Creating the Right Deal For You and Your Affiliates #AMDays

Editor’s Note:  This is the second in our series of live coverage from the Affiliate Management Days conference. Creating the right deal for you and your affiliates is the topic in this 2nd article in the 2013 series. This series of articles is on topics of interest to businesses that offer affiliate programs. More coverage of #AMDays.

Declan Dunn (pictured), CEO of Dunn Direct Media, spoke at #AMDays about the art of creating the right deal. He spoke about the ongoing challenge of balancing the high acquisition cost of affiliate programs with the right payout to motivate and qualify affiliates.

Here are highlights of his session.  There are 3 things to consider when creating the right deal for affiliates - one that works for you and for your affiliates:

• Mobile:  If you’re not doing mobile, you’re going to be dead in 5 years.
• Data:  Start learning about really managing data.  By understanding data you can determine why customers and affiliates are loyal, and what the long term value of each is.
• Social:  Social media is a communication channel, not an advertising platform. The real value of a business is how many people bought from you more than once. Social influence comes through when social validation happens.

If you are on social or mobile, you probably see affiliates every day, without even thinking about it. The next generation of affiliate marketers will be be data people.  Five percent (5%) of affiliates generate all your sales. If that’s the case, you’re not looking for affiliates â€" you’re just looking for that 5%.

When you go out and just copy your competition, you are creating no opportunity to differentiate yourself. Adapt and find your own swing of things.

Do you predict when your customers are most likely to buy Do you ask qualifying questions  Do you use data to convert higher sales  What are the key action points and key data points asked of you that you need to keep track of and have access to in order to make better decisions

You’re going to hear about people talking about attribution, multi-touch points, and it’s not because people are being difficult, but because people are on multiple devices for multiple reasons.

You want to learn how to do mobile properly Get your attention out of the United States.  Focus on Asia and Europe where they  are exponentially more advanced in mobile strategies and data analysis than we are here in the United States.

Who are the best affiliates

1. They get attention in social to drive qualified leads
2. High Intention to Buy - Qualify
3. Repeat Customer Retention

New customers - this is what it looks like right now:

• Direct visits (new don’t have to pay to get these customers to your site) - 20%
• Organic Search  - 16%
• Paid Search - 11%
• Others (e.g. CSEs - comparison shopping engines) - 11%
• Email - 5%
• Affiliates - 3%
• Social - <1%

Creating the Deal - Choose from 3:

1. Flat CPA - Customer Acquisition Cost
2. Per Sale Commission - doesn’t work for either party.
3. Per Lead - Financial leads run $5 - $500 at least.

Social is driven by status and subscription. Check out SilverSaver.com - these guys target women in a heavily male dominated industry. No one can touch them because they are going after an industry everyone else is too scared to touch.

Do You Have Business Relationships or Mere Entanglements

There was a time not long ago, when most business owners considered it a hostile world. They were at odds with their competitors, with labor and with their community. They felt at the mercy of the economy, the environment and the government. In short, it was “us” against a pretty big “them.”

But there has been a shift in the landscape. Today collaboration is becoming the norm. To survive and thrive as business owners, we must work in harmony with our community, with our labor force and for the benefit of the environment. They, in turn, have to work with us. We must each be cognizant of and communicate about our needs and our limitations. We must seek solutions together that benefit all parties.

It can be a scary thing to start trusting entities that you have always viewed with suspicion. Perhaps you have had bad experiences with some constituencies that seemed to be out to drive you under. But it is worth noting that these other parties are under the same pressure as you to adapt to a new environment that is more collaborative and more interconnected.

Survival is no longer you or me. It is now you and me - or it will be neither of us.

The business interactions we had in the past were often strained ones. If we dared to call them relationships, it is safe to say that we were in need of “couple’s therapy.” Our relationships with our workers, with our suppliers and with our neighbors may have hardly been relationships at all by any meaningful definition of the word. It would be more accurate to call them entanglements. When things get tangled, there is a lot of twisting and pulling. It is frustrating and time consuming. In short, it is not good business.

At this juncture, we can no longer settle for entanglements. We need true relationships. When you are in a relationship, you care about the other party. You also count on them.

So how do you upgrade your previous business entanglements to real relationships

Recognize that Giving and Receiving are Two Sides of the Same Coin

One does not exist without the other. There is no coin with heads but no tails. If you think, “I’ll worry about my heads, they can worry about their own tails,” I promise you will find yourself getting old paradigm results in a new paradigm world. The real world will pass you by. Let me translate that into business terms: It will cost you money.

Giving and receiving are not the same as giving and taking. Taking is the old way of doing business and it is not even present in the new model. Receiving replaces taking, upgrades it, really. Receiving requires a willing giver. Taking never did. You cannot sustain a business if you are regularly dealing with the unwilling, whether they are your employees, your investors, your customers or anyone else.

If you come at these relationships with the expressed or even unexpressed intent of remaining “in charge,” you will weaken the relationship. That is not to say that present hierarchies need to change. You still get to be your employee’s boss or your supplier’s customer. It’s just that it’s not about domination, but rather cooperation. Fully take on your role. If you are a superior in that role, recognize you also must be a protector and benefactor in the truest sense.

