Obama\'s cybersecurity executive order issued for critical infrastructure

President Barack Obama issued the long-awaited cybersecurity executive order for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Tuesday evening. Aimed at improving public-private information sharing, the directive creates voluntary cybersecurity standards and best practices. Congress is today taking up a bill, a new version of the previously dropped Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, which tackles many of the same concerns.

Within 120 days, the order states, "the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security (the "Secretary"), and the Director of National Intelligence shall each issue instructions consistent with their authorities …to ensure the timely production of unclassified reports of cyber threats."

The order tasks the National Institute of Standards and Technology to oversee the development of a risk assessment and best practices document, referred to as the Cybersecurity Framework, within the next year. Additional deliverables called for by the directive include an update to the National Infrastructure Protection Plan and the completion of a national critical infrastructure security and resilience research and development plan within 2 years.

There has been criticism of the president's decision to approach the matter via an executive order, rather than allowing legislators to tackle the matter, even though prior legislation has failed to survive both houses. Senator Charles Grassley was quoted in The Washington Post saying, "Just because Congress doesn't act doesn't mean the president has a right to act."

Others are concerned about whether the order actually gets anything done. A post at Kaspersky's Threatpost blog noted that, "What the order does not include are any mandates, required changes or a plan for significant action."

But at least one observer believes the president's action at least sets a new tone. Jagat Shah, CTO of Columbia, Md.-based SIEM vendor EventTracker, believes that "When the White House weighs in and makes a move like this, it definitely creates a greater awareness about an ongoing and serious problem. Most government agencies and contractors who support them are required to follow guidelines and standards to protect infrastructure, but cybersecurity projects have been on the back burner for the last few years. This order is now requiring them to assign the necessary resources and budget to implement long-needed cybersecurity guidelines and standards."




14 Days of Facebook Marketing Tips. Tip #7: Use Facebook’s New Graph Search

14 Days of Facebook Marketing Tips - Tip #7: Use Facebook’s New Graph Search

Welcome to 14 Days of Facebook Marketing Tips, on the occasion of the upcoming launch of “The Facebook Guide to Small Business Marketing” (Wiley) by Ramon Ray, of Smallbiztechnology.com and Infusionsoft.

Buy Ramon’s latest book on February 19th and get a digital box of goodies as your gift for buying the book, educating yourself and growing your business with Facebook.

In The Facebook Guide to Small Business Marketing, you will overall learn how to get more customers and keep the ones you have. You’ll also learn how to leverage overall online marketing, how to better use social media and, more specifically, how to use the power of Facebook for YOUR business.

Tip #7: Use Facebook’s New Graph Search

Last year when Facebook rolled out the new ‘Timeline’, it unleashed a whirlwind of privacy concerns, as you could now scroll back through years of Facebook posts on an individual’s page. The story is quite different for businesses, though, as Facebook Graph Search may naturally lead new consumers to your business page. The new Graph Search is still in beta testing, but if you want to try it, while you’re logged into Facebook, visit this page and sign up for the waiting list.

Ramon recently wrote and article on PC World that outlines what the new graph search is and how it can benefit your business’ Facebook page.  Here a few tips from that article on how to prepare your business Page for Graph Search and what you might expect from it:

  • Use Graph Search to identify pools of customers who already like you and might buy more from you.
  • Use it to identify types of prospective customers who you might want to engage with your sponsored posts.
  • Ensure your page is rich in information, so people searching Facebook can find your business. Make sure the “About” section of your Facebook page is filled out, complete with business hours and a full description of your services or products. Include the URL of your website to direct customers there.

For more great tips on how to market your business with Facebook, check out ‘The Facebook Guide to Small Business Marketing’. And don’t forget - buy it on Feb. 19th and you’ll get the great digital ‘Goody Bag’ of special discounts and gifts!



14 Days of Facebook Marketing Tips. Tip #7: Use Facebook’s New Graph Search

14 Days of Facebook Marketing Tips - Tip #7: Use Facebook’s New Graph Search

Welcome to 14 Days of Facebook Marketing Tips, on the occasion of the upcoming launch of “The Facebook Guide to Small Business Marketing” (Wiley) by Ramon Ray, of Smallbiztechnology.com and Infusionsoft.

Buy Ramon’s latest book on February 19th and get a digital box of goodies as your gift for buying the book, educating yourself and growing your business with Facebook.

In The Facebook Guide to Small Business Marketing, you will overall learn how to get more customers and keep the ones you have. You’ll also learn how to leverage overall online marketing, how to better use social media and, more specifically, how to use the power of Facebook for YOUR business.

Tip #7: Use Facebook’s New Graph Search

Last year when Facebook rolled out the new ‘Timeline’, it unleashed a whirlwind of privacy concerns, as you could now scroll back through years of Facebook posts on an individual’s page. The story is quite different for businesses, though, as Facebook Graph Search may naturally lead new consumers to your business page. The new Graph Search is still in beta testing, but if you want to try it, while you’re logged into Facebook, visit this page and sign up for the waiting list.

Ramon recently wrote and article on PC World that outlines what the new graph search is and how it can benefit your business’ Facebook page.  Here a few tips from that article on how to prepare your business Page for Graph Search and what you might expect from it:

  • Use Graph Search to identify pools of customers who already like you and might buy more from you.
  • Use it to identify types of prospective customers who you might want to engage with your sponsored posts.
  • Ensure your page is rich in information, so people searching Facebook can find your business. Make sure the “About” section of your Facebook page is filled out, complete with business hours and a full description of your services or products. Include the URL of your website to direct customers there.

For more great tips on how to market your business with Facebook, check out ‘The Facebook Guide to Small Business Marketing’. And don’t forget - buy it on Feb. 19th and you’ll get the great digital ‘Goody Bag’ of special discounts and gifts!



Two Great Resources To Help Your Internet Marketing and Technology Needs

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Online marketing is often viewed as a major part of running a business and often involves retaining an expert or outside firm to handle the task. There is a new startup, however, that promises to help business owners better deal with the complexities of marketing through a unique process not seen in the industry.  AwareLabs helps business owners navigate the complex field of online marketing by breaking key objectives down to reachable tasks, which can be done at the leisure of the business owner. Although it is impossible to list all the topics covered by the program due to space constraints, overall many of the programs are built around the importance of proper search engine behavior, blogging and press releases, and handling advertising. Additionally, for startups there is a chapter on how to pitch for capital.

