Not Just Tango in Argentina, Business

Argentina has been an economic mess lately. However, if you look closely, some silver linings are intertwined in the dark tango salons of Buenos Aires.

Many entrepreneurs from Argentina have pitched at our 1M/1M roundtables. I have covered a few on my blog too. Success stories of these entrepreneurs inspire others who are about to start their own entrepreneurial journey. At the same time, it shows how startups are contributing to the country's economy, despite the troubles. Here are some of the impactful startups from Argentina who have been doing extremely well.

MercadoLibre

Marcos Galperin and Hernan Kazah founded MercadoLibre when they were students at Stanford business school. Marcos raised funding even before starting the business in the late nineties, when such things were possible.

From the beginning Marcos wanted to build the eBay of Latin America. Through Stanford, they contacted eBay to learn about their plans to expand in Latin America. Internet penetration was low in the early 2000′s, and very few people were buying things online when they started. Moreover, there were almost forty companies doing the same thing. Almost all of them raised funding.  However, unlike others, Marcos focused on building the product rather than spending money on PR and marketing.

Business started picking up in the 2002-2003 time frame, and both Internet penetration and e-commerce adoption accelerated in Latin America.

They company had $4 million in revenue in 2003, and it went up to $52 million in 2006. And MercadoLibre's (MELI â€" Nasdaq-GS) stock closed at $86.28 on October 10, 2012; it touched a 52-week high of $104.50 in February 2012. The website has 73.2 million registered users.

MercadoLibre, of course, is Latin America's jewel. But there are others doing well, too.

Globant

Martín Migoya, Martín Umaran, Guibert Englebienne, and Néstor Nocetti, founded Globant in 2003, just two years after the dot com crash. All the four founders left their jobs at multinational companies to start their own outsourcing company. Headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Globant is an outsourced software development company that caters primarily to US clients in gaming, e-commerce, social networks, and more. Globant has offices in the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and the United Kingdom.

Globant founders realized that Latin America was the perfect match for the United States in terms of outsourcing. Cultural similarity, wide talent pool, and aligned time zones makes it an attractive option for US companies looking for near-shoring partners.

The founders invested $5,000 to start Globant. Within two years, they closed a first financing round of $2 million with FS Partners. In 2007, they received $8 million from Riverwood Capital. In December 2008 they received an additional $13 million from Riverwood Capital and FTV Capital. Globant has been profitable since its inception, and generated $50 million revenue in 2009. In an interview in 2011, founder and CEO Martin Migoya said that revenues were likely to be close to $90 million in 2011.

Sonico

Rodrigo Teijeiro is the founder and CEO of Sonico, a social network for Latin America. He began his entrepreneurial journey when he was just in school, earning money by buying and selling stuff there. He then used the funds to open his first E-Trade account in 1997. From there, he started day trading, and in one year and a half, his valuation went from $5,000 to $100,000. That was Rodrigo's first venture, with others to come.

At the age of 20 he raised $300,000 from three investors by presenting financial and science oriented websites he had been tinkering with. He then founded several other Websites, one after another, including MP3.com, an online calling card sales website, an e-cards website, and finally, Sonico, now the premier social networking site in Latin America, in 2007. In six months, Sonico had 10 million registrations.

Rodrigo tried to raise funds from investors, but due to the country's unstable economy, most VCs refused to fund him. In January 2010 Rodrigo was losing $270,000 a month, however he turned the situation around and made a profit of $600,000 in the last quarter of 2010 by introducing two portals for online mobile recharge and group buying. Both sites were supported by data from Sonico.

In an interview last year, Rodrigo said to me that Sonico's revenue was going to be close to $20 million in 2011.

NetMen

Ignacio Galarraga, with his graphic design company, The NetMen Corp, is earning $1 million in annual revenue by procuring and delivering projects from Elance, a services exchange. Ignacio started the company in 2001 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. NetMen is a 100% Elance company; they have done more than 15,000 projects, and have earned more than $3 million in total. For the first two months after starting the business, Ignacio worked alone; now they are a team of 55 members.

According to Ignacio, it's the commitment toward customers that has helped them to achieve this success. NetMen is handling almost 500 projects every month now. But the commitment is the same as it was when they used to handle just one project at a time. Now they have an excellent track record on Elance, and although they are one of the most expensive providers, they still receive invitations to bid.

And judging by their revenue levels, obviously, they often win these bids.

I am sure there are other such entrepreneurs in Argentina. The entrepreneurial spirit is growing throughout the region, and this decade should see many more success stories emerge from Latin America onto the international stage.

 

Sramana Mitra is the founder of the One Million by One Million (1M/1M) initiative, a global virtual incubator that aims to help one million entrepreneurs globally to reach $1 million in revenue and beyond. She is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and strategist who writes the blog Sramana Mitra On Strategy.

Tango Photo via Shutterstock

Tech Thursday (10/18): QuickBooks POS Goes Mobile with GoPayment * Lenovo New ThinkCentre M78 * Visa\'s 2012 Small Business Cash Management Survey * HP\'s Two New LaserJet Printer Series

New QuickBooks Point of Sale Goes Mobile With GoPayment

 

Lenovo ThinkCentre M78 Delivers Big for Business with Advanced Processing Power

 

Visa's '2012 Small Business Cash Management Survey'

 

HP Introduces Two New LaserJet Printer Series

 

 

New QuickBooks Point of Sale Goes Mobile With GoPayment

Liberates Small Retailers to Take Mobile Payments With Robust Tools to Run Brick and Mortar Stores

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. â€"â€" With QuickBooks Point of Sale 2013, small business retailers can now use the latest mobile technology to maximize sales both in and out of the store without sacrificing the powerful tools they need to run their business.