These true relationships have some new overhead, but they also have valuable benefits that more than offset your investment in them. Someone has to go first, though. You are a leader. That means it ought to be you. People like leaders and they will follow. So lead.

There are the occasional few who won’t follow, no matter how well you lead. They don’t want a relationship, they expect to stick with the old, substandard arrangement of entanglement.

So how do you let go of entanglements that will never become relationships

Recognize Them for What They Are

Just because you have always bought from Prickly Supply Corp. doesn’t mean it is worth it to stay with them. While familiarity is a factor in a relationship, it is only one. The best price often comes with other costs. So does the best selection or the fastest delivery or the longest terms. You have to weigh all factors. If they don’t care about you, the day will come when the price will be too high, and yet you will still be obliged to pay it. Get in front of that curve by finding the people who are your supporters in the companies that are your supporters.

It all begins and ends with people. One person you know you can count on in the shipping department can make all the difference. Maybe it’s someone in accounting or customer service. Yes, it can even be someone in sales. Sales people as a group have often had an unlovely reputation. But as the world shifts, so do sales people. In fact, they are at the forefront of this shift. Look for sales people you can count on. More and more come online every day. For those that can’t or won’t get with the program, it is time to say your goodbyes.

You can ask for new contacts: New contacts in sales, in service, in accounting, in shipping and more. Sometimes the answer is, there is no one else. If that’s the case, make your choices mindfully. Just remember, entanglements are burdensome.

Breaking an entanglement isn’t necessarily permanent. I know a beautiful company that has rehired a certain employee twice after twice letting him going for not being committed enough to their relationship. They continue to be on good terms. They remained on good terms even after firing him. It’s not about making anyone wrong or punishing anyone. It’s just about setting a high standard for the mutual care between you, and then living it.

Some of our entanglements exist because of other relationships. Hiring your nephew might not have been as great for business as it was for family. Really though, you aren’t doing Nephew or Auntie any favors if you allow for a dependent or codependent entanglement to exist. Nepotism gets a bad rap. There is nothing wrong with familiarity opening doors. But it’s a real relationship that keeps those doors open. Be flexible but strong.

Business is about people. It’s about relationships. It’s about working together, not just for the common good but for the good of each individual. As this standard rises, all of society rises. We entrepreneurs are at the head of this charge. Society will follow. So foster strong business relationships. The world needs it.

Tangled Photo via Shutterstock

How to Recruit Better Value Affiliates #AMDays

Editor’s Note:  Once again we bring you hot-off-the-press live coverage from the Affiliate Management Days conference. How to recruit better affiliates, i.e., better value affiliates, is the topic in this 1st article in the 2013 series. This series of articles is on topics of interest to businesses that offer affiliate programs. More coverage of #AMDays.

Speaking to an audience of affiliate managers, Sarah Bundy, CEO of All Inclusive Marketing (pictured), focused on the necessity to diversify your portfolio of affiliates. Key theme:  reduce dependency on common affiliate channels such as coupon sites.  By learning how to recruit better affiliates, you can increase merchant profits.

Below are some of the key takeaways from this packed session.

Eighty to ninety percent of affiliate programs are relying for most of their affiliate sales on coupon and loyalty sites.  Based on their traffic strategies, these sites may not be providing incremental sales  There is a place for working with coupon sites. The reality is people want coupons. Brand loyalty is higher when coupons are involved.  However, coupon sites are better for customer retention versus customer acquisition.  They will not bring the incremental sales your program needs to be truly successful.

Why is Coupon / Loyalty Site Dependency Bad 

• Customers leave your site to find codes
•  High cost of customer acquisition
• Dependency:  should have diversity in affiliates
•  Brand dependent
•  New apps and tools are taking these sales away - examples are digital wallets and Google’s new coupon tools
• Coupon sites reply heaving on brand terms

There are more efficient ways to work with coupon sites.  Partner with coupon sites that can give you more.  Examples would be the ability to promote your product via blogs or newsletter.  You will reach people who did not know your brand.  Then they are giving more back.  Now you have received incremental value.

Alternative Affiliates to Recruit

Sarah shared these tips for how to recruit better affilites:

Partner with 100 semi-influential bloggers with an exclusive offer.  You get a unique story, images, etc.  New customer acquisition.  These are incremental sales.

Podcasters also bring you incremental sales.  Higher conversion rate because they have a strong connection with their users.

YouTube personalities, podcasters and  ‘semi’ influentials  provide you incremental sales and ability to reach audiences you have not reached before.

Don’t forget you can work with online and offline magazines as well. Be open to different ways to track such as tracking through coupon codes and pay per call.

Private consultants are a great resource and many times overlooked.  Look for someone who does presentations to or work with clients in their industry’s niche.

Institutions such as schools and church groups can be very successful.  Similar to loyalty but will require offline solutions as well.

Benefits of Alternative Recruitment Channels:

• Higher AOV (average order value)
• Higher click-through
• Higher conversions
• New hard-to-reach targeted traffic
• Brand exposure

Affiliate recruitment needs to be a huge piece of your affiliate strategy to diversify. It should be part of your everyday tasks.  There are resources for this piece if you do not have the time.  Below are examples of strategies for how to recruit these high value affiliates.

