet has taken the power to influence the masses away from the media and put it in the hands of you, the social media user. The announcement last September was part of Facebook's push toward a medium that processes what you're doing, watching, wearing, and listening to and shares it with your friends. Facebook will process this information and use it to make recommendations.

This move toward public consumerism brings a great opportunity for small businesses, who may find a new audience simply by a few social media users mentioning them. Internet entrepreneur Evan Bailyn believes this is a prime opportunity for these businesses. Want to get involved? Follow these seven tips to increase your chances of becoming a Facebook Tastemaker:

Be genuine. Nobody likes a sales pitch, so it's important to be sincere in your postings. Only post about those things you truly believe in. Your sincerity will come through and you'll have more success.

Make the right friends. It's not about how many people you know, but who you know. Make sure you choose friends that have a wide network. This will allow you to reach more people with your messages.

Project an image. “Facebook's Timeline feature with its large cover image is the perfect place to showcase photos and graphics that reflect the spirit of your business,” Bailyn says. He recommends using Facebook ads, your website, and other social media sites to create an image that expresses who you are and what you do.

Leverage social capital. Bailyn recommends initiating a campaign where you personally e-mail other tastemakers and offer to post something about their business if they'll post about yours. Be sure to choose tastemakers with large, active followings. While it may seem like a great deal of work, Bailyn notes that many businesses don't engage in e-mail campaigns, so doing so can give you the edge.

Don't over-commercialize. This is especially important in your e-mail campaign, as many tastemakers will be reluctant to exchange status updates if your page looks like an advertisement. Be sure your page has real, interesting content that sincerely expresses your interests.

Be entertaining. “No matter your profession, if you create a daily entertaining status update that relates to your industry that's good enough, people will begin looking forward to it, commenting, sharing and liking it abundantly each day,” Bailyn states. He points out that those status updates with high activity levels are prioritized higher in members' newsfeeds. By drawing users in with regularly updated, interesting content, you'll increase your visibility, thereby growing your audience.

Play it cool. Once your Facebook presence has begun to take off, continue to pace yourself. Too many status updates and you'll scare people off. Bailyn recommends posting no more than twice per day on Facebook to avoid being hidden in people's status updates for overposting.

Bailey's book, Outsmarting Google, gives his expert advice on search engine optimization. His follow-up, Outsmarting Social Media, is now available through Amazon.

Fresh criticism of RSA authentication creates rebuttal from vendor on reporting

RSA has defended itself over the Project Team Prosecco research once again after a blog described it as ‘walking around the research without directly addressing it'.

Responding to the Team Prosecco research paper, a blog by Root Labs' Nate Lawson claimed that RSA was ignoring the point that even a legitimate user should not be able to recover encrypted ‘wrapped' keys, as they can only cause the token to unwrap and use them on the operator's behalf, but not recover the keys themselves.

“So this attack definitely qualifies as privilege escalation, even if performed by the authorised user herself,” Lawson said.

He also claimed that as the attack requires local access and a PIN, and PKCS #11 is an API, that RSA ‘really has no firm knowledge how all their customers are using it'.

It said: “Some applications may proxy access to the token via a web front end or other network access. An application may cache the PIN. As with other arguments that privilege escalation attacks don't matter, it assumes a lot about the customer and attacker profile that RSA has no way of knowing.”

The blog also addressed RSA's issue that OAEP (PKCS #1 v2.0) is not subject to this vulnerability, and claimed that this doesn't address the issue raised in the paper where RSA's implementation sets flags in the key to allow the user to choose version 2.0 or 1.5.

It said: “Hopefully, they'll be fixing this despite not mentioning it here. After all, the research paper shows that many other major vendors had the same problem. My conclusion is that we have a long way to go in getting robust crypto implementations in this token market.”

In a response blog, Sam Curry, CTO for the identity and data protection business unit at RSA, said that it was not “walking around” the Project Team Prosecco research as asserted by Root Labs as it supports the research, and its problem was with the reporting on the research and its relationship to RSA.

He said: “Much of this reporting is misleading and inaccurate, leading to unwarranted fear among customers. Reports have been published that claim the cracking of RSA SecurID 800 devices, stealing of private keys and possible cloning of smart cards; all of which of course are not true. In addition, other reports link this attack against smartcards to the RSA SecurID One Time Passcode technology, which is strictly false.”

Looking directly at the Root Labs blog, Curry said that while the summary was fine, it was incomplete as one critical piece that was misunderstood was the statement that the researchers had 'unfettered access to the vendor solutions', including having the PINs needed to access the device.

He said: “Not mentioned by the authors in the paper (or subsequent reporting on the subject) is that RSA was in contact with the researchers more than a year ago. After the researchers explained some weaknesses in our implementation, we modified our PKCS #1 V1.5, and shipped an updated version of our middleware supporting the recommended changes, namely RAC 3.5.4.

“Since the research report does not indicate what version of the middleware was used in the testing, it is difficult to tell if the performance numbers reflect the current RSA middleware. Our suspicion is that the testing in the research paper was not using the new version of RAC, and that some of the speed difference is attributable to an efficient implementation of RSA encryption in the RSA SecurID 800 token which is generally a good thing, but in this case may allow the test to complete faster.”

Curry said that due to the research, it was in the process of designing a solution that will by default disable PKCS #1 V1.5, but allow customers who have this need for backward compatibility to re-enable V1.5 support.

He also said that RSA has responded to these researchers in the past with improvements to its security and welcomes the ‘honest dialogue' their efforts generate.