By breaking down common tasks into five minute tasks,  busy professionals are able to greatly advance their knowledge of internet marketing before they splurge on hiring a marketing professional. Even if a business owner has no interest in managing their marketing matters, AwareLabs is still vital reading because it provides busy professionals with the tools and knowledge to spot marketing persons who might not be legitimate or using valid industry tactics.

AwareLabs is offered in two different packages, neither of which is a subscription. Rather than billing per month, users are able to purchase their packages for fairly low one-time payments. Despite being one-time payments, updates to the program are provided at no-additional charge ensuring that users are always educated on leading industry practices despite constant evolution. The Off Site Optimization package sells for $45 and covers social media, press releases, press relationships, and getting listed as an expert. The premium tier sells for $95 and provides a more in-depth view of marketing by covering all marketing topics from the Off Site Optimization package to getting setup on Google, affiliate programs, paid advertising, and other topics pertaining mainly to online marketing.

Overall, while the unique approach of breaking down marketing into small tasks is novel, the information is fairly limited and does not make the user a marketing expert overnight. Regardless, the program does a solid job of making a fairly daunting area easy to comprehend.

For users looking to expand their knowledge of technology further, Grovo provides users with free access to a wealth of instructional videos on various websites such as:  Google+, Skype, WordPress, Basecamp, and many more tools which business owners use to enhance their operations and productivity. Unlike AwareLabs, which focuses more on tactics that can be used to enhance your operations, Grovo is best for learning how to utilize the tools that can help streamline many business tasks while also greatly cutting overhead costs.  Additionally, Grovo is an excellent reference for users to learn about different tools before purchasing or subscribing - meaning it can be of value when purchasing technology and learning it.



Two Great Resources To Help Your Internet Marketing and Technology Needs

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Online marketing is often viewed as a major part of running a business and often involves retaining an expert or outside firm to handle the task. There is a new startup, however, that promises to help business owners better deal with the complexities of marketing through a unique process not seen in the industry.  AwareLabs helps business owners navigate the complex field of online marketing by breaking key objectives down to reachable tasks, which can be done at the leisure of the business owner. Although it is impossible to list all the topics covered by the program due to space constraints, overall many of the programs are built around the importance of proper search engine behavior, blogging and press releases, and handling advertising. Additionally, for startups there is a chapter on how to pitch for capital.

By breaking down common tasks into five minute tasks,  busy professionals are able to greatly advance their knowledge of internet marketing before they splurge on hiring a marketing professional. Even if a business owner has no interest in managing their marketing matters, AwareLabs is still vital reading because it provides busy professionals with the tools and knowledge to spot marketing persons who might not be legitimate or using valid industry tactics.

AwareLabs is offered in two different packages, neither of which is a subscription. Rather than billing per month, users are able to purchase their packages for fairly low one-time payments. Despite being one-time payments, updates to the program are provided at no-additional charge ensuring that users are always educated on leading industry practices despite constant evolution. The Off Site Optimization package sells for $45 and covers social media, press releases, press relationships, and getting listed as an expert. The premium tier sells for $95 and provides a more in-depth view of marketing by covering all marketing topics from the Off Site Optimization package to getting setup on Google, affiliate programs, paid advertising, and other topics pertaining mainly to online marketing.

Overall, while the unique approach of breaking down marketing into small tasks is novel, the information is fairly limited and does not make the user a marketing expert overnight. Regardless, the program does a solid job of making a fairly daunting area easy to comprehend.

For users looking to expand their knowledge of technology further, Grovo provides users with free access to a wealth of instructional videos on various websites such as:  Google+, Skype, WordPress, Basecamp, and many more tools which business owners use to enhance their operations and productivity. Unlike AwareLabs, which focuses more on tactics that can be used to enhance your operations, Grovo is best for learning how to utilize the tools that can help streamline many business tasks while also greatly cutting overhead costs.  Additionally, Grovo is an excellent reference for users to learn about different tools before purchasing or subscribing - meaning it can be of value when purchasing technology and learning it.



4 Blog Mistakes: Reasons People Do Not Read Your Blog

blog mistakesI am going to outline four blog mistakes and reasons people don’t read certain blogs. This information is good for current blogs and those in the process of designing a blog.

You Give Me Nothing

When I go to a blog, I am often pulled in by the headline. My hope is that I am going to learn something new and/or be educated. I want facts I can use and ideas to enhance my creativity and work. It is very Read More

The post 4 Blog Mistakes: Reasons People Do Not Read Your Blog appeared first on Small Business Trends.



Virtrue: The Start-up Company That Makes Sure You Know Your New Hire

We all know people lie on resumes. In fact, estimates show a full 34 percent of all job applications contain false information. Some employers check references, require proof of education, and even run criminal background checks before offering a job to a candidate.

But as one San Francisco-based start-up puts it, reference and background checks can only go so far. A spokesperson for Virtrue points out that determining a person’s trustworthiness is a flawed process that only works if a former employer is willing to be fully open. Criminal background checks are time-consuming and costly, taking employers away from their daily duties. There has to be a way to validate an applicant’s history that is both convenient and reliable.

Virtrue aims to provide that solution. The company’s Enterprise edition provides comprehensive background checks and work history verification. Virtrue specializes in verifying the integrity of information in the internet age, pointing out that most job candidates these days come to employers through online job posting sites. Virtrue uses its resources to make sure the applicant’s credentials are correct, providing information to the employer in only minutes.

As Adam Spector, founder and CEO of Virtrue points out, one bad hire can sink an entire company. Each hire matters, Spector states, and it’s important to avoid employees who can compromise the trust you’ve built with your clients and customers. Often, however, the impact of poor hiring decisions can have more subtle ramifications, such as:

  • Hiring takes time. Each opening attracts an average of 150 resumes. Just reviewing those resumes would take an average of 9.5 hours. That’s time a business owner could put toward bringing in new business.
  • References are often irrelevant. Candidates may provide pages of references, but unless those references personally worked with the candidate, they won’t be able to give that crucial information an employer needs to make a fully-informed decision. Verification of employment dates are only part of the information an employer needs before committing to adding an employee to his or her staff.
  • Attitude is everything. Many employers look primarily for employees with skill, but Virtrue recommends looking at the personality of the interviewee. Skills can be learned, Virtrue has found, but a positive, enthusiastic attitude is irreplaceable.