Strategies for How to Recruit Better Affiliates:

• Attend popular conferences but especially BlogHer and Blogworld and any of the niche shows.
• Local meetups are a great source for affiliate recruitment. Affiliate Summit also has local meet ups.
• Direct mail also works, such as handwritten notes.  Just be sure to include a call to action and contact information.
• Send personal video messages on YouTube; upload and use the target’s name in it; be personable.  This is great for bloggers who utilize YouTube. It really catches their attention.
• Be sure to comment on the blogs you are approaching.
• Run your own PPC (pay per click) and remarketing ads for keywords like “kids clothes affiliate program.”  Retarget based on signup page.  AdRoll is a great solution as is remarketing on Facebook.
• Look for people who are already referencing you and reach out. Great free tools are  Google Alerts and Analytics.  They already have a connection and recognition.
• Referrals/2nd tier:  partners invite partners.
• Be active on affiliate forums such as ABestWeb, Affiliates4U (Europe) and vertical and niche forums.
• Maximize your network tools such as a network newsletter, network mailer, sponsorship opportunities, network sub forums.
• Create a merchant-branded affiliate blog for all affiliates to get more information.  Also works for SEO.  Be sure to include a prominent program signup link.
• Be active on all the social media platforms.
• LinkedIn is one of the easiest affiliate recruitment tools in social media.
• Check out your competitors using various webmaster tools and look at their backlinks.
• Affiliate directories.  They rank well in the search engines.

If you provide better tools to your affiliates than your competition, the affiliate will choose your program. Offer tracking strategies for online and offline options.

How to Recruit Better Value Affiliates #AMDays

Editor’s Note:  Once again we bring you hot-off-the-press live coverage from the Affiliate Management Days conference. How to recruit better affiliates, i.e., better value affiliates, is the topic in this 1st article in the 2013 series. This series of articles is on topics of interest to businesses that offer affiliate programs. More coverage of #AMDays.

Speaking to an audience of affiliate managers, Sarah Bundy, CEO of All Inclusive Marketing (pictured), focused on the necessity to diversify your portfolio of affiliates. Key theme:  reduce dependency on common affiliate channels such as coupon sites.  By learning how to recruit better affiliates, you can increase merchant profits.

Below are some of the key takeaways from this packed session.

Eighty to ninety percent of affiliate programs are relying for most of their affiliate sales on coupon and loyalty sites.  Based on their traffic strategies, these sites may not be providing incremental sales  There is a place for working with coupon sites. The reality is people want coupons. Brand loyalty is higher when coupons are involved.  However, coupon sites are better for customer retention versus customer acquisition.  They will not bring the incremental sales your program needs to be truly successful.

Why is Coupon / Loyalty Site Dependency Bad 

• Customers leave your site to find codes
•  High cost of customer acquisition
• Dependency:  should have diversity in affiliates
•  Brand dependent
•  New apps and tools are taking these sales away - examples are digital wallets and Google’s new coupon tools
• Coupon sites reply heaving on brand terms

There are more efficient ways to work with coupon sites.  Partner with coupon sites that can give you more.  Examples would be the ability to promote your product via blogs or newsletter.  You will reach people who did not know your brand.  Then they are giving more back.  Now you have received incremental value.

Alternative Affiliates to Recruit

Sarah shared these tips for how to recruit better affilites:

Partner with 100 semi-influential bloggers with an exclusive offer.  You get a unique story, images, etc.  New customer acquisition.  These are incremental sales.

Podcasters also bring you incremental sales.  Higher conversion rate because they have a strong connection with their users.

YouTube personalities, podcasters and  ‘semi’ influentials  provide you incremental sales and ability to reach audiences you have not reached before.

Don’t forget you can work with online and offline magazines as well. Be open to different ways to track such as tracking through coupon codes and pay per call.

Private consultants are a great resource and many times overlooked.  Look for someone who does presentations to or work with clients in their industry’s niche.

Institutions such as schools and church groups can be very successful.  Similar to loyalty but will require offline solutions as well.

Benefits of Alternative Recruitment Channels:

• Higher AOV (average order value)
• Higher click-through
• Higher conversions
• New hard-to-reach targeted traffic
• Brand exposure

Affiliate recruitment needs to be a huge piece of your affiliate strategy to diversify. It should be part of your everyday tasks.  There are resources for this piece if you do not have the time.  Below are examples of strategies for how to recruit these high value affiliates.