The newest point-of-sale product from Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU) integrates with GoPayment, the company's mobile payment processing application. Together, the products form one of the only robust mobile point-of-sale solutions specifically designed for the nation's 2.8 million small retailers. Using QuickBooks Point of Sale 2013, retailers can:

• Maximize sales by accepting credit cards in the aisle or on the go at street fairs and trade shows using GoPayment on the most popular smartphones and tablets.
• Make better business decisions with detailed reporting and powerful tools to track inventory, sales, customers and employees.
• Grow their business, giving brick-and-mortar retailers a new way to better serve customers while offering micro businesses room to expand from a mobile-only retailer to a store front owner.

Never Miss a Sale â€" In and Out of the Store

QuickBooks Point of Sale 2013 helps retailers never miss a sale by integrating with GoPayment. The free GoPayment app comes with a card reader that plugs into the audio jack of an iPhone, iPad and iPod
Touch as well as the most popular Android devices. Users can quickly swipe a card to process payment, send an email or text receipt with a map of where the transaction took place and automatically charge the correct sales tax using geolocation.

The sales and inventory data from GoPayment integrate seamlessly with QuickBooks Point of Sale, storing all current sales and inventory data in one spot. Users can also automatically populate inventory
items within QuickBooks Point of Sale into the GoPayment app, eliminating the need to do it manually.

Manage and Track Your Business

QuickBooks Point of Sale offers retailers the powerful tracking and management tools they need to effectively run their business and make smart business decisions. Retailers can:

• Track inventory and set automatic re-order points
• Manage customer's contact information and send personalized emails and gift cards
• Access business reports to get unique insight into how the business is doing
• Track employees' hours and pay commissions
• Manage and monitor business results for up to 20 stores from one location
•  Ring up sales faster with a complete set of optional, integrated retail hardware, including a receipt printer, bar code scanner, credit card reader and cash drawer

Pricing and Availability

QuickBooks Point of Sale 2013 software starts at $1,099.95 with the option to buy a complete set of integrated retail hardware. The free GoPayment app and card reader work on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch as well as the most popular Android devices. Discount rates start as low as 1.64 percent.

 

Lenovo ThinkCentre M78 Delivers Big for Business with Advanced Processing Power

 

Affordable Desktop packages Performance, Security and Energy Savings

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC â€" Lenovo has announced the latest addition to its flagship M Series desktop PC line â€" the ThinkCentre M78 â€" designed for medium to large businesses. Featuring the latest AMD A-Series Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), the ThinkCentre M78 gives business professionals a reliable PC with powerful performance, a high level of security and energy efficiency.

“Professionals in medium to large businesses need dependable, productive and secure desktops to meet the day-to-day rigors of workplace demands,” said Su Lijun, executive director, global desktop marketing, Lenovo. “We built the ThinkCentre M78 to last, equipping it with great performance, security and energy-saving features in one device.”

Advanced Processing Technology

Equipped with the latest AMD A-Series APUs and up to 32GB DDR3 memory, the ThinkCentre M78 improves productivity in the workplace with accelerated performance for quicker web browsing, smooth video playback/ video conferencing and multitasking of software programs and applications.

Available in a traditional tower or small form factor, the ThinkCentre M78 features Lenovo's RapidBoot HDD Accelerator, for speedy boot up times. Other productivity enhancements on the M78 include support for up to three independent monitors so users can run multiple programs simultaneously. The desktop can easily transfer data with four native USB 3.0 SuperSpeed ports, which delivers 10x the data transfer rate of Hi-Speed USB1.

The ThinkCentre M78 also provides users world-class security and dependability. It includes USB port disablement to defend against data theft and TPM 1.2 with enhanced data protection to help keep proprietary work files safe. With its Intelligent Cooling Engine, the ThinkCentre M78 operates quietly and stays cool to offer extreme reliability, ultimately helping to extend the PC's life.

Pricing and Availability

The ThinkCentre M78 will be available starting this month through Lenovo business partners and www.lenovo.com. Pricing starts at approximately $449.

 

Visa's '2012 Small Business Cash Management Survey'

Survey of 600+ Small Business Owners reveals process of managing everyday finances and planning for the future keep business owners awake at night.

 

A survey recently released by Visa, the ‘2012 Small Business Cash Management Survey‘ takes a look into what small business owners think about their finances, cash
management, and outlook on sales.

In the survey, Visa found the following:

• Nearly seven out of ten small business owners who accept and/or use payment cards say cards have improved their cash management process*, an increase of 23 percent since the survey was last conducted in 2010
• Business credit/debit card use shows significant forward momentum, with *33 percent of respondents reporting they expect to increase their use of payment cards in the next 12-18 months

For more information on the 2012 Small Business Cash Management Survey, visit http://corporate.visa.com/newsroom/media-kits/small-business.shtml. To learn more about Visa's suite of small business products and services, please visit www.visa.com/smallbusiness.

 

 

HP Introduces Two New LaserJet Printer Series

 

HP Improves Color Quality, Efficiency with LaserJet Printers for Small to Midsized Businesses

PALO ALTO, Calif., â€" HP today announced two new LaserJet printers designed for small to midsize businesses (SMBs) that allow them to easily create professional-quality color documents. Built-in document management features streamline business processes, saving SMBs time and
money.