According to the American Society of Employers, in 2008, the average employee theft was $2,672-and, surprisingly, more than half of that theft was conducted by employees at management or executive level. Even if an employee has a history of stealing from employers, unless a previous employer files charges or the employer mentions it during a call for a reference, you’ll never know. Virtrue can help catch those employees before it’s too late.

Virtrue is currently offering a free 30-day trial that requires no software downloads or installation. To sign up for your free trial and learn more about how Virtrue can help with your next job opening, visit the Virtrue for Enterprise trial page at http://www.virtrue.us/enterprise-contact/.



Microsoft patches vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer, Exchange

Microsoft released 12 patch bulletins Tuesday, which deliver fixes for Internet Explorer and Windows Server. Plus, the company released a patch for yet another vulnerability from Oracle's Outside In library.

As it's one of the most common attack vectors, admins should apply the critical Internet Explorer patches immediately. IE 6 through IE 10 are all affected by the cumulative update, which patches 13 vulnerabilities within the software. The other IE bulletin deals with a vulnerability in Vector Markup Language.

At 57 total vulnerabilities patched, Microsoft nearly hit a record number set in April 2011.

Another vulnerability in Oracle's Outside In

Back in December, Microsoft released a patch for a vulnerability in WebReady Document Viewing, which used Oracle's Outside In library. This month, it's made another appearance.

Both Exchange Server 2007 SP3 and Exchange Server 2010 SP3  need  patches for the vulnerability. If a user views a malicious document in OWA, hosted on those versions of Exchange, an attacker could gain control of a system.

Early adopters can rejoice, however, as Microsoft removed the Oracle Outside In library from OWA in Exchange 2013, according to Wolfgang Kandek, CTO of Qualys Inc.

A good way to anticipate patches that fix Outside In vulnerabilities is to check Oracle's advisory pages, with a patch expected in the next month.

Last month Oracle noted that the library had a critical fix, which made its way into Microsoft's update this month.

The security fix is also part of an Exchange rollup, released Tuesday.

Other critical fixes

Microsoft also patched flaws in older operating systems. One dealt with media codecs, in which a specially crafted .mpg file could lead to an attacker taking over the system. It affects Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2003.

Windows XP SP3 is the sole affected software in a critical patch dealing with Object Linking and Embedding Automation.

Windows XP will no longer be supported as of April 2014, which means Microsoft will no longer deliver security updates. Kandek suggested that bigger organizations start planning upgrades to newer software to avoid running the risk of operating potentially insecure software.




Sign Documents Electronically With Adobe EchoSign

Emailing sales or service contracts is now a regular part of nearly every business. The sticky part is getting real signatures. Adobe EchoSign is out to make that smooth and fluid for small business owners who want to improve their operational efficiency.

This digital electronic signature solution from Adobe EchoSign helps in signing, but also in tracking and filing. It supports signing by email (e-signature) or by fax. Yes, there are still many businesses that use fax machines. You can even hand write or sketch your signature via mouse. Plus, there’s an iPad, iPhone, and Blackberry app.

adobe echosign

As you can see in this screenshot above, the first dashboard gets right to the point. You can’t forget what to do because Adobe makes it drop-dead simple. “You Send, They sign, You’re Done” really captures it.  If you look toward the bottom of this screenshot, you see that you can add your own signature as well as other options such as verifying the signer’s identity with a password.

Note, you can also allow someone to fax it back by clicking that radio button. With that option, the recipient(s) prints the document, signs by hand, and faxes it back to EchoSign using an included cover sheet. The document is then converted to PDF and filed in your account. That is pretty sweet, I think.

adobe echosign

After sending my first test document, as you can see above, I appreciated the low-key way that they asked me to upgrade. I could easily skip with a simple click of “No thanks.” Well done.

What I really liked:

  • There is a free version that lets you perform five transactions a month. This includes uploading, altering, and resending.
  • I am a longtime Adobe Acrobat user and have had the full paid version of Acrobat for years, so I loved that it would let me integrate into PDF forms. One would expect this, of course.
  • There is an attached audit trail and a sequential signing workflow. Sounds complicated, but this is big if you have multi-department or multi-step signing needs. You could create this in Acrobat, too.

What I would like to see:

  • An Android app for the “other” smartphone platform. As mentioned, apps are available for the iOS and Blackberry platforms if you work in either of them.

I’d like to see them devote more effort on the mobile front. I could not sign into the iPad version, and thus test it, when I know that I typed in my password correctly. Repeatedly. The mobile app gets low marks in iTunes and with just a bit of effort, they could fix all that.

Overall, the web version rocks and Adobe has done some excellent work to make this elegant and pain free. You can use it for free, forever, or if you have more substantial needs, go Pro at $14.95 per month.

This is a worthwhile addition for the busy small business owner who travels a lot or who simply wants to organize and automate their document signing process.




Virtrue: The Start-up Company That Makes Sure You Know Your New Hire

We all know people lie on resumes. In fact, estimates show a full 34 percent of all job applications contain false information. Some employers check references, require proof of education, and even run criminal background checks before offering a job to a candidate.

But as one San Francisco-based start-up puts it, reference and background checks can only go so far. A spokesperson for Virtrue points out that determining a person’s trustworthiness is a flawed process that only works if a former employer is willing to be fully open. Criminal background checks are time-consuming and costly, taking employers away from their daily duties. There has to be a way to validate an applicant’s history that is both convenient and reliable.

Virtrue aims to provide that solution. The company’s Enterprise edition provides comprehensive background checks and work history verification. Virtrue specializes in verifying the integrity of information in the internet age, pointing out that most job candidates these days come to employers through online job posting sites. Virtrue uses its resources to make sure the applicant’s credentials are correct, providing information to the employer in only minutes.

As Adam Spector, founder and CEO of Virtrue points out, one bad hire can sink an entire company. Each hire matters, Spector states, and it’s important to avoid employees who can compromise the trust you’ve built with your clients and customers. Often, however, the impact of poor hiring decisions can have more subtle ramifications, such as:

  • Hiring takes time. Each opening attracts an average of 150 resumes. Just reviewing those resumes would take an average of 9.5 hours. That’s time a business owner could put toward bringing in new business.
  • References are often irrelevant. Candidates may provide pages of references, but unless those references personally worked with the candidate, they won’t be able to give that crucial information an employer needs to make a fully-informed decision. Verification of employment dates are only part of the information an employer needs before committing to adding an employee to his or her staff.
  • Attitude is everything. Many employers look primarily for employees with skill, but Virtrue recommends looking at the personality of the interviewee. Skills can be learned, Virtrue has found, but a positive, enthusiastic attitude is irreplaceable.