Strategies for How to Recruit Better Affiliates:

• Attend popular conferences but especially BlogHer and Blogworld and any of the niche shows.
• Local meetups are a great source for affiliate recruitment. Affiliate Summit also has local meet ups.
• Direct mail also works, such as handwritten notes.  Just be sure to include a call to action and contact information.
• Send personal video messages on YouTube; upload and use the target’s name in it; be personable.  This is great for bloggers who utilize YouTube. It really catches their attention.
• Be sure to comment on the blogs you are approaching.
• Run your own PPC (pay per click) and remarketing ads for keywords like “kids clothes affiliate program.”  Retarget based on signup page.  AdRoll is a great solution as is remarketing on Facebook.
• Look for people who are already referencing you and reach out. Great free tools are  Google Alerts and Analytics.  They already have a connection and recognition.
• Referrals/2nd tier:  partners invite partners.
• Be active on affiliate forums such as ABestWeb, Affiliates4U (Europe) and vertical and niche forums.
• Maximize your network tools such as a network newsletter, network mailer, sponsorship opportunities, network sub forums.
• Create a merchant-branded affiliate blog for all affiliates to get more information.  Also works for SEO.  Be sure to include a prominent program signup link.
• Be active on all the social media platforms.
• LinkedIn is one of the easiest affiliate recruitment tools in social media.
• Check out your competitors using various webmaster tools and look at their backlinks.
• Affiliate directories.  They rank well in the search engines.

If you provide better tools to your affiliates than your competition, the affiliate will choose your program. Offer tracking strategies for online and offline options.

Emerging antiphishing tools use testing, training to educate users

Phishing attacks have been a thorn in the side of IT security professionals for years. Yet an emerging category of antiphishing products seeks to help organizations thwart phishing with, oddly enough, more phishing.

A new breed of antiphishing tools and services are emerging in enterprises' security arsenals: simulated phishing offerings that test employees' ability to spot social engineering attacks.

Even though the average Internet user knows that phishing is a common tactic used by adversaries to trick users into sharing sensitive information or implant malware on a target system, it remains among the most consistently successful methods for perpetrating cyberattacks.

"Phishing, and the more targeted and sophisticated spearphishing, is becoming the weapon of choice for the modern cybercriminal and is used by the most sophisticated hackers for data and intellectual property theft," said Perry Carpenter, a former Gartner Inc. security awareness analyst now working as an information security practitioner in the financial sector.

The growth in mobile and nontraditional types of enterprise computing may do little to put a dent in phishing. In fact, an RSA study found that employees are three times more likely to fall for phishing attacks on mobile devices than on PCs.

Phishme Inc. and Wombat Security Technologies Inc. are two of the vendors that have developed training products that help enterprise employees recognize and thwart phishing. Security teams select and customize messages sent to employees. The vendors' antiphishing tools then monitor the employees' responses and provide security pros with reports about how well the workers fared. Organizations can then focus on the problem incidents and develop various training exercises that instruct employees about their points of failure. Employee performance data can be grouped so security professionals can determine if group or individual training is needed.

Businesses can vary the tests during the year and continually monitor employees' adherence to corporate security policies. Companies not only decrease the likelihood that phishing will be the method of entry for malicious software, but also mitigate risk across any device through which a user can receive an electronic message -- desktops, notebooks, tablets and smartphones.

The early results are promising. A Wombat survey found that almost 35% of employees at a Fortune 50 company were victimized by an initial simulated phishing attack. After completing antiphishing-focused interactive training modules, fewer than 6% fell for the second attack, which meant an 84% decrease in susceptibility.

But there are some challenges in deploying such simulated phishing products and services. "Employees may develop a lack of trust if they find that companies are secretly testing them," Carpenter noted. Businesses will need to outline the reasons for their actions, he said, and have employees buy into the need for such measures.

"The best way to use these tools is integrating them into application-level training -- say, showing employees how to use the company email system," said Eric Ogren, principal analyst at Stow, Mass.-based security consultancy The Ogren Group.

However, a one-time test yields only temporary results. To be effective, Ogren said, businesses need to challenge employees' actions on a recurring basis. Since the tests are unique, enterprises need to spend time and effort developing them. The same holds true for the training efforts. As a result, firms may find it difficult to fund and maintain these programs.

About the author:
Paul Korzeniowski is a freelance writer specializing in technology issues. He is based in Sudbury, Mass., and can be reached at paulkorzen@aol.com.

Gift Cards For Your Small Business Become A Reality With New POS Solution

Until now, you needed a very sophisticated point-of-sale (POS) unit to offer a gift card program that’s easily manageable. In today’s climate, that’s still mostly true. Most of these systems require budgets that small business owners don’t have. Of course, that didn’t stop innovators from creating cloud-based and sleek POS systems that you can use in your retail establishment.

Today, the cloud makes many parts of your business run on autopilot without necessitating an enormous amount of money. NCR is the kind of company that says, “Why can’t that logic be applied to gift cards, too”

According to the company, only 10 percent of businesses currently offer gift cards. The other 90 percent consider such a thing cost-prohibitive because of the equipment needed to run such an operation. Other solutions to this problem include Triplefy’s gift voucher software. However, the system presents new challenges that might not entice some small business establishments. The ideal all-around solution is a POS setup that can give the same amount of flexibility to customers while not removing a drop of productivity.

Meet NCR Silver, a mobile POS solution that runs on mobile (Apple iOS) hardware. They offer a hardware bundle that gives you everything you need to run the POS from a fixed location. The bundle contains a cash drawer, a credit card reader, and a countertop receipt printer for just under $500. Note that you do not need the bundle to operate with NCR Silver. It’s just there to enhance your experience with fully-compatible accessories.