The HP LaserJet Pro 200 color M251 Series

An asset to any SMB looking for a desktop printer to produce documents in brilliant color for client or internal use, all at fast print speeds. Easy-to-use features such as the touchscreen and walk-up USB port provide immediate access to print jobs, allowing users to manage documents directly on the device. The printer also simplifies wireless connection set-up with HP Auto Wirelessconnect.

M251 Series

The HP LaserJet Pro 200 color MFP M276 Series

Streamline paper-based tasks with built-in print, scan, copy and fax functionality, accessible directly from the device's color touchscreen or the walk-up USB port. By scanning and saving documents to their network or email, users are given quick access to materials that are securely stored in the cloud.

Both devices increase overall office productivity and efficiency with features including HP Business Apps, which allow users direct access to web-content using the touchscreen display; HP ePrint,(2) for on-the-go printing from virtually anywhere; and Wireless Direct,(3) for direct printing from Wi-Fi enabled mobile devices. HP customer-focused innovations such as HP Smart Install(4) provides easy set-up without the need for a CD, and Auto-On/Auto-Off,(5) keeps energy costs low.

Availability of the HP LaserJet Pro 200 color M251 series and the HP LaserJet Pro 200 color MFP M276 series varies by country. Additional information about new HP imaging and printing devices is available at
www.hp.com.

Google no longer playing with Android malware

The Android malware war is heating up. On Wednesday, the mobile security firm TrustGo confirmed a new Trojan app, named Trojan!FakeLookout.A, hidden in what appeared to be an update to the mobile security app Lookout Mobile Security for Android.

The two primary problems with Google owning the detection of malware are incentives and definition of risk.

Tyler Shields, senior security researcher, Veracode Inc.

While there have been less than 100 users infected with Trojan!FakeLookout.A, it shows the danger lurking in the Google Play store. While still a minuscule percentage of malware threats, the growth is accelerating according to McAfee which recently reported that mobile malware samples, primarily aimed at Android devices, grew from 2,000 in 2011 to more than 13,000 in 2012.

For its part, Google says it's taking important steps to keep its systems secured, including scanning its store for malware and malicious app behaviors, sandboxing apps and software on Android devices, and removing malware (even remotely) if necessary. This past week, according to the website Android Police, which conducted an APK analysis of the newly minted 3.9.16 version of the Google Play Store, Google is developing what appears to be an antimalware scanner for the store that will be placed on users' devices.

Android Police's teardown revealed string commands in the code that indicated malware scan commands as well as malware warning messages such as “To protect you, Google has blocked the installation of this app.” This move comes weeks after Google acquired the free file scanning service VirusTotal.

Google did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Security experts are divided as to what Google may have planned with the new functionality, or if scanning capabilities are related to the VirusTotal acquisition, or if the additional security will successfully help to suppress the rising malware tide. “As of today we have no concrete details on how this malware detector is supposed to work, therefore it's still hard to say how effective it will be,” said Vincenzo Iozzo, director of vulnerability intelligence at New York City-based Trail of Bits Inc. “Given the sad state of Android security and malware, any protection put in place to stop malware is definitely positive news. Nonetheless if the approach is signatures-based, like average antivirus products for PCs, what we will see is the usual rat race where malware authors will start mutate older samples or create new malware,” Iozzo says.

Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at Sophos, says that there's no indication that these latest enhancements to the Play Store will be integrated with VirusTotal. “There are references to Google's SafeBrowsing API however,” says Cluley, who largely views the recent moves by Google as steps in the right direction. “Anything Google can do to help better protect Android users against the growing tide of malware on the platform has to be encouraged. Especially as people install apps from unauthorized sources,” he said.

Also, while Cluley doesn't see a conflict in Google performing its own vetting, as many had cited in the days Microsoft first started providing security software and capabilities for its platform, others hold a different perspective. “The two primary problems with Google owning the detection of malware are incentives and definition of risk. Google is an advertising company at its core, not a security company,” said Tyler Shields, senior security researcher at Burlington, Mass.-based Veracode Inc. “Google is in the business of collecting data for advertising purposes and are incented by increasing application count and data collection. Additionally, an intrusive application collecting a lot of intelligence for advertising may not be considered malware by Google but may be considered too intrusive for acceptance into the enterprise,” said Shields.

Maybe so. But at least when it came to Trojan!FakeLookout.A, Google acted swiftly when the malware was brought to its attention, albeit after it made it into the store. This Trojan steals user SMS/MMS messages, video files, and files on a user's SD card. It then attempts to transmit them to a remote FTP server operated by the attacker, according to TrustGo.  TrustGo also said that it hides itself by removing its listing from the full Application List, with only a fake icon left in the Downloaded Apps list named “Updates.”  The offending app was first seen on October 15, and within hours of notifying Google the malware was removed from the store, said Xuyang Li, TrustGo CEO.

George V. Hulme writes about security and technology from his home in Minneapolis. You can also find him tweeting about those topics on Twitter @georgevhulme.

Spam campaign abuses flaw tricking thousands with shortened .gov URLs

A vulnerable component in a content management system has enabled savvy cybercriminals behind a spam campaign to spoof .gov site URLs by abusing a short link designed to validate the authenticity of redirects to U.S. government websites.