According to the American Society of Employers, in 2008, the average employee theft was $2,672-and, surprisingly, more than half of that theft was conducted by employees at management or executive level. Even if an employee has a history of stealing from employers, unless a previous employer files charges or the employer mentions it during a call for a reference, you’ll never know. Virtrue can help catch those employees before it’s too late.

Virtrue is currently offering a free 30-day trial that requires no software downloads or installation. To sign up for your free trial and learn more about how Virtrue can help with your next job opening, visit the Virtrue for Enterprise trial page at http://www.virtrue.us/enterprise-contact/.



Five Technology Tools to Help Small Businesses Retain Customers

Attracting new customers requires a considerable investment from businesses. First, there’s the cost of marketing and advertising, not to mention the time spent strategizing how to reach consumers. If those customers decide to do business with you, you must then work hard to win them over, including potentially offering coupons for return visits. It’s not...

The post Five Technology Tools to Help Small Businesses Retain Customers appeared first on Small Business Technology.



How Small Businesses Can Compete Against Big Brands in SEM

Competing against a bigger brand in search engine marketing (SEM) can be tough - they get all the name recognition and the top ad placements, and in many cases, users may have already established purchasing accounts through them (looking at you, Amazon). The good news is, there are actions you can take to compete with the big guys and still turn a profit.

Break Down Bidding with Localization

Even if your business is currently targeted to the entire country (or world), there are likely going to be specific geos where you may do better than others.  Additionally, many bigger brands are likely to use one single bid for an entire targeted area, and you can use this to your advantage.

Using the dimensions tab in AdWords, you can easily pull a geo report at varying levels of granularity. For this example, we’ll look at major metros:

search engine marketing

Can you spot the outlier

New York is coming in at almost double the cost per action (CPA) of the top two metros (Los Angeles and San Francisco). In this case, you may want to either exclude New York entirely or move it to its own campaign in order to better target bids to an area with more competition (cost per click (CPCs) are nearly double that of San Francisco CPCs).

The prime advantage offered here is, while it’s great for you take this approach at such a granular level, many larger brands advertising across a huge number of verticals may not see a big enough impact on localization to warrant adding that layer of complexity.

What this means is you can pick and choose priority geos where it makes sense to bid higher and actually beat out the bigger brands.

Stress Your Competitive Edge

You may see a bigger brand’s ad in the same auction as yours and think it is the result of significant testing. That might be true - but that testing was likely done on a very large scale. This is to say, their testing may have been an ad template applied to an entire vertical. What works overall for a vertical may not necessarily be what works for a single brand - e.g. iPads and Kindle Fires may both be tablets, but they are generally targeted to two very different audiences.

In the case of lower-cost products, it may make sense to emphasize low prices or sales. Whereas with more costly products/brands, a better selling point would be a lifetime guarantee or generous return policy.

It is also critical when considering ad copy to acknowledge where your company may fall short of a bigger brand. (Ship time and price are common areas that you may not be able to compete on.) However, if you are a specialty retailer, such as an online hockey store, then chances are your selection and expertise will greatly outweigh that of a major brand.

In the ad copy, you can emphasize the newest equipment that you just got in stock courtesy of your connections to industry reps, or mention that you have live chat standing by to help people with their selections. This also helps to set user expectations before they even click - if you stay away from mentioning prices or sales, they are less likely to bounce from the page in the event they don’t see rock-bottom prices.

This ultimately leads to an increase in conversion rates, which allows you to bid your ad up to a higher position.

Manage Cost Per Click Effectively

With many smaller accounts that I take over, one thing I notice almost every time is that budgets and CPCs are not managed to an optimal level. Often, I will see campaigns that hit their budget cap consistently every day.

Budget caps are a great safety net; they prevent overspend and allow you to test CPC limits without breaking the bank. However, it is far more optimal to manage budget and daily spend via adjusting your bids.

To start with diagnosing a budget-capped campaign, I always first check to see what time of day it is going offline (note: this requires using accelerated delivery in the campaign settings, otherwise you will just have to guess). Go into your budget-capped campaign and then get over to the dimensions tab. Under time, you can choose hour of day:

search engine marketing

If you are budget-constrained, you should see fewer than 24 rows of data here. It may stop as early as 4PM. When operating on a fixed budget, this is sub-optimal as you are limiting your potential number of clicks in a day.

For example, say you have $20 to spend on a vertical per day. At position 2, you can get 20 clicks at $1 each and cap out at 6PM.  At position 2.5, however, you might get 25 clicks at $.75 and come in just under budget for the day, having run ads all 24 hours of the day.

There is a delicate balance, however, between making your bids too low and losing volume versus adjusting to the right level and maximizing available spend.

Take Advantage of Star Ratings

One thing you will notice with almost all big brands is that their seller ratings are featured alongside their ads:

search engine marketing

Did you know these are pulled from a variety of review sites by Google intermittently, and then automatically added to your domain’s ads as long as the domain being reviewed matches up  These are known as Seller Rating Extensions, and I have noted they’re frequently missed out on by small businesses, for whom I would argue they matter most.  (Here’s the official AdWords support article.)

In the case of small businesses, reviews can help build confidence in a site/etailer that a customer may have otherwise not been familiar with. Users can be paranoid with regards to whom they provide credit card info to, and as an small business, having those seller ratings in place can help with customer’s trust levels.

To get these ratings, I have advised clients to pick 1-2 review sites they already have a profile on and drive users to those sites for a short period of time after purchasing. The cutoff is relatively small. You only need 30 total reviews with an average rating of 3.5 stars or higher.

Tying it all Together

At the end of the day, there is no silver bullet to competing with the big names on AdWords. Every vertical is going to have a different experience and it takes hard work and experimentation to become, and remain, competitive.

Through some more advanced segmentation, bid management and ad copy selection, you should eventually be able to gain a foothold in your respective niche, and hopefully that will be just the beginning.