“We agree that the industry needs robust crypto implementations, and RSA works hard to lead the industry in this area as demonstrated by our early support for PKCS #1 V2 and OAEP.  We expect to continue in this role,” he said.

“Security of smart card devices like the RSA SecurID 800 is not compromised as long as people maintain best practices and control of their PIN. To close, and to illustrate the misinformation being published, the Root Labs blog title should have said ‘PKCS #1 V1.5 vulnerability' instead of ‘SecurID vulnerability'.”

TRUSTe release privacy certifications for websites

New privacy certification solutions have been released by TRUSTe to help UK businesses address consumer privacy concerns.

Its research found that 90 per cent of consumers were concerned about their privacy online, and 88 per cent would not conduct business with companies that they felt were failing to safeguard their online privacy. However a survey of 2,000 adults in the UK found that half were aware of the TRUSTe green privacy seal.

Once a business is certified with the privacy certification solutions, it can display the green TRUSTe Certified Privacy Seal on their site. The solutions include full-service consumer dispute resolution services, which enable businesses to address consumer privacy complaints, while TRUSTe's combination of privacy solutions enable a business to address regulatory compliance.

Chris Babel, CEO of TRUSTe said: “Good online privacy practices are not just about meeting regulatory compliance, but also building consumer trust. With the underlying reality that data is easier to collect, cheaper to store and faster to analyse than ever before, it is even more important that companies can easily demonstrate to consumers that they take privacy seriously.

“TRUSTe's Certified Privacy Seal does just that. We have helped thousands of companies manage their online privacy practices for 15 years, and it is a natural step to extend these services to the UK market.”

Brands such as Apple, eBay, LinkedIn and Microsoft have adopted TRUSTe certificates, with participation growing by over 60 per cent in 2011, with over 4,000 new businesses certified under the TRUSTed websites programme.

White Hat Rally raises more than £25,000

A total of 68 participants in 19 vehicles raised more than £25,000 for charity last weekend at the White Hat Rally.

The route went from Market Harborough to Lincoln, via a loop taking in Cadwell Park and Manby Motorplex on the Saturday and code breaking centre Bletchley Park, via Wansford, Kimbolton and Grafham Water, on the Sunday. Participants are asked to buy a car for less than £500 and customise it for the event.

White Hat handed a cheque for £185,000 to ChildLine at Infosecurity Europe in April, after February's White Hat Ball raised £115,000. the next event is White Hat Sailing, which will take place between the 17th and 19th August on the south coast around the Solent area.

SC Magazine's Dan Raywood will be running the Royal Parks half marathon in October as part of Team White Hat for ChildLine â€" you can sponsor him here

Time Are Tough

When I had a day job, few things bugged me more than painfully obvious corporate waste.

Instead of hiring a service to come in twice weekly to water the plants, maybe you could have someone at the company do that. Or maybe we didn't need to fly the whole company down for the weekend to show us a powerpoint. And I'm betting we could've done without that awful puppet show at the regional meeting. (I'm not making that up.)

I'm not saying that focusing on your strengths, or fostering unity, or, well, puppets, aren't important, but when times are tough, maybe scaling back a bit on some of the obvious extras might not be a bad idea.

Top 10 Email Marketing Musts

Today, we're going to talk about how your business can do email marketing in ways that will serve its interests â€" and the interests of its customers â€" in a much more valuable manner. There's a long list of “don'ts” in email marketing and a very, very short list of “do's.” With all that said, it's best to start with what you should do to ensure that your email marketing campaign succeeds and your customers benefit from it.

To many people, receiving unsolicited emails can be an annoyance. You've most likely been a victim of it in one form or another. Everyone can empathize with the guy whose inbox is full of junk. But one man's trash is another man's treasure. In other words, there are people interested in engaging with your company and finding the latest deals and added services. Let's take a look at what will help make your campaign successful without throwing your company's reputation in the bin!

Wikus Engelbrecht, a writer from GraphicMail, presents us with these tips:

• Get an ESP that fits you - Email service providers, or ESPs, come in all different shapes and sizes. Some of them work better for a small gadget company and others work well for a massive online store. Regardless of the size of your business, there are things all good ESP's have in common: an online/offline support system, training via tutorials, and a sturdy infrastructure.
• Use an opt-in system - One of the most annoying things you can possibly do is to email your newsletter to every email address that has ever touched your site. This is often practiced by amateur companies and isn't a good way to keep a loyal client base. Instead, create an opt-in system where clients that are actually interested in your services can subscribe to your newsletter.
• Send emails based on interests - While users are logged in to your site, things they browse through might show you what they're interested in. While, in some cases, this doesn't work with your business model, you might be able to pull it off. Let's say you own a store that sells electronics and PC stuff. One visitor might have browsed through speakers last week. You can send him and everyone else who browsed speakers an email with promotional prices on some of your stock. This raises the bar a bit and attracts them, since you're talking about something they were interested in a while back. You can cluster up email addresses according to interest to tailor your emails to each particular group with an interest.
• Watch your address list - If your company gets an email back that a particular address no longer exists, remove that address immediately. Sending consistent emails to “dead” addresses tells ISPs and ESPs that you're a spammer. You don't want that kind of reputation.
• Don't forget your mobile customers - Many people are now starting to view their email inboxes via their smartphones and tablets. Don't forget to make your emails compatible with mobile devices. It will help develop a better customer relationship with those customers that are always on the go.
• Write compelling subjects - You might need a writer to help you out with this. The subject should be the topic-maker and the first thing you write in the email. Make sure the subject tells the customer what to expect and give the subject a sense of urgency without making false promises. Here's a good example: 10% or more off on all items from July 20-25!
• Don't be afraid to experiment â€" Get your creative side going! Try a different series of subject lines in each marketing email you send and see how many customers actually click through. Your click-through rate, or CTR, should help you determine the percentage of customers who read the email and actually became interested in what you had to offer.
• Send your emails at the right hour - Depending on the tendencies of your customer base, you might have to schedule emails according to when they usually open their inboxes. A good ESP can tell you when a customer has opened an email and let you schedule your marketing emails according to an average time when your clients seem to be around their computers.
• Let them opt out â€" Make your “unsubscribe” link clear and visible. They should be able to remove themselves from your system if they wish. If you don't do this, they'll start reporting your emails as spam. The more reports you receive, the more damage you take when you'll want to pursue new customers.
• Update your customers consistently - The most successful campaigns send out emails at least quarterly. This is a kind of “hey, I'm still here” to your customers and lets them know you still exist.