But the extraordinary thing about this solution is that it lets you run your own gift card operation within its software, extending your possibilities and helping you reach out to new customers. Gift cards carry an additional benefit: most customers purchasing with gift cards spend an additional $30, on average.

NCR’s Silver service costs $79 per month for your first POS, with a one-month contract-free trial. Every device you add will cost 10 cents per transaction, per month, adding up to a maximum of $29 per month. Once you reach that maximum, you don’t pay anything over that.

Whether you’re looking for a lighter-weight POS system to replace your clunky old one, or you’re looking to add your first one, this particular solution expands your horizons and keeps all your sales data tidy.

SSH keys audited automatically by free tool

The Secure Shell protocol gets extremely wide use within enterprise organizations, but it's not without its administrative headaches. For one thing, the key pairs that are the foundation of the security offered by the protocol have proliferated in recent years, to the point where large organizations often have millions of keys in circulation. Because tracking them is a mounting concern, SSH Communications Security will release a free tool, SSH Risk Assessor, next week. Made available in conjunction with the Infosecurity Europe event in London, the tool provides administrators with a clear report on risk and compliance exposures in Secure Shell environments.

Tatu Ylönen, CEO and founder of SSH Communications Security, said in a phone interview that it's precisely because SSH "is used very widely in the data center and at all levels of machine-to-machine communication" that keys are proliferating wildly. Traditionally, one might have imagined one account using one key -- "that's what I always thought!" Ylönen said -- but administrators often find it quicker to issue a new key than to keep, track and control existing ones.

Ylönen said he is aware of a large financial institute that employs 200 administrators, "and they estimated that they spend 10% of their time on administration of SSH keys. Places like this can save millions of dollars a year by reducing the time they spend on this."

To use the SSH Risk Assessor (SRA)tool, organizations run a data collection script on each host. The results, aggregated and analyzed by a second component, show vulnerabilities in the environment, basic statistics on SSH keys deployed and specific violations of best current practices. Ylönen is one of three co-authors of a draft Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) recommended practice guidance document.

Ylönen said, "SRA provides an easy way for enterprises and government agencies to determine if there are risk and compliance issues with respect to who has access to what information in their SSH environment. With compliance authorities preparing to create specific requirements regarding access controls in SSH environments, SRA is a critical tool that will help auditors and security teams scope the size of the issue and create awareness with IT executives."

4 Tools To Increase Your Productivity And 8 Things You Can Do With Newfound Spare Time

If you’re running a small business, chances are you might find yourself having a hard time finding minutes in the day for everything you need to do. Are you as efficient as you could be Are your time management skills up to the challenge

Well, there are a couple of things you can do to SEE how you’re spending your time. It’s like a self-audit on your time. CMIT Solutions was kind enough to send us a list of ways to keep tabs on your time to identify waste, and opportunities for increased productivity.

Check it out:

Remember the Milk

Probably the most ubiquitous time tracking tool out there, Remember the Milk is available as a web app and on most popular smartphones. Remember the Milk seamlessly integrates with Outlook, Google Calendars, and Gmail. It even works with Siri.

Daily Agenda

In a perfect world, all our daily activities would be managed on a single calendar, but sometimes that’s just not possible. Your business appointments in Outlook, your family activities in Google or iCal, social events in Facebook, and the myriad of other group and community calendars that we inevitably subscribe to in order to stay on top of thingsâ€"Daily Agenda will keep track of them all in a single app. Supports Notification Center in devices running iOS 5 and up.

Timy

If you use Basecamp for project management, Timy is an excellent tool for tracking time, as it integrates nicely with Basecamp’s billing system. Available for many smartphone platforms, Timy is a breeze for task-management on the go.

Microsoft Outlook

Yes, even Microsoft Outlook can be used as a time-tracking tool. You’ll just need to enable the “Journal” feature. In Outlook 2010, go to Fileâ†'Optionsâ†'Notes and Journal, the click the button that says “Journal Options.” Check which activities and applications you’d like Outlook to keep track of, and Outlook will record them in a convenient journal.

Check out our archives for more tips on increasing employee productivity!

Now, you’re probably saying to yourself, “Vincenzo, what am I supposed to do with all my free time once I’ve optimized my productivity” I’m glad you asked. You could:

• Go on a trip
• Start another business
• Spend time with your family
• Join Vine.co and make a bunch of six second videos about your food
• Teach a horse to jump over hedges
• Learn Mandarin Chinese
• Start a secret society
• Fashion a hat from old board games you have lying around

The possibilities are really limitless. Maybe you can suggest a few more in the comments! What are you going to do with all your newfound spare time And let us know how you optimized your productivity!

5 Tools to Create Your 2013 Spring and Summer Event Calendar

If you’re a globetrotting type who likes to take in industry events and conferences as a regular way of staying in touch with your profession, you know that keeping track of the ever-changing cities, events and venues can be a full-time job in and of itself.

Luckily, there are a wide variety of tools out there that can help make that job easier, keeping track of your comings and goings so that you don’t have to.

Below are five tools, along with event examples of events in a variety of niches, to help you to create your own event calendar through the spring/summer of 2013. (Check out more events to add to the calendar here.)