Five Technology Tools to Help Small Businesses Retain Customers

Attracting new customers requires a considerable investment from businesses. First, there’s the cost of marketing and advertising, not to mention the time spent strategizing how to reach consumers. If those customers decide to do business with you, you must then work hard to win them over, including potentially offering coupons for return visits. It’s not enough that you’ve gotten them to come through the door or hire you, you need to retain customers for future sales.

“Most customers are solving the wrong problem when it comes to loyalty,” Matthew Selbie, President of Opiniator, says. Selbie points out as many as 36 percent of customers never come back, with restaurants having the highest defection rate.

It’s no surprise many small businesses are learning the value of customer retention. Loyal customers can provide a steady stream of income that can sustain a business through both good times and bad. Many technology solutions are geared toward attracting new customers, but what about tools to help small businesses keep the customers they already have

Here are five great tools that can help get you started:

  • Opiniator-This app encourages customers to provide feedback via a short survey they can complete either through text, phone call, or online. They can even provide this feedback through a smartphone. If feedback is negative, it is immediately forwarded to the business owner so they can begin taking corrective action. For positive feedback, consumers are directed to a social media site where they can rave about their experience. National pest control business Rentokil uses Opiniator to rate its service by handing customers a small card upon entering the house. The customer can then rate the service in only two minutes.
  • Apptivo-Billing itself as a “loyalty management app,” Apptivo allows businesses to reward customers with points, discounts, or certificates. Once points have been awarded, businesses can manage them through the app. Apptivo also provides an overview of all of a company’s existing customers to provide a “360-degree view” of a business’s customers.
  • Basecamp-Initially, Basecamp seems like a turbo-charged project management system, but one of the best things about Basecamp is a non-retail small business’s ability to include clients on team pages. Clients can be a part of the project from beginning to end, keeping them informed at all times, if you choose. The software also allows team members to chat, share documents, and check everyone’s schedule at one glance to make scheduling meetings a breeze.
  • Fun Mobility-One great way to set your loyalty program apart from the rest is to make it fun. Fun Mobility lets customers view rewards and current points status via a lively, colorful interface. Customers are also encouraged to promote your company, product, or service through social media channels with one click, at which point they are directed to a section of the app with mini games.
  • Tello-Since customer feedback is essential to understanding how customers are experiencing your business, Tello is a great option. Like Opiniator, Tello addresses the realization that to get consumer feedback, the system needs to be easy and simple. Tello lets customers enter feedback in less than thirty seconds via a smartphone. Feedback takes place in real time and, in some cases, businesses can be notified of problems while the customer is still on site, taking measures to remedy the problem before the customer leaves the location.

Of course, the basics of customer retention still remain. Good, friendly customer service, a stellar product, and competitive pricing must be in place for any technological tool to do its job.



How Small Businesses Can Compete Against Big Brands in SEM

Competing against a bigger brand in search engine marketing (SEM) can be tough - they get all the name recognition and the top ad placements, and in many cases, users may have already established purchasing accounts through them (looking at you, Amazon). The good news is, there are actions you can take to compete with the big guys and still turn a profit.

Break Down Bidding with Localization

Even if your business is currently targeted to the entire country (or world), there are likely going to be specific geos where you may do better than others.  Additionally, many bigger brands are likely to use one single bid for an entire targeted area, and you can use this to your advantage.

Using the dimensions tab in AdWords, you can easily pull a geo report at varying levels of granularity. For this example, we’ll look at major metros:

search engine marketing

Can you spot the outlier

New York is coming in at almost double the cost per action (CPA) of the top two metros (Los Angeles and San Francisco). In this case, you may want to either exclude New York entirely or move it to its own campaign in order to better target bids to an area with more competition (cost per click (CPCs) are nearly double that of San Francisco CPCs).

The prime advantage offered here is, while it’s great for you take this approach at such a granular level, many larger brands advertising across a huge number of verticals may not see a big enough impact on localization to warrant adding that layer of complexity.

What this means is you can pick and choose priority geos where it makes sense to bid higher and actually beat out the bigger brands.

Stress Your Competitive Edge

You may see a bigger brand’s ad in the same auction as yours and think it is the result of significant testing. That might be true - but that testing was likely done on a very large scale. This is to say, their testing may have been an ad template applied to an entire vertical. What works overall for a vertical may not necessarily be what works for a single brand - e.g. iPads and Kindle Fires may both be tablets, but they are generally targeted to two very different audiences.

In the case of lower-cost products, it may make sense to emphasize low prices or sales. Whereas with more costly products/brands, a better selling point would be a lifetime guarantee or generous return policy.

It is also critical when considering ad copy to acknowledge where your company may fall short of a bigger brand. (Ship time and price are common areas that you may not be able to compete on.) However, if you are a specialty retailer, such as an online hockey store, then chances are your selection and expertise will greatly outweigh that of a major brand.

In the ad copy, you can emphasize the newest equipment that you just got in stock courtesy of your connections to industry reps, or mention that you have live chat standing by to help people with their selections. This also helps to set user expectations before they even click - if you stay away from mentioning prices or sales, they are less likely to bounce from the page in the event they don’t see rock-bottom prices.

This ultimately leads to an increase in conversion rates, which allows you to bid your ad up to a higher position.

Manage Cost Per Click Effectively

With many smaller accounts that I take over, one thing I notice almost every time is that budgets and CPCs are not managed to an optimal level. Often, I will see campaigns that hit their budget cap consistently every day.

Budget caps are a great safety net; they prevent overspend and allow you to test CPC limits without breaking the bank. However, it is far more optimal to manage budget and daily spend via adjusting your bids.

To start with diagnosing a budget-capped campaign, I always first check to see what time of day it is going offline (note: this requires using accelerated delivery in the campaign settings, otherwise you will just have to guess). Go into your budget-capped campaign and then get over to the dimensions tab. Under time, you can choose hour of day:

search engine marketing

If you are budget-constrained, you should see fewer than 24 rows of data here. It may stop as early as 4PM. When operating on a fixed budget, this is sub-optimal as you are limiting your potential number of clicks in a day.

For example, say you have $20 to spend on a vertical per day. At position 2, you can get 20 clicks at $1 each and cap out at 6PM.  At position 2.5, however, you might get 25 clicks at $.75 and come in just under budget for the day, having run ads all 24 hours of the day.

There is a delicate balance, however, between making your bids too low and losing volume versus adjusting to the right level and maximizing available spend.