Public Wi-Fi hotspots pose real threat to enterprises, survey finds

Employees are accessing sensitive company information via unprotected public Wi-Fi hotspots, according to a new survey that found public Wi-Fi usage rose significantly over the last year.

The study, conducted by the by the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), surveyed 377 people and found more than half (57%) used public Wi-Fi hotspots to access confidential work-related information. The online survey was commissioned by Sherman, Conn.-based Private Communications Corporation, a seller of virtual private network (VPN) software.

Public Wi-Fi usage has gone up 240% in the past year, but 44% of respondents weren't aware of a way to protect their information when using a hotspot. In addition, 60% of those surveyed indicated they were either concerned or very concerned about their security when using a public hotspot. Experts have pointed out that the rapid increase in public hotspots is associated with the growing use of smartphones and tablet devices.

Security researchers have demonstrated how easy it is for an attacker to target users of open Wi-Fi hotspots, sniffing unencrypted traffic to view sensitive data, such as email and social networks. A Mozilla Firefox plugin called Firesheep made the attacks more widely available, automating the process of monitoring and analyzing traffic.

A VPN encrypts information traveling between a user's computer and the provider's remote network. Large organizations often provide a VPN to protect employees, typically maintaining a VPN appliance to handle a high load of traffic, but security expert Lisa Phifer, president of Core Competence Inc. in Chester Springs, Pa., said they are useful for companies of all sizes.

Companies have tried other solutions with little success, Phifer said. One example is when an organization prohibits employees from adding new network names to corporate laptops. This technique does not help with employee-owned devices, however, and it is unpopular with employees.

To make sure their employees use the VPN, companies can stop employees from using business services on their personal laptops or mobile devices, unless they log on to a VPN.

"That doesn't stop users from doing other risky things [when not logged in]," Phifer said.

Kent Lawson, CEO and founder of Private Communications Corporation, said security experts have been warning about the growing concern of open and often poorly protected Wi-Fi threats.

"People are aware in their tummies that when they use hotspots they're doing something risky," Lawson said. "But they don't know there's a solution."

Lawson said individuals and small businesses can also use a VPN to ensure secure browsing. Critics of personal VPN's say they could slow machines down. Lawson said while the VPN is encrypting and then decrypting information as it travels between a machine and the network, the process runs in the background and does not have a noticeable affect for the ordinary worker using Wi-Fi to surf the Web and check email.

"I would not recommend using a VPN if you're about to download a two-hour HD movie," he said.

Phifer said a VPN can use up battery life faster on smaller devices, but performance of applications on the device is not impacted.

Another complaint with VPNs is that the process of logging on is too time-consuming, Phifer said. In many cases, users have to log on to a hotspot and log on to their VPN before they can access the Internet.

"A great deal of it is because of the expediency," Phifer said of the tendency for users to ignore the fact that they are not protected when using public Wi-Fi. Additionally, Phifer said people do not believe five minutes on a public network will expose them to any harm.

Using HTTPS encryption for protection

Another option for securing information when logged on to public Wi-Fi is to use HTTPS encryption when browsing. Lawson, however, believes using HTTPS does not provide enough security.

"It's spotty. Some sites are secured and some aren't. Some only secure during login," he said.

Security researchers have also developed an attack tool, the Browser Exploit Against SSL/TLS, that breaks the encryption.

VPN protection is limited

A VPN only addresses the lack of encryption when using public Wi-Fi, so users need to take further steps to ensure a secure browsing experience, Phifer said. In addition to a VPN, a firewall is important because it protects against others on the network viewing a user's shared files. Users should also be aware of an "evil twin," a fake access point with the same network name of a real access point. While there is not a clean fix for an evil twin, Phifer said users should be aware of where they are connecting.

OpenBSD option allows Halon Security to double performance

Halon Security has announced plans to double speed and performance in its firewalls and routers.

The company said that by choosing OpenBSD as the core base for security and network advantages for its firewall and routing platform, the SR series, the routing capabilities have increased from 400Mbps to 800Mbps.

Halon Security said that the patch improvements in the next release of OpenBSD have allowed its SR series to gain up to double the raw forwarding performance compared to its earlier releases, and other HSR models will have similar performance improvements. The new performance boost will be released in November as software update.

Peter Falck, president of Halon Security, said: “We are overwhelmed and excited to announce this boost improvements for our customers, this proves that our decision to work with leading network platform will be advantages for our customers and partners. Our dedication to solid architecture, edge technology and platform diversity are successful ingredients, there are no shortcuts.”

Fortinet launch operating system to work as a foundation for FortiGate platforms

Fortinet has launched a secure operating system that will be the foundation for all of its FortiGate integrated security platforms.

According to the company, FortiManager 5.0 is a centralised management platform with features tailored for enterprises and service providers. These include the ability to manage physical and virtual security devices using a single web-based user interface with new functions that include drag and drop policies between panes, direct in-view policy object editing, full IPv6 support and a new script UI facility.

It also offers improved reporting and analysis with multi-frame display, drag-and-drop policy between rule bases and frames, built-in logging and reporting and full IPv6 support.

Patrick Bedwell, vice president of product marketing for Fortinet, said: “With new attack variants on the rise and the ‘bring your own device' revolution in full swing, organisations need broad security measures that can scale, are highly flexible when it comes to enforcing granular policies and are easy to deploy.

“We're responding to these market requirements with the release of the industry's most advanced network security operating system that works in tandem with our next-generation management, analysis and client protection technologies.”