As long as you keep to these guidelines, you'll have a marketing campaign that will ensure a tight relationship between your business and your customers. The more transparent you are about what you do, the more trust they'll have in you.

Supreme Court Rules on Healthcare: How Your Business Will Be Affected

Healthcare reform in the US is still a hotly debated topic, even after a long awaited ruling by the Supreme Court was handed down on Thursday. Here are details of the court's decision, and how businesses in particular could be affected.

Supreme Court Decision

What the ruling says. It's a decision that stunned some pundits and will undoubtedly send ripples throughout the business community. The Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that Congress acted within its rights to require most Americans to carry health insurance. The law also carries requirements for businesses regarding healthcare for employees. Boston Herald

What it means. What the decision means to you depends greatly upon the size of the business you operate. For example, if you own and operate a one person business, the impact will be much the same as it is for an individual. If you have more than 50 employees on the other hand, the impact on your business could be quite different, depending upon whether or not you currently provide healthcare coverage for workers. The Wall Street Journal

Reactions & Reflection

A mixed bag. The Supreme Court decision will likely mean higher costs for small businesses, especially some that may not currently offer healthcare coverage for employees. But the reaction among small business owners and groups has been a bit more varied, with some concerned the decision represents a terrible blow to entrepreneurship while others believe it will bring down costs. The Washington Post

A moment of clarity. Some small business owners are less than happy with the Supreme Court ruling on healthcare and requirements that they must now supply coverage or be hit with a fine. But economists argue the ruling does provide one benefit to business owners: the clarity to finally know how to plan for the future. Los Angeles Times

Healthcare Implications

Winners and losers. As the 80′s rock band Journey once sang, “Some will win, some will loose, some are born to sing the blues.” In the same way, some businesses will be winners and others will be losers with the Supreme Court ruling on healthcare. Businesses in the healthcare industry, for example, will in many cases be doing better. However, some businesses that don't currently provide healthcare are in for a big cost increase. ABC News

Benefits vs. costs. Another way to look at the Supreme Court ruling is to think of it in terms of benefits and costs for all businesses. For example, some argue the insurance requirement will have the overall impact of lowering costs as the pool of healthy people expands. On the other hand some businesses will pay more for mandated care. Entrepreneur

Cost controls. One major question that remains to be answered is what the Supreme Court ruling will do to healthcare costs. Of course by now, most business owners understand the existing legislation would force some companies to spend more. But will the requirement cause overall healthcare costs to rise or fall? Bloomberg Businessweek

Some Uncertainties

Doom and gloom. Will the US supreme court ruling on healthcare reform really destroy businesses? The National Federation of Independent Businesses predicts the legislation, if left in tact, would cause businesses closures and job loss. But not everyone has the same dark predictions. CBS Chicago

Questions unanswered. But while many experts insist the ruling resolved the issue of healthcare for businesses, some say the decision leaves questions unanswered. These critics believe many businesses may simply hold off on hiring until after the US presidential election, since one candidate vows to get rid of the law if elected.  CNBC

Healthcare Elsewhere

A new business model. Elsewhere, like in the UK, healthcare costs have lead to new business models, including outsourced care. Here one such insurance product is reviewed. Those selling the package claim to cut costs by as much as 50 percent over other programs by providing access to a network of international hospitals. IFAonline

Password database inventory required following LinkedIn breach

Many organizations have collected applications and systems that store passwords in various ways, making password protection a serious problem for both employee and customer passwords, said Johannes Ullrich, chief research officer at the SANS Institute.

The thing about passwords is the application never needs to know the password, so that allows for hashing and other encryption methods.

Johannes Ullrich, chief research officer, the SANS Institute

Social networks and other organizations should appropriately protect user passwords or face serious issues when an attacker breaks in to pilfer data, Ullrich said. Attackers have proven account credentials are highly coveted, he said, because they provide the easiest way to get in as an authenticated user on the system. The LinkedIn password breach, one in a string of account credential breaches in recent years, is another example of password security missteps.

In an interview with SearchSecurity.com, Ullrich talked about the importance of taking an inventory of the various password databases on the network, deploying appropriate protection and migrating away from legacy applications that store passwords and other personal information in clear text. Enterprises can deploy single sign-on, he said.

It's difficult to apply similar protections to email addresses, Ullrich said. Applications often need to see the email address in clear text and businesses need the email address available to message customers. Applying encryption to email would likely result in key management issues, he said.