Take Advantage of Star Ratings

One thing you will notice with almost all big brands is that their seller ratings are featured alongside their ads:

search engine marketing

Did you know these are pulled from a variety of review sites by Google intermittently, and then automatically added to your domain’s ads as long as the domain being reviewed matches up  These are known as Seller Rating Extensions, and I have noted they’re frequently missed out on by small businesses, for whom I would argue they matter most.  (Here’s the official AdWords support article.)

In the case of small businesses, reviews can help build confidence in a site/etailer that a customer may have otherwise not been familiar with. Users can be paranoid with regards to whom they provide credit card info to, and as an small business, having those seller ratings in place can help with customer’s trust levels.

To get these ratings, I have advised clients to pick 1-2 review sites they already have a profile on and drive users to those sites for a short period of time after purchasing. The cutoff is relatively small. You only need 30 total reviews with an average rating of 3.5 stars or higher.

Tying it all Together

At the end of the day, there is no silver bullet to competing with the big names on AdWords. Every vertical is going to have a different experience and it takes hard work and experimentation to become, and remain, competitive.

Through some more advanced segmentation, bid management and ad copy selection, you should eventually be able to gain a foothold in your respective niche, and hopefully that will be just the beginning.




Microsoft fixes 57 vulnerabilities on Patch Tuesday

Microsoft released 12 bulletins, five of which were rated as critical, to address 57 vulnerabilities on Patch Tuesday.

Fixing vulnerabilities in Windows, Office, Internet Explorer, Exchange and the .NET Framework, it recommended focusing on MS13-009, MS13-010 and MS13-020 as a priority.

Wolfgang Kandek, CTO of Qualys, said: “The two bulletins affecting IE are the highest priority. One of them, MS13-009, is referred to as the ‘core' IE update by Microsoft because it addresses a number of vulnerabilities directly in IE. It covers 13 bugs with all but one of them being remote code execution vulnerabilities that can be used by an attacker to gain control over a user's machine via drive-by-download. That type of attack is common and is easily accomplished by surreptitiously installing malware.”

Ziv Mador, director of security research at Trustwave, said: “If for some reason you missed the out of band update MS13-008 that was issued a few weeks ago, this update includes patches for the same vulnerability. The thirteen CVEs cover a myriad of issues mostly involving use after free vulnerabilities, which is a fancy way of describing how IE access an item in memory after it has been deleted.

“An attacker could use these vulnerabilities by creating a special web page and then getting people to visit that page either through an emailed link or compromised web site. Thankfully you don't need the problem solving abilities of a rat to protect yourself from these issues, just install the patch.”

Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle, said: “If you only have time to do the absolute minimum, you should patch Internet Explorer and Flash immediately. Both of these remote execution bugs are serious security risks, so patch all of them and patch them fast.

“We received two bulletins that include a total of 14 CVEs affecting all versions of Internet Explorer today. Both bulletins fix ‘drive-by bugs' that only require the victim to browse a website to become infected with malicious code. Maybe the reason the IE bug count is so high this month is because Microsoft's IE security team is determined to beat their bug backlog into submission. I'd hate to think that we should expect this volume of IE CVEs every month in 2013.”

The other Microsoft patch is MS13-010. Ross Barrett, senior manager of security engineering at Rapid7, said: “MS13-010 was indicated as an Internet Explorer patch in the advance notification, but is actually a patch for the VML parser, of which Internet Explorer is just one possible exploit vector.

“The VML issue is particularly dangerous because there is no way to turn off VML parsing in the browser or elsewhere, unlike ActiveX controls, Flash, or hey, even Java - sort of.”

Kandek said: “MS13-010 addresses a vulnerability in an ActiveX Dynamic-Link Library (DLL). It is rated critical and quite urgent to fix because the vulnerability is being exploited in the wild. The bug is in the VML (Vector Markup Language) DLL, the ActiveX control for the largely unused XML-based standard format for two-dimensional Vector graphics. VML has been patched twice before in 2007 and 2011 and it would probably be safest to delete it altogether, but there does not seem to be a way to do this short of disabling all ActiveX processing. Both IE updates, core and VML, should be installed as quickly as possible.”

The other priority patch, which is rated as important MS13-020 is a critical bulletin which only affects installations of Windows XP. Mador said: “This vulnerability only impacts Windows XP3 SP3, that's it. Actually it probably impacts older versions of Windows as well but Microsoft only lists currently supported versions, besides you really shouldn't be running anything older than XP SP3 anyway and even that is questionable. Exploitation requires a specially crafted file and again deals with objects in memory.

“Successful exploitation would result in remote code execution, which of course could allow the attacker to be a complete pig and take complete control of a system. Definitely not something to mess around with. To make things even worse Microsoft expects exploit code to be found in the wild for this vulnerability real soon, so get patching.”



Essex fire service deploys LogRhythm SIEM for compliance and monitoring

Essex County Fire & Rescue Service deloys integrated log management and security information and event management (SIEM) solution from LogRhythm.

Offering protection over 14 local authority areas encompassing a population of more than 1.5 million and 50 fire stations, the service was rolling out a virtual desktop infrastructure and in order to comply with GPG 13 and achieve regulatory compliance required to access the government's new Public Service Network (PSN), it selected the LogRhythm technology.

Chris Massie, ECFRS ICT security officer, said: “This, coupled with the solution's intuitive nature, has enabled us to make more progress in the first five days of deployment than we have over the past year using our previous log management tool.

“We were looking to implement a solution that would enable the proactive management of our cyber security and IT operations, not just a platform that would tick a compliance box. We attend an average of 24,490 calls a year - and we're increasingly dependent upon IT infrastructure to manage operations. Since deployment, LogRhythm's solution has already enabled us to identify and respond to a number of operational issues, which has made the running of our service more seamless and efficient.”

The service is also utilising the LogRhythm solution to improve its IT security procedures and optimise its operational efficiency and will use the platform to ensure the secure and efficient operation of its new control room, from which all emergency requests and 999 calls to the Service are to be managed.

Ross Brewer, vice president and managing director, international markets at LogRhythm, said: “Access to the government's PSN is undoubtedly essential for any public sector organisation, and with GPG 13 compliance now guaranteed, ECFRS can reap its benefits.

“Furthermore, ECFRS, like so many rescue and emergency service organisations, also faces the increasingly daunting challenge of protecting the security of its growing IT operations. By adopting a proactive protective monitoring approach, the organisation now has gained the deep level of network visibility required to significantly boost its IT security and improve operational efficiency.”