1. April 2013: Google Calendar / Google Docs and Pubcon

It’s easy to mention Google Calendar as our first entry, even if only because it is one of the most well-used online calendars in the world, allowing you to have private calendars, calendars that are shared with friends and colleagues and the all-important reminders to help to keep you on your toes about what’s up next.

Google Docs is another great tool to use here. Here’s a good example of conferences in the Google Doc (courtesy of StateOfSearch):

When filling in your Google Calendar for April 2013, consider adding a stop at Pubcon New Orleans conference, the place to be for learning about the present and future of Internet Marketing - and how your business endeavors can benefit from it.

2. May 2013: CalendarsQuick and Mom 2.0 Summit

If online calendars aren’t your thing, CalendarsQuick offers you the ability to quickly and easily design your own calendars to print, allowing you to fill them in with every imaginable bit of information before making it available to grace your wall.

Before you hit the print button on your May 2013 calendar, be sure to include the Mom 2.0 Summit on your to-do list, an event that aims to bring together women and mothers of all stripes to learn about how to take their professional endeavors to new heights, networking all the while.

3. June 2013: ReminderFox and EmMeCon

If a full-fledged calendar application simply falls outside of your humble means, the ReminderFox plugin for Firefox is an excellent tool that gets right to the business of giving you a heads up about a given event, without the need to add anything other than a title, a date and a time.

For your June entry, everyone in business should think about the possibility of attending EmMeCon 2013 in San Francisco, a place where business leaders and the technologists who provide them with the tools for success congregate to exchange expertise and contact information.

4. July 2013: RSSCalendar and MozCon

In some cases - as a blogger, for example - you may want to make your event itinerary available to your readers. For these cases, RSSCalendar is exactly the tool that you need. Via a slick and easy to use interface, you can create simple event listings for yourself, then instantly republish them for the world to see in an RSS feed.

If there is only a single event entry in your calendar for July 2013, it should most definitely be MozCon, a Seattle-based conference that will bring together the best minds in SEO (search engine optimization), SEM (search engine marketing) and social media to discuss the direction of the Web, and how businesses can best climb aboard for the ride.

5. August 2013: Outlook and An Event Apart

Deserving of at least an honorable mention is the well-used calendar functionality to be found in Microsoft Outlook, a piece of software that most of us use, but few of us really give the credit it deserves.

Tack on the use of Office 365, a cloud-based technology from Microsoft that many businesses are implementing, and you’ve got the ability to collaborate with others as you keep track of the events you’ll be attending, all from within your email client.

Finally, to top off your summer with style, check out An Event Apart in Washington, DC, a gathering strictly aimed at people who design for the Web. Workshops, keynotes and hands-on sessions will abound, helping you to stay ahead of the curve in the ever-evolving business of making beautiful, functional designs.

Image Credit: 1.

5 Tools to Create Your 2013 Spring and Summer Event Calendar

If you’re a globetrotting type who likes to take in industry events and conferences as a regular way of staying in touch with your profession, you know that keeping track of the ever-changing cities, events and venues can be a full-time job in and of itself.

Luckily, there are a wide variety of tools out there that can help make that job easier, keeping track of your comings and goings so that you don’t have to.

Below are five tools, along with event examples of events in a variety of niches, to help you to create your own event calendar through the spring/summer of 2013. (Check out more events to add to the calendar here.)

1. April 2013: Google Calendar / Google Docs and Pubcon

It’s easy to mention Google Calendar as our first entry, even if only because it is one of the most well-used online calendars in the world, allowing you to have private calendars, calendars that are shared with friends and colleagues and the all-important reminders to help to keep you on your toes about what’s up next.

Google Docs is another great tool to use here. Here’s a good example of conferences in the Google Doc (courtesy of StateOfSearch):

When filling in your Google Calendar for April 2013, consider adding a stop at Pubcon New Orleans conference, the place to be for learning about the present and future of Internet Marketing - and how your business endeavors can benefit from it.

2. May 2013: CalendarsQuick and Mom 2.0 Summit

If online calendars aren’t your thing, CalendarsQuick offers you the ability to quickly and easily design your own calendars to print, allowing you to fill them in with every imaginable bit of information before making it available to grace your wall.

Before you hit the print button on your May 2013 calendar, be sure to include the Mom 2.0 Summit on your to-do list, an event that aims to bring together women and mothers of all stripes to learn about how to take their professional endeavors to new heights, networking all the while.

3. June 2013: ReminderFox and EmMeCon

If a full-fledged calendar application simply falls outside of your humble means, the ReminderFox plugin for Firefox is an excellent tool that gets right to the business of giving you a heads up about a given event, without the need to add anything other than a title, a date and a time.

For your June entry, everyone in business should think about the possibility of attending EmMeCon 2013 in San Francisco, a place where business leaders and the technologists who provide them with the tools for success congregate to exchange expertise and contact information.

4. July 2013: RSSCalendar and MozCon

In some cases - as a blogger, for example - you may want to make your event itinerary available to your readers. For these cases, RSSCalendar is exactly the tool that you need. Via a slick and easy to use interface, you can create simple event listings for yourself, then instantly republish them for the world to see in an RSS feed.