Experts tell me the LinkedIn breach highlighted the need for database security. If you were a CISO at an enterprise, how would you approach the news of this breach?
Ullrich: I think the first thing to do is take an inventory of all of the password databases that you have in the network. The difficult part about this is usually you have more than one. You have them spread all around because there are likely different applications that you have acquired over the years. Trying to get a good inventory and figuring out how they are protected is a first step. Then of course there are applications that are not compliant and still deployed on many networks. They either store the data in clear text or are insufficiently hashed. Try to come up with a transition plan for that, which is questionable, so you would have to come up with some other mitigating controls there.

Why do organizations have password databases that they may not know about?
Ullrich: It is because of the way most networks grow over time. You find the organization may purchase applications that you are not aware of how they store passwords. An enterprise has dozens of applications and they all have their own password store. Ideally you would have some sort of single sign-on implemented. That would be the ultimate goal I would aim for as a CISO, but then again, implementing a single sign-on with all those legacy applications is usually a huge challenge. It's not something you do overnight.

Are email addresses stored alongside passwords? Should they be protected as strongly as passwords?
Ullrich: Email addresses and usernames, which are often the first part of an email address, tend to be stored next to each other. I don't think there is much you can do to protect the email address because you need that in clear text in order to send emails to the user. The thing about passwords is the application never needs to know the password, so that allows for hashing and other encryption methods. You don't really have that option for email addresses. You could encrypt email addresses, but then you would have to do something with the keys because the application would need to decrypt it. So you would have key management issues.

A lot of the data breaches we've seen over the last several years have had some sort of social engineering component. Other than training, is there anything you can do to protect end users against social engineering tactics?
Ullrich: You can still do access control. One of the problems of course is that social engineering can convince an insider to leak all the passwords. It doesn't need to be a malicious attack. An attacker can convince an insider to leak them without social engineering. I think to address social engineering you need internal controls as well as external. What you do against a malicious insider also works well against social engineering attacks.

There's been a push with “big data” for the addition of network traffic monitoring systems deployed in the enterprise. Are those systems only being deployed at large enterprises?
Ullrich: I think you would need too much manpower for small or mid-sized businesses to deploy and maintain these types of systems. You need a fairly specialized skill to actually be able to operate them. I think smaller businesses will be stuck with outsourced monitoring or monitoring by a part-time system administrator or something like that. I don't think those systems would help very much because they tend to collect data and don't get monitored correctly. I think smaller businesses should choose network controls that would have the biggest impact in the end.

People Spend Money In Every Economy: They Should Be Spending It With You

Strong economy, bad economy, we spend money in every economy. We have to eat, run our offices, manage our teams and that takes money. The question is, are we spending it with you or some other company that's more attentive?

It's clear to me that how you talk makes the difference and how you listen can make or break the sale.

How do you talk to your guests?

While browsing in a local computer store, I noticed the difference between two salesmen. One was attentive without overcrowding. He took my questions seriously and you could tell that he was excited about and deeply familiar with the product. This made him a pleasure to talk to.

When I shop local, I shop with him and I refer others to him. But when he's not there I encounter another man who likes to tell you what canNOT be done-and it's not often true.  He doesn't seem to know the product intimately.  On top of that, there's a quiet but clear pressure to buy right now or leave. However, large purchases don't happen that quickly for me and when it is time to buy, my team - family, clients, friends in business - tend to follow suite.

Here's the problem: that kind of atmosphere makes me look for a new place to shop. It causes me to reevaluate my own sales processes. Can people browse as long as they want and ask the questions they need without feeling like a nuisance? Am I a barrier to the purchase? Is your sales team a help or a hiccup?

At the end of a day, your guest (potential customer) wants the chance to see if your product has the answer to their problem. That tends to include browsing and questions. Are you and your sales team prepared for both?

Quick Tip: Use your website to create a great space for browsing. With a smart site that tells:

1. who you are
2. what you have
3. why it matters
4. how to get it

Your visitors can take their time as they move through your information and images.  A smart website is good for business.

Do you listen to your shoppers? 

I'm upgrading my accounting system (because it needs to be more fun and still accurate and effective). In the process I'm testing and contacting a lot of companies and interacting with multiple sales teams. I ran across an attentive agent at Shoeboxed.com who answered a series of questions through their instant messaging system.

She made me feel as if she came to work just to help me find my answers. Don't get me wrong, she wasn't my best friend or anything like that, she just took the questions seriously and provided the kind of answers that assured me that she knew her stuff. Which was a far cry from the sales team that tried to close me while I still had questions on the table.

In this friendship economy where we probably share too much about ourselves with strangers, the truth is most of these connections are temporary and a means to an end. What lasts is real answers to real problems delivered as graciously and simply as possible.

Quick Tip: Your shoppers want you to be attentive to them and not your list and agenda.  And in order to do that, you have to listen to those questions and provide real answers.

Shopping Photo via Shutterstock

Tech Thursday (6/28): Introducing VerticalResponse Social, Network-Attached Scanning Solutions from Plustek, Lenovo No-Contract Mobile Broadband for ThinkPad Users, American Express Open Enhances Plum Card

Introducing VerticalResponse Social, A One-Stop Social Media Marketing Solution For Small Businesses

 

Plustek Unveils New Network-Attached Scanning Solutions at Info360 Show

 

Lenovo Connects ThinkPad Users with No-Contract Mobile Broadband Service

 

American Express OPEN Enhances the Plum Card for Small Businesses

 

 

Introducing VerticalResponse Social, A One-Stop Social Media Marketing Solution For Small Businesses

Newly integrated platform takes the guesswork out of social media

 

SAN FRANCISCO â€"For small businesses, social media can be a daunting, time-guzzling task to add to their never-ending “to do” list. Coming to their rescue is VerticalResponse Social, the new self-service marketing solution from VerticalResponse that helps take the guesswork out of social media and extend the reach of their online marketing campaigns.