Why Your Small Business Has the Motivational Edge Over Big Companies

motivational edgeAre you looking to hire employees this year, wondering how you can keep the employees you do have from heading off for greener pastures, or struggling for ways to keep them motivated

Sometimes it seems like small businesses are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to hiring, motivation and retention, compared to big corporations that can offer higher salaries, posh benefits plans and luxurious settings. But a recent article by McKinsey (targeted, ironically, at big companies) points out the advantage small businesses have that they may not realize.

McKinsey looked at how business leaders can develop and encourage top performers in their workforce and found that, while both IQ and EQ (emotional intelligence) are important skills for bringing out the best in your team, what truly matters is the “meaning quotient” (MQ) - in other words, offering them the chance to do work that’s meaningful to them.

How can you create meaning at work

McKinsey makes three recommendations that are far more easy and natural for a small business to implement than a big one:

Don’t Just focus on How a Person’s Work Benefits the Company

Focus on how it benefits four other elements:

  • Society as a whole.
  • The customer.
  • The work team and the individual worker.

When you drill down to the individual level, whether that’s the customer or themselves, employees become more motivated. In a smaller business, it’s easy to think in terms of smaller groups and units and to see how what you do on a daily basis affects those around you.

If Steve in fulfillment doesn’t pull his weight, Cindy in shipping suffers for it.

Let Employees Write Their Own “Lottery Ticket”

In other words, let them choose what they want to work on and how they want to improve themselves and the company.

While you can’t give employees unlimited freedom here, you can (and should) encourage them to think about what aspects of your business they want to learn more about, what new skills they want to develop, where they want to be next year and the year after - and how this can benefit your business.

Motivate Employees with Small, Unexpected Rewards

Can’t afford to give a big bonus at year-end

The good news is maybe you don’t need to. McKinsey cites studies that show smaller, random rewards given at unexpected times can prove just as effective.

In fact, because they never come to be seen as expected, such “surprise” rewards can be even more valuable in motivating workers. A thank-you note, small gift or random afternoon off are examples of ways to motivate with the unexpected.

Of course, the bigger picture when it comes to creating meaning at work is that as a small business owner, you’re closer to your employees. You can learn what matters to each of them, and what meaning they find in their jobs - whether that’s solving customers’ problems so they leave with a smile, meeting increasingly higher sales quotas every quarter, or helping the others on their team.

Then, you can make sure each person gets more of what gives his or her work meaning.

How do you create meaning at work in your business




Why Your Small Business Has the Motivational Edge Over Big Companies

motivational edgeAre you looking to hire employees this year, wondering how you can keep the employees you do have from heading off for greener pastures, or struggling for ways to keep them motivated

Sometimes it seems like small businesses are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to hiring, motivation and retention, compared to big corporations that can offer higher salaries, posh benefits plans and luxurious settings. But a recent article by McKinsey (targeted, ironically, at big companies) points out the advantage small businesses have that they may not realize.

McKinsey looked at how business leaders can develop and encourage top performers in their workforce and found that, while both IQ and EQ (emotional intelligence) are important skills for bringing out the best in your team, what truly matters is the “meaning quotient” (MQ) - in other words, offering them the chance to do work that’s meaningful to them.

How can you create meaning at work

McKinsey makes three recommendations that are far more easy and natural for a small business to implement than a big one:

Don’t Just focus on How a Person’s Work Benefits the Company

Focus on how it benefits four other elements:

  • Society as a whole.
  • The customer.
  • The work team and the individual worker.

When you drill down to the individual level, whether that’s the customer or themselves, employees become more motivated. In a smaller business, it’s easy to think in terms of smaller groups and units and to see how what you do on a daily basis affects those around you.

If Steve in fulfillment doesn’t pull his weight, Cindy in shipping suffers for it.

Let Employees Write Their Own “Lottery Ticket”

In other words, let them choose what they want to work on and how they want to improve themselves and the company.

While you can’t give employees unlimited freedom here, you can (and should) encourage them to think about what aspects of your business they want to learn more about, what new skills they want to develop, where they want to be next year and the year after - and how this can benefit your business.

Motivate Employees with Small, Unexpected Rewards

Can’t afford to give a big bonus at year-end

The good news is maybe you don’t need to. McKinsey cites studies that show smaller, random rewards given at unexpected times can prove just as effective.

In fact, because they never come to be seen as expected, such “surprise” rewards can be even more valuable in motivating workers. A thank-you note, small gift or random afternoon off are examples of ways to motivate with the unexpected.

Of course, the bigger picture when it comes to creating meaning at work is that as a small business owner, you’re closer to your employees. You can learn what matters to each of them, and what meaning they find in their jobs - whether that’s solving customers’ problems so they leave with a smile, meeting increasingly higher sales quotas every quarter, or helping the others on their team.

Then, you can make sure each person gets more of what gives his or her work meaning.

How do you create meaning at work in your business




Obama announces plans for voluntary incident sharing as part of Cybersecurity Framework

Repeated cyber intrusions into critical infrastructure demonstrate the need for improved cyber security.

Speaking as part of his state of the union address to Congress, President Barack Obama said that as the cyber threat to critical infrastructure increases, there is a need to improve critical infrastructure cyber security.

He said: “It is the policy of the United States to enhance the security and resilience of the nation's critical infrastructure and to maintain a cyber environment that encourages efficiency, innovation and economic prosperity while promoting safety, security, business confidentiality, privacy, and civil liberties.

“We can achieve these goals through a partnership with the owners and operators of critical infrastructure to improve cyber security information sharing and collaboratively develop and implement risk-based standards.”

Within 120 days of this order, Obama said that the attorney general, secretary of homeland security and the director of national intelligence shall each issue instructions consistent with their authorities to ensure the timely production of unclassified reports of cyber threats to the US homeland that identify a specific targeted entity. “The instructions shall address the need to protect intelligence and law enforcement sources, methods, operations, and investigations,” he said.

He also said that the voluntary information sharing program will provide classified cyber threat and technical information from the government to eligible critical infrastructure companies or commercial service providers that offer security services to critical infrastructure.

In order to maximise the utility of cyber threat information sharing with the private sector, the secretary of homeland security shall expand the use of programs that bring private sector subject-matter experts into Federal service on a temporary basis. These subject matter experts will provide advice regarding the content, structure and types of information most useful to critical infrastructure owners and operators in reducing and mitigating cyber risks.