If there is only a single event entry in your calendar for July 2013, it should most definitely be MozCon, a Seattle-based conference that will bring together the best minds in SEO (search engine optimization), SEM (search engine marketing) and social media to discuss the direction of the Web, and how businesses can best climb aboard for the ride.

5. August 2013: Outlook and An Event Apart

Deserving of at least an honorable mention is the well-used calendar functionality to be found in Microsoft Outlook, a piece of software that most of us use, but few of us really give the credit it deserves.

Tack on the use of Office 365, a cloud-based technology from Microsoft that many businesses are implementing, and you’ve got the ability to collaborate with others as you keep track of the events you’ll be attending, all from within your email client.

Finally, to top off your summer with style, check out An Event Apart in Washington, DC, a gathering strictly aimed at people who design for the Web. Workshops, keynotes and hands-on sessions will abound, helping you to stay ahead of the curve in the ever-evolving business of making beautiful, functional designs.

Image Credit: 1.

5 Tools to Create Your 2013 Spring and Summer Event Calendar

If you’re a globetrotting type who likes to take in industry events and conferences as a regular way of staying in touch with your profession, you know that keeping track of the ever-changing cities, events and venues can be a full-time job in and of itself.

Luckily, there are a wide variety of tools out there that can help make that job easier, keeping track of your comings and goings so that you don’t have to.

Below are five tools, along with event examples of events in a variety of niches, to help you to create your own event calendar through the spring/summer of 2013. (Check out more events to add to the calendar here.)

1. April 2013: Google Calendar / Google Docs and Pubcon

It’s easy to mention Google Calendar as our first entry, even if only because it is one of the most well-used online calendars in the world, allowing you to have private calendars, calendars that are shared with friends and colleagues and the all-important reminders to help to keep you on your toes about what’s up next.

Google Docs is another great tool to use here. Here’s a good example of conferences in the Google Doc (courtesy of StateOfSearch):

When filling in your Google Calendar for April 2013, consider adding a stop at Pubcon New Orleans conference, the place to be for learning about the present and future of Internet Marketing - and how your business endeavors can benefit from it.

2. May 2013: CalendarsQuick and Mom 2.0 Summit

If online calendars aren’t your thing, CalendarsQuick offers you the ability to quickly and easily design your own calendars to print, allowing you to fill them in with every imaginable bit of information before making it available to grace your wall.

Before you hit the print button on your May 2013 calendar, be sure to include the Mom 2.0 Summit on your to-do list, an event that aims to bring together women and mothers of all stripes to learn about how to take their professional endeavors to new heights, networking all the while.

3. June 2013: ReminderFox and EmMeCon

If a full-fledged calendar application simply falls outside of your humble means, the ReminderFox plugin for Firefox is an excellent tool that gets right to the business of giving you a heads up about a given event, without the need to add anything other than a title, a date and a time.

For your June entry, everyone in business should think about the possibility of attending EmMeCon 2013 in San Francisco, a place where business leaders and the technologists who provide them with the tools for success congregate to exchange expertise and contact information.

4. July 2013: RSSCalendar and MozCon

In some cases - as a blogger, for example - you may want to make your event itinerary available to your readers. For these cases, RSSCalendar is exactly the tool that you need. Via a slick and easy to use interface, you can create simple event listings for yourself, then instantly republish them for the world to see in an RSS feed.

If there is only a single event entry in your calendar for July 2013, it should most definitely be MozCon, a Seattle-based conference that will bring together the best minds in SEO (search engine optimization), SEM (search engine marketing) and social media to discuss the direction of the Web, and how businesses can best climb aboard for the ride.

5. August 2013: Outlook and An Event Apart

Deserving of at least an honorable mention is the well-used calendar functionality to be found in Microsoft Outlook, a piece of software that most of us use, but few of us really give the credit it deserves.

Tack on the use of Office 365, a cloud-based technology from Microsoft that many businesses are implementing, and you’ve got the ability to collaborate with others as you keep track of the events you’ll be attending, all from within your email client.

Finally, to top off your summer with style, check out An Event Apart in Washington, DC, a gathering strictly aimed at people who design for the Web. Workshops, keynotes and hands-on sessions will abound, helping you to stay ahead of the curve in the ever-evolving business of making beautiful, functional designs.

Image Credit: 1.

New Small Business Success Podcast From SCORE Answers Burning Questions

A great new resource for small businesses is coming from SCORE. They’re launching a small business podcast, which is great news for small business owners looking for more valuable resources to help them grow and manage their business. SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to helping small businesses get off the ground, grow and achieve their goals through education and mentorship. They deliver their services at no charge.

With this podcast, they’ll be able to significantly broaden their reach and get their insight and advice to more small business owners than ever.

Here are just some of the topics to be covered on the SCORE Small Business Success Podcast:

• How Can I Convert Leads Into Buyers (Sales)
• Understanding Finance/Accounting - Value of Inventories, Critical Numbers & Reports, Metrics
• Leading People/HR
• How Can I Get Found on the Internet (Websites/SEO)
• Getting the Most Out of Social Media

Their first podcast is up and the topic is “How To Obtain Financing For Your Small Business.”

Ramon Ray, our fearless leader here at SmallBizTechnology.com, has used SCORE’s free resources many times and they’ve helped grow his business. He’s now a SCORE marketing and media advisor.