VerticalResponse Social is the latest addition to the VerticalResponse portfolio of award-winning email marketing, event marketing, online surveys and postcard marketing solutions. With VerticalResponse, businesses can create, manage and measure all of their marketing efforts â€" now including social media marketing â€" from the same account and user interface, saving them time and money.

“VerticalResponse Social makes it easier than ever for small businesses to share content across email and social media and also engage with their customers, because now they can do it all from one integrated dashboard,” said VerticalResponse CEO Janine Popick. “They can choose curated content from our automatic feeds or their own content, then create and schedule a campaign that's spread through both email and social media to amplify their message. They also can manage social conversations and deepen their engagement with their customers. Because it's all managed from the VerticalResponse dashboard, the time savings alone are enormous.”

A VerticalResponse user data analysis conducted in March 2012 confirmed businesses that use both email marketing and social media achieve 28 percent higher email open rates, signifying the growing importance of integrating these efforts.

VerticalResponse Social offers several benefits for the time-strapped small business or non-profit organization:

• Social media marketing in minutes. Users can create, schedule and publish content to their Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn profiles from one place in minutes, up to 30 days in advance. From a single post to a multi-week campaign, businesses can do it all with just a few clicks. For campaigns, VerticalResponse Social even provides recommendations on the ideal number of links, questions, quotes or status updates to publish over the campaign duration.
  
• Ability to extend content and marketing campaigns across channels. With VerticalResponse Social, users can easily share their content across channels from one platform. For example, a restaurant owner who is planning a limited-time-only menu can schedule and launch both an email campaign and a series of social media posts and tweets promoting the menu all from one integrated dashboard, with full reporting.
  
• Content fed directly to the VerticalResponse Social dashboard. Users get relevant, up-to-the-minute content based on industry and special interests, from quotes to blog posts to news, so that they don't have to waste time looking for content. Simply select and share. A custom content calendar makes it easy to manage and track communications.
  
• Easy engagement with fans and followers. Users can view, respond to and track comments and replies â€" whether they're from Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn â€" all within the VerticalResponse dashboard.
  

VerticalResponse Social â€" Pricing

Businesses can try out the new VerticalResponse Social platform free for 30 days. After that, it costs $18 per month. Special pricing discounts are available for existing VerticalResponse customers and non-profit organizations.

 

Plustek Unveils New Network-Attached Scanning Solutions at Info360 Show

 

NEW YORK CITYâ€" Plustek Technology Inc., a manufacturer of consumer, prosumer and professional imaging devices, will introduce several products at the Info360 show, including three new network-attached scanning devices: SmartOffice PN2040, SmartOffice SN8016U, SmartOffice EZScan 400, and the MobileOffice AD460 desktop scanner.

Plustek will highlight its new SmartOffice PN2040 with new user interface software. Designed with the image quality, speed, reliability and flexibility demanded by business users, the Plustek SmartOffice PN2040 network attached document scanner can be easily shared with any number of PCs on office or home networks, and can also be connected to a computer via USB. The 20-page-per-minute SmartOffice PN2040 features both a 50-page Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) and a flatbed to enable scanning of a wide range of materials from multi page documents, to small or fragile items such as receipts, historical documents or photos.

Plustek's SmartOffice SN8016U is an 80-page-per-minute departmental class A3 size ADF scanner with network and USB connections. The dual interfaces coupled with industry standard TWAIN and ISIS drivers and DocAction single touch scanning enable this scanner to be used for almost any document imaging application or scanning environment that requires high speed scanning of documents up to A3 in size.

Plustek's SmartOffice EZScan 400 has an integrated touch screen and PC, designed to plug into networks and scan directly to a destination. It is a 40-page-per-minute, duplex, standalone network attached document scanner. The EZScan 400 does not need any PCs or server to function on a network. The integrated touch screen display enables users to simply touch and scan to: email, network attached storage, shared folder, flash drive or USB hard drive, printer, cloud storage and more.

Plustek's MobileOffice AD460 is a 20-page-per-minute desktop document scanner with a small footprint. The MobileOffice AD460 is a color, duplex, document and card scanner with an automatic document feeder. Document management, imaging and optical character recognition software bundled makes scanning, retrieving and managing documents a simple task.

Plustek will also exhibit its full line of MobileOffice USB powered document and card scanners, its full line of SmartOffice document scanners and feature a EZBook Scan Station book scanning kiosk. For product details, please visit www.plustek.com/usa.

All Plustek SmartOffice and MobileOffice scanners include a suite of document management applications, TWAIN drivers, single touch button scanning, and scan to PDF.  In addition, APIs are available to authorized system integrators.