Also launched with FortiManager 5.0 support are new versions of FortiGate, FortiManager, FortiAnalyzer and FortiClient.

Ken Xie, founder, president and CEO for Fortinet, said: “Looking back over the last ten years, each FortiOS release delivered innovation that helped change the market. We are providing our customers with the best and broadest functionality that is fully integrated with our high-performance FortiASICs and FortiGate system. This combination leads to our customers having the most superior network security, performance, management and analysis.”

Small merchants claim that costs are a major hindrance when it comes to PCI DSS compliance

Cost and education are the biggest hindrances and failings around PCI compliance.

In a recent survey of 125 small merchants, three quarters (74 per cent) said that they had no allocated budget to deal with the payment card industry data security standard (PCI DSS) while 66 per cent felt that qualified security assessors (QSA) were too expensive.

While 100 per cent said that they were aware of PCI DSS, 32 per cent felt that it was a technical challenge, 50 per cent saw it as a procedural challenge and 18 per cent saw that training requirements had to change. 

Mathieu Gorge, CEO and founder of Vigitrust, who conducted the survey, said that there was no such thing as ‘de-scoping' as the only way to do that was to stop taking credit card payments as businesses still need policies and procedures.

Matt Martin, senior payment security risk manager at BarclayCard, said that while most small businesses could not afford a QSA, he said that they need to know that assessment and compliance were the right thing to do and they were done for a reason. “The cost of a breach where they will really suffer,” he said.

“Smaller merchants are facing major compliance issues, the vast majority that I meet reinforce the positive benefits of why cardholder security is in place but compliance is not just about a standard, and the wider community needs to understand the needs of smaller merchants.”

Jeremy King, European director of the PCI security standards council (SSC), admitted that the language used in the guidelines was written for larger businesses where a security team was in place. He said: “We have got to make the language simpler for smaller merchants to get the right format.”

Looking at comments made by respondents to the survey that PCI was ‘forced upon them' and it was ‘an extra cost we have to pay', King said that it was the responsibility of the merchant to look after cardholder data and that there needed to be an appreciation of being compliant rather than expecting and paying fines. “Rather than that, pay for a service that reduces risk to put you in a better position,” he said.

He later said: “Why do merchants keep failing? Don't fail; too many fail because they haven't done it right the first time. Where they have failed is where they have not done anything about it.”

The subject of education and awareness was also discussed, with Gorge saying that survey results show this to be a real challenge, especially as 36 per cent said that they had been aware of PCI DSS for more than three years and only 25 per cent had put policies in place to deal with the standard. Just under half (43 per cent) had put in generic security policies.

Gorge said: “Education means meeting a challenge. Start with this and continue with something that you are not aware of. There is a huge difference between readiness and compliance validation, policies and education are key before you start out. The message needs to be in plain English as too much jargon and it is daunting for the smaller merchant.”

He later said: “Merchants need to be able to reduce the potential for error and use encryption, but it is only as effective as a policy and the people who write them.”

Martin said: “The more you try and legislate security, the more you write things down and that defeats the object. I fall back in best practice, preparations and education of people and the potential spin-off you will have awareness.”

Franchising And Politics

Never in its history, has the franchise industry been more engaged and more vocal about the issues facing our nation. It's a trend that I've been watching closely-and it's also one that I've frequently been able to participate in myself, especially as the Presidential election gets closer.

There are two reasons why I've been able to easily monitor this trend:

1.   Cable News

It's Ted Turner's fault.  He launched CNN, the world's first 24 hour television news network, in 1980. This game-changing move enabled people from all over the world, (with cable access) to learn about important events in real-time, day and night. A new generation of well-informed people was born, including yours truly.

Decades later, CNN isn't the only game in town. If you don't like their approach to news and politics, just use the up and down arrows on your TV's remote. You'll be lead to other networks like MSNBC and Fox News; they will gladly supply you with their news and views… 24 hours a day.

My daily routine starts with MSNBC's Morning Joe . This show provides me with the latest news, plus lots of expert political discussion delivered in a pretty balanced way.

2.   The Internet And Social Media

Everybody's talking. Anyone with Internet access can sign-up for a free account on Twitter or Facebook, and start spewing out their thoughts and opinions on any topic imaginable. People are even reporting the news, themselves. They're called citizen journalists, and they have an audience.

Fact: 1/3 of all adults now get their news via the social networks. (I wonder if Mr. Turner saw that one coming.)

The social networks are also a place-the place it seems, to follow politics during an election season. They're also a great place to learn about the companies and individuals you do business with-or want to. And, it's where I learned about the following items…

Franchise Associations And Politics

According to their mission statement, The International Franchise Association (IFA) “protects, enhances, and promotes franchising.”

This Washington, DC based trade group and non-profit association represents more than 1,300 franchise systems, thousands of franchisees, and 500+ franchise business suppliers. They're also deeply involved in politics, hence their Washington DC address.

I guess that I was a bit naive when I first became involved with the consulting part of the industry. I didn't know that the IFA was so involved in lobbying. But, thanks to the openness of the Internet, I do now.

FranPac is the Political Action Committee of the IFA, and they just hit a milestone; $1 million in receipts for the 2012 election year. (Receipts are contributions from IFA members.)

If you'd like to see how this money was divided up by political party, go to opensecrets.org

Franchisors And Politics

Several franchisors have jumped into the fray, including these;

Chick fil A-Dan Kathy, the President of this fast-food franchise, recently made his feelings known concerning gay marriage-a hot political potato. His stance on this issue…which seemed to be his company's too, made headlines all over America.