Information submitted voluntarily by private entities under this order shall be protected from disclosure to the fullest extent permitted by law, Obama said. A ‘Cybersecurity Framework' will be developed to reduce cyber risks to critical infrastructure and this will include a set of standards, methodologies, procedures and processes that align policy, business, and technological approaches to address cyber risks.

A preliminary version of the framework will be published within 240 days and within one year, a final version will be published.

Terry Greer-King, UK managing director for Check Point,said: “Together with the EU cyber security plan announced last week, this is a key step forward for both Governments and business in realising the need to collaborate and share intelligence to fight web attacks, and reduce their impact.”



Basecamp Launches Its First Mobile App to Help You Manage Projects

Over the past several years, countless project management and productivity apps and services have launched. Many have failed or fallen into obscurity, some are still around and fighting for more customers, and new ones are still launching regularly. But one project management platform that has stuck around and remained relevant since its launch in 2004 is Basecamp.

Now, the platform is launching its first official iOS app to help its users manage projects from their mobile devices without the use of third party apps.

basecamp mobile app

From the app, users can check on the progress of each of their projects, discuss updates with other team members, post comments and upload files, as shown in the photos above.

Though the platform has already been available on the mobile web and through third party apps like Lodge and Everest, the availability of an official application can help users ensure they’re getting a quality app with full access to their Basecamp projects.

The app is free but requires an existing Basecamp account, which range from $20 to $150 per month. The basic plan allows you to manage up to 10 projects at a time with 3GB of file storage, and the largest plan allows you to manage unlimited projects with 100GB for file storage.

Basecamp has made a couple other changes in the past year, including a complete redesign of its web app and a new app called Basecamp Personal that allows for users to manage personal projects instead of just business projects.

Basecamp continues to offer the option to use its original version, Basecamp Classic, for those who have older browsers that don’t support the new version or just prefer the older one for whatever reason. However, the official iOS app only supports projects run on the newer version of Basecamp.

Basecamp is run by 37signals, which also runs contact management app Highrise and group chat app Campfire. Basecamp was first launched on the web in 2004 and has helped users manage over 8 million projects to date.




Flaws in Adobe Reader and Flash \'exploited in the wild\'

Fresh vulnerabilities, which are being exploited in the wild, have been detected for Adobe's PDF Reader and Flash Player.

According to researchers from FireEye, there is a PDF zero-day which is being exploited in the wild, with the company's researchers having observed successful exploitation on the Adobe PDF Reader versions 9.5.3, 10.1.5, and 11.0.1.

It said: “Upon successful exploitation, it will drop two DLLs. The first DLL shows a fake error message and opens a decoy PDF document, which is usually common in targeted attacks. The second DLL in turn drops the callback component, which talks to a remote domain.

“We have already submitted the sample to the Adobe security team. Before we get confirmation from Adobe and a mitigation plan is available, we suggest that you not open any unknown PDF files.”

Also, research by Kaspersky Lab has identified a zero-day vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player (CVE-2013-0633) that was also being actively exploited in targeted attacks. This impacts Windows, Mac OS X and Linux operating systems, as well as a number of earlier versions of Android.

It said: “The vulnerability was being used in a series of targeted attacks that were designed to trick victims into opening a spear-phishing email with a Microsoft Word document, which contained malicious Flash (SWF) content.  The majority of attacks analysed by Kaspersky Lab were targeted against human rights activists and political dissidents from Africa and the Middle East.”

Adobe released a security update for this issue, saying it was aware of reports of this vulnerability being exploited in the wild.



Why to Blog

Why to blog According to Wikipedia , a blog (a mixture of web and log) is an individual journal published at the World-wide-web which includes discrete entries typically displayed in reverse chronological order so the newest post appears first. Blogs are frequently the work of a single individual, occasionally of a small group, and regularly are themed on a single subject. Blog is also used as a verb, desiring to maintain or add content to a blog.

Before blogging became popular, digital communities took many forms, including Usenet, commercial online services similar to GEnie, BiX and the early CompuServe, e-mail lists and Bulletin Board Systems (BBS). Inside the 1990s, Internt forum software, created running conversations with "threads." Threads are topical connections between messages on a virtual "corkboard."

Then why to blog

Every day, Blogging is becoming a growing number of popular. There are millions of blogger blogging on different genres.  People blog for numerous reasons.  Some bloggers blog to share knowledge, some blog as hobby and a few blog to make some money. There are not any concrete it is because people blog. Following points can assist you're making your decision about blogging.

1. To specific Thoughts and Opinions

Blog is definitely one of the best places to share something and be heard. In case you choose a www.blogspot.com or www.blog.com , which you could speak your words without spending a dime. Wh! enever you choose a hosting company, you should pay to initialize your blogging platform.

2. To advertise products or service

One of the most cost effective sort of promoting services, products and other things is a blog. So people choose blogs to advertise their products or service.

3. To assist People

Blog is likewise an area where people share something similar they experienced. These types of blog are very helpful to get and supply solution for a selected problem. Blogs concerning health related and parenting are written for this purpose.

4. To introduce yourself as an Expert

Blogs are amazing tools to assist bloggers recognize themselves as experts in a field or topic. In case you are looking for a role or looking to build a career in a specific field, blogging may also help legitimize your expertiseand expand your online presence and platform.

5. To connect to Similar people

Blogging helps to bring people of same thinking and opinion in a standard place. Whilst you start a blog, yow will discover individuals who would like to share same opinion, knowledge, feelings and thoughts.

7. To remain Updated in a Field or Topic

Success of any blog mostly relies on frequency of posts and freshness of knowledge you provide. Blogs enables you to be updated for your field.

8. To remain Connected with Friends and Family

Due to the discovery of Internet, The realm has become a small village. Blogs are the good methods to be connected for your friends and families from any portion of the arena by sharing photos, videos and things of interest.

9. To earn Money

! Blogs have become more popular tool to generate money from online advertisement. Notwithstanding, most bloggers are not making some huge cash blogging, but there's a great potential. All you want is dedication, labor, practice and patience. 

10. Finally, to Have Fun

Blogging may be a hobby for most people. They take it as a fun. People have hobby to share knowledge through a blog. 

Now, suggest me when you have any further reason to blog. Happy Blogging!!!!