Lenovo Connects ThinkPad Users with No-Contract Mobile Broadband Service

 Cloud-Based Solution Simplifies Access and Reduces Cost for Individuals and Corporate Customers

 

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC- Lenovo today introduced Lenovo Mobile Access, a flexible, no-contract mobile broadband service that gives consumers and business users greater choice and flexibility when connecting to valued online services. Lenovo Mobile Access provides pre-connected, always-on, customizable connectivity to the Internet and corporate networks, making it an ideal solution for users who need access to online content, applications and services away from their home, office or public Wi-Fi hotspots. Powered by a scalable cloud-based platform from Macheen Inc., the service is now embedded across select models of the ThinkPad product line and available immediately in the United States and nine European countries. 

“We live in world where it's not only undesirable to be without online access, it's often disruptive to businesses. For that reason we wanted to create a flexible mobile broadband solution that would be unparalleled in its ability to help business users stay connected and working,” said Dilip Bhatia, vice president and general manager, ThinkPad Business Unit, Lenovo. “Fundamentally, Lenovo Mobile Access gives individual and corporate customers options to determine how, when and where they want to connect with online applications and services, all at a price that fits their budget.” 

Designed to fit the needs of both individual and “prosumer” customers, Lenovo Mobile Access delivers broadband connectivity that's available anytime, anywhere yet users pay only for the access they need. Flexible, no-contract payment options let casual users buy a “Time Pass” for as little as USD 1.95 for 30 minutes or USD 8.95 for one day1-perfect to quickly sync email or ensure online access during travel. Users with more frequent connectivity requirements, or who work with large media files can purchase monthly plans with 2GB or 6GB of data access, along with the option for automatic monthly renewal. Businesses can leverage the same pay-as-you-go options, helping them reduce the cost of mobile broadband connectivity with right-sized access that can be extended to large numbers of individual employees.

Business customers can also take advantage of intelligent features designed to streamline device management, increase security and productivity for mobile employees, and reduce operational expenses. All ThinkPad laptops with embedded mobile broadband connectivity ship with Lenovo Mobile Access pre-activated as the default configuration. A single SIM is used for global access, enabling mass roll-out capabilities over a secure connection. Web-based policy management tools let IT administrators customize permissions and access options by services or application, for the whole company, specific workgroups, or individual users. Simple payment options allow centralized, single-payer end-of-month billing for corporate arrangements.

 

American Express OPEN Enhances the Plum Card for Small Businesses

Refreshed Benefits Platform Helps Entrepreneurs Harness Power of Trade Terms in the Simplicity of a Card

 

NEW YORKâ€"(BUSINESS WIRE)â€"American Express OPEN today announced enhancements to the Plum Card to help small business owners better manage cash flow and free up working capital by taking advantage of the card's built-in trade terms.

“The current enhancement to the product is addressing the need for greater payment flexibility while still providing unique trade terms on a payment solution.”

Trade terms are an agreement between a company and its supplier for the timing and amount of payments. Typically terms include extra days to pay â€" 30 days on average - and less frequently, early pay discounts. Small businesses may not have sufficient leverage to negotiate trade terms on all major purchases.

The Plum Card is the combination of these two coveted benefits â€" and Cardmembers now have access to both:

• Early Pay Discount â€" When Cardmembers pay at least 10% of their balance within 10 days of the statement closing date, they will earn a 1.5% discount on the portion they elect to pay. Previously, Cardmembers were required to pay the balance in full to enjoy this benefit.
  
• Extra Days to Pay â€" When Cardmembers pay at least 10% of the balance, they can take up to 60 days from the statement closing date to pay the remaining balance without penalties or interest charges.
  

Both options are designed to help Cardmembers better manage cash flow. The payment flexibility allows Cardmembers to adjust to changing business needs and also have the option to choose the most convenient time for the billing cycle to close - either at the beginning, middle or end of the month.

According to the Spring 2012 American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor, a semi-annual survey, cash flow is a paramount issue for entrepreneur. In fact, half (50%) of small business owners are concerned with having cash available to pay bills.

Plum Cardmembers can take advantage of other perks, such as a no pre-set spending limit to allow them to evolve with their business expenses and access to the OPEN Savings® program, which offers discounts to a number of products and services from American Express partners. Partners include FedEx, Hertz and Office Max, among others.

“Our focus is to keep empowering small businesses with the right tools to allow them do more business and that includes helping them understand and manage cash flow. Plum Cardmembers have earned and reinvested hundreds of millions of dollars in their businesses,” said Federico Acuna, vice president of Charge Cards, American Express OPEN. “The current enhancement to the product is addressing the need for greater payment flexibility while still providing unique trade terms on a payment solution.”

 

 

 

 

6 Signs It\'s Time To Change Habits

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” - Aristotle

Habits can be our greatest asset and can become our worst curse. We know in order to grow and maintain our personal and professional lives, we need to develop and establish effective, solid and sensible habits. We also need to keep them fun, fresh and motivating.

From Psychology Today, the topic of habit formation is hot in the news these days, especially with the success of Charles Duhigg's best-selling new book The Power of Habit (which looks fascinating). Even New York Times columnist David Brooks is singing the praises of habit formation as the answer to everything from weight loss to addiction.

The premise is this: Why struggle to do something when you can simply make it automatic?

So, when we  look back on different cycle in our lives, we can see that the signs to change were there all along, but we choose to ignore them. Why do we wait until it's too late and then are forced to make a move? We don't have to.

Change is the most natural thing that we actually do. There is an organic change process we all live through in our  life cycles, career cycles, personal cycles. Birth, death, divorce, moving, accidents, health, nature and choice all impact our need to change.