Flip Flop Shops-As you know, political candidates have been known to flip flop on occasion, so this retailer has decided to produce and sell pairs of “Limited Edition Obama/Romney Flip Flops” until Election Day. The flip flops feature a picture of each candidate, and sell for $25 a pair.

Papa John's Pizza-CEO John Schattner estimates that Obamacare, set to go into effect in 2014, will cost his company about 11 to 14 cents per pizza or 15 to 20 cents per order. He vowed to add the higher costs onto his customers. Schattner has never been shy about his support for one of the candidates.

7-Eleven-The convenience store chain, allows customers to indicate their presidential preference when they buy a cup of coffee. They can choose a blue cup imprinted with a donkey for President Barack Obama, or a red cup imprinted with an elephant on it for Mitt Romney. If you'd like to see what color coffee cups are popular in your state, check out the 7-Eleven website.

It's crucial for the franchise industry to have its voice heard at election time. The candidates need to know which issues are important to the franchise community. That's because franchising continues to be a driving force in our economy. Franchise businesses account for approximately 3 percent of GDP in nominal dollars, and employ millions of workers.

And, let's not forget the thousands of courageous people…the franchisees, who have invested their own money to pursue, “The American Dream.” They're located in your own neighborhood. These small business owners are an anxious bunch, these days. They're uncertain about things like health care, the economy, and the availability of capital. They want to know…they need to know the direction things are headed.

This Presidential Election is an important one for the entire small business community.

Do you feel that your voice being heard?

What needs to happen on November 5th that will benefit franchising and small business?

Right or Left Photo via Shutterstock

Seven Steps to Ease Your Move to Windows 8

The technology world is buzzing about the release of Windows 8, but if you're a small business, you may be wondering how this impacts you. Some small businesses have been burned in the past by upgrading too soon (Windows Vista, anyone?) and those businesses may be hesitant to upgrade until the product has been out a while.

If you're running Windows XP, the bad news is you won't have a choice. Support for XP is ending in 2014 and even before that date, you may begin to notice some printer drivers and software leaves XP behind. Whether you choose Windows 7 or 8 is up to you, but when Microsoft drops support for XP, it will no longer provide security patches for that operating system, leaving your equipment vulnerable to malicious software.

Since each new operating system brings with it major changes, it's important to prepare. To make sure the move is as painless as possible, here are seven steps to follow to make sure your data is safe.

• Invest in software. PC Mover moves all of your files, programs, and settings from your old PC to the new one, automatically configuring data for the new operating system. The software costs $59, but when you figure in the time it will save, as well as the value of having your files and programs moved safely, it's a great value.
• Make sure your hardware can handle it. Windows 8 requires 1GB of RAM, 16GB of hard drive space, and a 1 GHz processor, according to Microsoft. Interestingly, they list the same requirements for Windows 7.
• Backup your files. You can do this using an external hard drive, a server, or a Cloud-based backup service like Dropbox or Carbonite. You're probably doing this anyway, but make sure any files you have saved locally on your computer are backed up before you start the upgrade process.
• Run the setup utility. Microsoft has provided a handy setup utility that will scan your computer and determine whether your software and drivers are supported in Windows 8. If you're going from Windows 7 to Windows 8, you should be fine, but if you're using XP, you'll have to reinstall everything, which brings us to the next step.
• For Windows XP users, go through your list of programs (Start-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs) and note everything you have. Check the software you have purchased separately (Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, etc.) and make sure you have the installation discs. You'll also need to make sure you have the media you'll need and that it is supported on your new operating system. Before you upgrade, you'll want to make sure you have everything you'll need to get back to work as quickly as possible.
• Consider hardware upgrades. This is especially applicable if you're still running Windows XP. PCs should ideally be replaced every 4-5 years. If PCs in your business are much older than that, your workers may be unable to do their work efficiently, resulting in a loss of productivity.
• Preview the operating system. Microsoft has a preview of Windows 8 here. Windows 7 can be easily viewed in action in YouTube videos and on various websites. Visit a store that sells PCs and try the operating system out yourself before deciding whether to upgrade to Windows 7 or make the jump to Windows 8.

The importance of keeping software up-to-date was highlighted with Microsoft's recent Security Intelligence Report. As Gregg Keizer reported recently on ComputerWorld, Windows 7 malware has increased throughout the year, but Windows XP infections are two to three times more likely to fail due to hacker attack than Windows 7.

“There are several factors at play here,” Microsoft's Tim Rains said. “In XP, for example, we've seen infection rates go up because of particular pieces of malware that are more effective on that platform.”

Stock Photography Can Help Your Business: 6 Tips To Finding and Using The Right Images

In the virtual world it is all about visuals. “What you see is what you get”, as the saying goes, and an online presence is an imperative in today's business. Even if you have in-depth and captivating textual content for your website, it pays to have some good visuals in the forms of photographs to enhance the message and capture the attention of the viewer. It is this need that stock photography seeks to fulfill.

With the rise of internet, there has been a veritable explosion in terms of availability of stock photographs online. You can actually get lost amidst all the multitude of websites that offer stock photos. Should you go for paid content, or settle for the profusion of websites that claim to provide you with images free of cost?