It's not always about dramatic change, in fact more often it's about small things that can make a big difference.  Here are 6 signs it's time to change habits:

1.) Complacency
There's a feeling of contentment, or self-satisfaction, we get from accomplishment or finishing something that can lead to a letting up or backing off of  the urgency, or actions that are key to maintaining.  Continue to keep habits steady and consistent.

2.) Boredom
Continuing habits in exactly the same way can lead to boredom. Chang up your routine, take a different approach,  try new things that lead to staying fresh, recharged and enthusiastic. Try a different time of day, new route to someplace, a new look or hairstyle.

3.) Lack of energy
Do you notice your energy level is lower? Is your endurance while doing your job, tasks, work not as high? This could certainly be a medical issue, which you want to have checked out, but when we are not happy or fulfilled it saps our energy. Make sure you are eating properly, get your exercise, sleeping and drink lots of water.  Here's a great article on Sleep Cycles and Rebooting Your Brain.

4.) Procrastination
The dreaded, ‘I have to do it' attitude will sabotage you every time. Putting things off that are not our favorite things to do, that we have to do is human, but this can put us seriously behind and impact success. Take this free 20 question test on procrastination, know where you stand, then learn how to eliminate your procrastination hot spots.

5.) Distraction
There are more things today that are challenging our attention then ever before. Tweets, texts, posts, emails, videos, advertisements, mobile phones all challenge our focus. We are being easily distracted by bright and shiny objects, and studies are proving the undisciplined and addiction with social media. Check out this comprehensive, Study on Distraction, by Larry Rosen PHD, which reveals ”students were only able to focus and stay on task for an average of three minutes at a time and nearly all of their distractions came from technology.”

6.) Negativity
90% of high performers possess  high EQ! Are you a glass half empty or half full person? Do you see the optimism and hope in things or is it always gloom and doom? “We become what we think about all day long.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson). Here are 5 Keys To Enhancing Your Emotional Intelligence.

I'm a fan of  Leo Babauta's Zenhabits.net. He makes it easier to embrace changing habits, consciousness and taking action. Check out The Essential Zen Habits of 2011.

Are you seeing the signs that it's time to change up your habits?  Be proactive and make a list of 5 habits that are working against you right now that you can and will change up and change them. One at a time!

Our personal brand and professional advancement depends on creating great working habits, embracing change and developing high EQ!

Time for Change Photo via Shutterstock

Staples Advantage Launches Managed Print Services And Proves They Are So Much More Than Just A Office Supply Retailer

We all know Staples as one of the leading office supply retail stores.  Perhaps what we don't all know is that over the last few years they have added many additional services that help small businesses manage day to day functions, such as IT installation, repair and back up services.  Recently, Staples also launched Managed Print Services as a comprehensive solution that will help businesses control their print network, achieve up to 15 and 30 percent cost savings and improve IT staff productivity.

“We've found that the majority of businesses don't know how much they spend on office printing each year,” said Ed Ludwigson, Vice President and General Manager for Staples Technology Solutions. “Our MPS experts work with customers to understand their printing costs and needs in order to create more efficient, customized and sustainable printing networks. Staples experts can implement an MPS solution that effectively manages print devices, enabling IT teams to focus on more strategic IT initiatives.”

According to Water Group, LLC, the average total cost of ownership related to printing, copying, faxing and scanning per employee is roughly $740/year  which means a company with 1,000 employees spends about $740,000 on these in-house capabilities annually.  By implementing a program like MPS, this same company has the potential to save approximately $222,000.  How is that possible?   Through a comprehensive assessment process, organizations can get a realistic view of current printer assets, printing habits, energy use and cost throughout the entire organization and compare it directly to the MPS recommendations unique to their operations.  That insight will reveal the complete value proposition, including the positive impact on staff, improvements to the workflow, and even meeting sustainability goals.

MPS uses special software programs to collect data on what types of documents employees print, where they print, and how much they print.  Software can capture actual volume output for each printer, the employee-to-printer ratio, and actual end-user printing habits, such as single vs. double-sided printing, color vs. black and white printing, or printing in draft or economy mode to save on ink and toner.  Based on the outcome of the data, MPS devises a program to improve efficiency and cut costs on thing like:

• Hardware (printers)
• Supplies (ink and toner)
• Maintenance
• Service and support
• Energy use
• Purchasing costs (stocking and logistics)
• IT operations
• Paper

In addition to the cost savings, customers also experience the following benefits:

• A brand-neutral solution that works with a company's existing fleet
• Assistance reaching sustainability goals through office printing guidelines
• Reduced time spent on print fleet maintenance and support
• Automated supply replenishment
• A single, predictable monthly bill
• Ongoing account management of a company's print strategy

Printing costs and the cost of IT and supplies for printing machines is certainly an area that most small businesses fail to accurately track actual costs.  Now, thanks to Staples and the Managed Print Service program, they will do that for you and you can sit back and just count the savings!

Daily Deals That Won\'t Break The Bank: Check Out Signpost

Groupon and LivingSocial have motivated many small businesses into offering daily deals, but the 50 percent commission is often a daily deal breaker. Signpost is a new venture-backed daily deal service that that lets small and medium sized businesses set up their own daily deal campaigns and online marketing offers on a DIY (do it yourself) basis. It operates on a lower commission structure with a flat monthly fee, to boot.

How it works:

1.  Signpost gathers info about your business and creates a campaign. You share details about how your business operates and works, of course.

2.  They match your campaign with the right online channels. This is one of the cool things about Signpost - they have loads of content partners that show your “campaign ad” on their blog or website. From their website:

We use our network of 1200+ national and local partners like Google, AOL, and Yellow Pages to access over 35 million local customers. Our extensive reach allows us to match your campaign to customers that count.

3.  Customers buy a voucher online to redeem at your store by clicking on that daily deal ad and pre-paying for the offer. You pay a commission to the content partner that is displaying your ad (via the Signpost system, of course) and they promise it is never more than 15 percent.

Within your account, like any web service, you have a real-time dashboard that shows your offers, redemptions, and other campaigns you are running. For example, you can set up a Facebook campaign or run an email newsletter through the service.

What I liked about the service

• Signpost creates the campaign for you. As I pointed out above, they then distribute that offer for you. They have over 60 cities in the system so far, but I presume that if you're not in one of those you can still create an offer of some type.
• I like that 15 percent commission versus the 50 percent that other daily deal companies require.

What I would like to see improve

As most of my readers know, I don't like it when you can't get access to a site without leaving all your contact details. Signpost requires your email and phone and after you click “sign up” it says they will contact you shortly. So, I tried to sign up and now I'm waiting for a sales rep to call me. Not a big deal, but that wasn't my expectation. As noted above, they are transparent with their pricing and how it works. Ideally, they would allow you to start filling in some details or checking out the dashboards or more than “hey, we'll call you.”

Pricing is a flat $99 per month and a 15 percent (maximum) commission to sites that generate the click-through. If you've wanted to provide a daily or weekly coupon to your local customers and prospects, Signpost might be worth a closer look.

Learn more about Signpost.

Vendio Provides Central Management For All Your eCommerce Activities

For many small businesses, having a solid online presence is often the most daunting task of getting online because aside from needing a decent site, there is also the burden of merchant processing, security, inventory control, and of course processing all the information. Although over the years DIY eCommerce has declined in price and increased in quality and reliability, for many businesses turn-key solutions occasionally are a viable solution depending on what the business owner is looking for.

Although there are many platforms on the market, one platform which adds an interesting dimension to eCommerce software is Vendio, because it lets customers not just sell products through their own online store, but also Amazon, eBay, and even Facebook â€" all through a central control panel. By packaging analytics, hosting, search engine optimization (SEO), and various marketing tools into one bundle, vendors only need to focus on adding their inventory to get up and running. Another key feature of Vendio is their image hosting which is included with all their packages. For vendors who often sell items on eBay and Amazon, this feature is vital because it allows them to add additional images to their listings without having to pay for additional hosting on eBay's or Amazon's servers.

When it comes to designing a Vendio based store, users have the option of selecting a template from a wide selection of themes or having a developer create a design. Overall the template customization process is a fairly straightforward interface which allows users to customize their site through a point and click system rather than having to worry about code. While the process is a bit limited (since users are no given full customization  abilities), for a business just looking to get started on the web the template route is a solid choice.

For customers who desire more than just a standard template, Vendio also allows users to tweak the code to fit their needs. Although having access to the code is helpful, Vendio like many turnkey platforms suffers from the fact that they are built on fairly proprietary (custom) systems. This aspect means that when it comes to finding a web developer to assist you, the talent pool will be significantly smaller and development costs will likely be higher due to the complexity.

In terms of pricing, Vendio is relatively reasonable with their packages which provide hosting, unlimited bandwidth, and reasonable amounts of storage. The base plan starts at $99.95/month and allows for up to  200 items and provides 2GB of storage. For companies with more inventory or greater storage needs, the middle and top plans support up to 2,500 and 5,000 items for $149.95/month and $249.95/month respectively. The plans also include support for additional Amazon and eBay handles plus extra storage.

Overall for a business starting out or looking to enhance their online presence Vendio provides a solid foundation for businesses with simple eCommerce needs â€" especially vendors who often list items on Amazon and eBay â€" the price is very reasonable considering Vendio centralizes all marketplace activity in a simple to use interface. On the other hand, for more established businesses who prefer full control over the design and architecture or who specialized inventory control, a standard eCommerce platform is likely a better option.

Ronaldo is the most dangerous footballer in cyber space

As Euro 2012 reaches its climax, Portuguese captain Cristiano Ronaldo has been revealed to be the most dangerous player in cyber space.

According to research by McAfee, cyber criminals are exploiting the names of popular sports stars and celebrities to attract people to sites that actually conceal malicious software.

Analysis of the most popular players and teams, by McAfee SiteAdvisor, to find out who are the most hazardous on the web identified Cristiano Ronaldo as the most ‘dangerous', with France and Portugal tied at the most dangerous national team.

It said that fans on the internet looking for 'Cristiano Ronaldo', 'Cristiano Ronaldo and download', 'Cristiano Ronaldo and photos' or 'Cristiano Ronaldo and videos' may run into online threats that could steal their personal information. Clicking on these dangerous sites to download files such as photos, videos or screensavers may expose surfers to viruses and malware.

Ronaldo gained the highest percentage of overall risk of 6.2 per cent, according to SiteAdvisor. He was followed by Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic with five per cent and England captain Steven Gerrard with 4.5 per cent.

Italian players dominated the rankings, with Buffon (3.8 per cent), Giorgio Chiellini (3.7 per cent), Balotelli (3.4 per cent), Pirlo (3.3 per cent), Di Natale (3.3 per cent), Cassano (3.1 per cent) and De Rossi (1.8 per cent) making up the top ten.

The study also revealed that national flags to adorn your windows are the safest items to search for online, but searching for shirts can also be hazardous.