In business, it pays to be professional

Sure, free sites have their own attractions. But nothing beats a profession site that gives streamlined and fast access, a flexible scheme of image ownership and usage rights, options of images on demand, and mandatory release clauses from models. For business, always try to stick to reliable sites that provide good photos and a host of facilities and services for a fee.

The nitty gritties of photo selection

Maneuvering the endless maze of stock photo libraries looking for what your site needs can at times turn into a Herculean enterprise.  Here are some great tips from Viorel Dudau, Photo Editor at Dreamstime to keep in mind to make your search all the more easier and effective.

• Steer clear of clichés: this point cannot be stressed enough. Image building is a crucial aspect in business and if you take the easy path of taking the most obvious and clichéd images, that just smacks of laziness. Put some thought and effort into the selection, by going down the path less trodden.
• Do your research: it is your business and you know what you need in terms of images to reflect that. Photographers just take photos to fit specific templates. It is upto you to find out if those fit the needs of your business.
• Be demanding: stock photography is filled with clichéd concepts and images. If you plan to stand out from the crowd, you might have to put your foot down and let them know what you want.. Actually the whole field could do with some fresh ideas.
• Patience pays dividends: try not to hurry the image selection process. With the endless catalogue of images, it can take time for you to stumble on the best picture, even with the sophisticated search options that sites like Dreamstime, Bigtock and iStockphoto provide.
• Photoshopping is always an option: sometimes, you might find that some images could do with a bit of post-processing. Do not hesitate to play around with the possibilities in terms of lighting, contrast, or cropping or merging images. A word of caution regarding image size though: try not to go overboard with re-sizing the images, especially stretching.
• Gain Exclusivity: if you have the perfect image that you don't want the competition to get their hands on, sites like Dreamstime have flexible purchase schemes whereby you can either buy the rights over the image for a specific period of time or for life even.

Keep these points in mind, don't hesitate to think original and go to reliable sites like Dreamstime, and you will see the difference that it makes to your business' online impact. Always keep in mind: “a good photo is worth a thousand words.”

Are You Giving Your Clients The Right Kind of Unforgettable Experience?

It's funny how the memory works. In Some Interesting Facts About Memory at Dumex.com, Dr.Yip Swe Chooi says,

“We remember things by association. Each piece of information is linked to other information in some way or another. The more you know about a particular topic the easier it is to remember or to learn new things about that topic because you have more “hooks” for the new information to hook on.”

In fact, the doctor says that the more vivid the associations, the more we remember. Which leads me a series of small business questions.

What kind of experience are you giving your current and potential clients?

When they think of you, what do they see, feel or remember? How do they associate your business in their mind?

Is it clean and sleek, but cold? It is down-home but a little dirty and kind of sloppy?

Or do they see you as a problem solver? Is it easy to get in, get what they want or need and get out?

We're creating experiences everyday with our clients. 

And these experiences become the “hooks” that they associate with us and our brand. And here's the kicker: Every mental association with your business isn't controlled by you. It's shaped by

1. how your team behaves,
2. how your product functions,
3. how your website looks,
4. how easy it is to shop with you or voice a complaint and get a serious and effective response.

And that's a lot of “stuff” to pay attention to, but that's business.

It's easier to get it right the first time, but you can rewrite the hook-so to speak. 

Instead of being known for poor service or products, you can upgrade what you offer, like Domino's Pizza is doing right now. And then update the marketing to share the improvement process.

But you have to keep your word and you have to keep improving. And if you're consistent, to a new generation you'll have a fresh reputation. To the original group you can become known as the come-back kid.

If you are giving your current or potential clients the wrong kind of unforgettable experience, what are you going to do about it?

Bad Customer Service Photo via Shutterstock

MasterCard Sells Customer Data for the Holidays

Social networks like Facebook and search engines like Google are already exploiting data collected from users to target advertising, and now it looks like credit card companies have begun getting into the act. Whatever privacy advocates may say about data collection and use, it is vital for most businesses to gather information in one form or another. How your business collects and manages data determines, to a great extent, your success in the marketplace; so here are some ideas to consider.

Plastic Possibilities

Let's ask the audience. MasterCard recently confirmed a program called MasterCard Audiences, attempting to segment customers based on their transactions, and sell that information to advertisers for the Holiday season. The company didn't specify how offline purchases could be helpful in targeting online ads toward certain consumers, saying the process is proprietary. The company says only transactional data will be used, without revealing personal information. Wired

Give me some credit. Small businesses can use credit cards, too, if not for data collection along the lines of what big ad networks and data exchanges are attempting with MasterCard's program, then for make various payment options available to customers. In this guest post, Ben Dwyer, founder and CEO of CardFellow.com, a company offering small businesses the ability to compare credit card processing rates, gives some advice on keeping rates low. Small Biz Diamonds

Information Please

Market maneuvering. Customer data isn't the only information entrepreneurs are searching for online these days. Information on effective marketing abounds on the Internet, but collecting the most relevant and organizing it for your company's use can be overwhelming, says marketing blogger Dave Hubbard. Instead, focus on collecting a set of best practices that will guide your business and help you change direction when necessary to avoid mistakes. Marketing Outfield

On the right track. When using online advertising, you must collect another kind of data to be sure you don't pour too much money into campaigns that simply aren't delivering results. The key to success, explains blogger Sherryl Perry, is to carefully track conversions for your online advertising campaigns. Google AdWords, for example, provides tools that allow you to see which advertising campaigns are worth the expense. Keep Up with the Web

Head in the Clouds

Data, data everywhere. With huge quantities of data collected by even smaller businesses these days, there's a growing need to manage this valuable resource. Fortunately, Web hosts and cloud solutions allow even startup entrepreneurs and relatively small companies to retain and leverage huge reservoirs of data, just like the big guys. Be aware of the tools available to your organization. Cloud Business Review

Losing it all. Unfortunately, cloud computing, while allowing companies of all sizes to store massive amounts of data on multiple servers, does not guarantee that data is absolutely secure. Mark Pillans points out some of the dangers all businesses, large and small, face when storing data in the cloud. Luckily, he also has some common sense solutions that will help you use this resource with greater safety. Mimir Communications

The big guns. If you're wondering how all this data can be used, well, just as in the case of MasterCard, marketing is one of the biggest ways. No, big data is not just for big business anymore, Sherry Lamoreaux explains. In fact, even small businesses today can use big data to their advantage when marketing to customers and building their revenues. Marketing Action Blog

Symantec study highlights complexity of risks posed by zero-day exploits

Zero-day exploits used in attacks may be long lasting, sometimes remaining on infected systems for more than two years, but the dangerous threat is typically used in highly targeted attacks making widespread impact a rare occurrence, according to a scientific study released this week.

Kiwis embrace internet for shopping and finances

New Zealand is fast becoming a digital nation with more Kiwis choosing to use the internet to shop, bank and pay bills than ever before, a survey has found.

The annual Roy Morgan analysis examined how New Zealanders were using the internet and technology in their everyday lives.

The results showed that 84 per cent of Kiwis were now using the internet.

Client services head Howard Seccombe said the shift online "has fundamentally changed how we communicate, how we do business and engage with the media".

Mr Seccombe said the rise of online shopping was the biggest standout, with nearly two-thirds of New Zealanders choosing to shop online. Kiwis spent $5.6 billion through the internet last year.

"This is important for retailers and business, which may need to change how they approach customers."

Only a small number of people shopped using smartphones. Nearly 70 per cent used phones to surf the web and nearly one-third accessed Facebook and Twitter through their phones.

He believed smartphones were the most important way for businesses to connect with consumers.

"People always have their smartphones switched on and with them, which makes it easier for companies to connect to them."

Mr Seccombe said there was also a shift in online banking.

According to the results, it will not be long until online banking overtakes offline.

"It's already happened in Australia.

"It will be a big moment when it happens here."

He said "digital natives" who had grown up with technology would not be surprised by these results, but those who had come to the digital age later in life would be surprised.

"For them, it will seem like it's grown from nothing to something huge."

Each year, Roy Morgan Research surveys around 12,000 New Zealanders on aspects of Kiwi life.

By Siobhan Leathley

The Myth of Customer Service

There's a pervasive myth about customer service that, if you believe it, could have devastating consequences for your small business. It's one you've probably heard dozens, if not hundreds, of times over the life of your business. The myth goes something like this: “Customer service is the most important thing your business can do”, or “Customer service is the one area where your business can distinguish itself from the big guys”, or “Customer service matters more than anything else.”

I have to admit, I've been guilty of spreading this myth myself. But I had a revelation recently while listening to a friend's experience getting a product manufactured. What seemed like a simple process, using a manufacturer recommended by a trusted colleague, had turned into an endless cycle of receiving a flawed product, getting promises it would be fixed, and having the same thing happen over and over again. In the end, my friend almost missed a crucial shipping deadline for his product launch, which would have cost him a lot of money (in addition to the gray hairs the experience already caused). Throughout the whole fiasco, he told me, “Their service is great. They're really nice, and they always get back to me right away with how they can fix the problem.”

There was only one problem: They weren't fixing the problem. While by many measures of customer service-responsiveness, calmness, offering to make the fixes at no charge-this company was stellar, that didn't make up for the fact this manufacturer simply lacked the technical expertise and quality control systems to deliver.

Like all myths, the myth of customer service isn't entirely untrue.  Customer service is a distinguishing factor for small businesses, and customers do care more about it than ever in this world of Zappos, Southwest Airlines, and other customer service stars. But if you can't deliver what you promise, the sweetness of those promises won't matter much in the end.

You might pride yourself on how well your business handles problems, but perhaps you should be paying more attention to eliminating problems in the first place. Is it better to go back and forth with a customer 15 times in a friendly fashion, or to simply provide what they ask for (without all the chat) the first time around?

What should you do if you're worried you might be falling prey to the myth of customer service?

• Assess your interactions. How often are customer service reps or other frontline employees “touching” customers? What's the average for a purchase and why? Figure out a number that makes sense and what number indicates that something may have gone wrong.
• Control quality. Some simple QC procedures such as having a second person check products coming off the assembly line would have prevented the hassle my friend went through with his manufacturer.
• Implement systems. As your business grows, it's easy for systems to get sloppy. Review your manual (or create one) that details common procedures in your business so that no matter who handles the process, it's always done the same way. (Think of fast food franchises, which have strict rules down to how many slices of ham go on a sandwich, or how big a scoop of ice cream is.) Procedures ensure all customers not only get the same level of service, but also the same quality of product throughout your business.

I'm not suggesting you become the Soup Nazi (a “Seinfeld” character based on a real New York restaurateur whose soup was so delicious customers put up with his gruff demeanor). But even in today's customer-centric culture, service with a smile doesn't matter unless you've got the goods to back it up.

Genie Lamp Photo via Shutterstock