For more about SCORE, check out our archives.

What other topics would you like to see answered on this new podcast What burning questions do you have Let us know in the comments below!

Is Skype Dead What Small Businesses Need to Know About Video

Technology has globalized the workforce, providing new opportunities for companies that might not have otherwise been able to work together. A business owner in Ohio can hire a specialized worker in Japan without spending a dime on travel, all thanks to the ability to have face-to-face communication using little more than a couple of pieces of hardware and software. Skype chats have become a regular part of doing business, usable for free with many of today’s PCs and mobile devices.

While Skype is certainly a free, easy-to-use solution for videoconferencing, some of its functionality can be limiting for business users. Many small business owners have found alternatives to Skype that provide more targeted support for their specific needs. Here are a few suggestions from some of the best minds in small business today.

join.me

“Skype is great for voice, but we use a few other solutions,” Greg Brooks, founder of textbook rental service TextbookAssault.com, says. “For a very quick and free solution, I recommend trying join.me. A new visitor can set up a conference in about ten seconds and does not need to register. For impromptu meetings, join.me is great.”

Brooks also points out that for $149 per year, businesses can upgrade to join.me Pro and host meetings involving up to 250 participants. The pro version includes unlimited audio conferencing and management and reporting services.

GoToMeeting

“As a 100 percent teleworking company, HiringThing uses videoconferencing for both internal and external meetings,” a spokesperson for the Cloud-based online recruiting service says. “We find it’s easy for customers to use and it provides the opportunity to have several people in one meeting, share screens, and record the meeting.”

Another benefit to GoToMeeting is that it has become a popular videoconferencing solution for many businesses. As HiringThing points out, the fact that clients are already familiar with the service helps meetings run more smoothly.

Google Hangouts

Social media marketing firm ReSoMe founder Shawna Tregunna moved to Google Hangouts after using Skype for a while. “A few  quick plugin downloads and you can be up and running. We now use Skype mostly for chat and Google Hangouts for video conferences and for screen sharing.”

Tregunna especially likes the way Google Hangouts showcases who is talking, as well as the ability to easily share screens with others on the call.  Hangouts also integrates well with other Google apps, Tregunna adds.

Samsung Smart TV

Collexion’s Peter C. Kirwan, Jr. raves about this Samsung Smart TV, which includes integration with Skype. A small startup, Collexion is using several tools for remote collaboration of team members. Kirwan found that using the Smart TV’s built-in video camera and included Skype app, they are able to hold meetings with team members and partners, even sharing desktops between locations during meetings.

“The nice thing is everyone has Skype, so we can tie anyone into it without special hardware,” Kirwan says, adding that having the screen in his conference room allows his on-site group to join in on the meeting. “The large size of the TV makes it seem like the person is really there.”

EasyMeeting.net

“We first started using Skype, but then made the switch to EasyMeeting.net,” WAM Enterprises LLC president Mike Wolfe says. “It’s Cloud-based and allows us to use it on any device (we have a Bring Your Own Device policy). We can also use it with clients on their hardware.”

As busy entrepreneurs increasingly need to connect with clients and co-workers from anywhere, solutions will likely become more robust and competitive. Businesses are already beginning to save thousands of dollars by using videoconferencing solutions to save and store training videos, meet with clients, and attend webinars with experts in their chosen industries. Thanks to the innovative minds behind technology solutions, businesses can remove geographic restrictions and work more globally.

Firewall and application changes cause headaches for operators

More than three-quarters of network and security operators suffered a network or application outage due to an out-of-process network change.

According to a survey of 179 information security and network operations professionals by AlgoSec, 76.6 per cent of respondents had suffered a network or application outage due to an out-of-process change.

Sixty per cent of people surveyed cited poor processes and lack of visibility into security policies as the greatest challenge of managing network security devices, while 80 per cent suffered an outage, security breach or decreased network performance due to an application-related rule change.

Nimmy Reichenberg, vice president of marketing and business development at AlgoSec, said: “Increasing complexity in network security not only impacts an organisation's ability to protect itself from cyber threats, but also hampers business agility.

“Based on the survey results, it's clear that organisations are faced with increasing insider threats as well as rising risk of network and application outages, but process improvement and better security policy enforcement that leverages automation can provide significant dividends.”

The survey also found that the number of respondents who had adopted next-generation firewalls has risen to 57 per cent, up from 41.2 per cent surveyed in 2012. Of those who have adopted next-generation firewalls, 56.5 per cent reported that their objective is to improve protection from attacks, while the same figure had increased work to manage the firewall process.

Firewall and application changes cause headaches for operators

More than three-quarters of network and security operators suffered a network or application outage due to an out-of-process network change.

According to a survey of 179 information security and network operations professionals by AlgoSec, 76.6 per cent of respondents had suffered a network or application outage due to an out-of-process change.

Sixty per cent of people surveyed cited poor processes and lack of visibility into security policies as the greatest challenge of managing network security devices, while 80 per cent suffered an outage, security breach or decreased network performance due to an application-related rule change.

Nimmy Reichenberg, vice president of marketing and business development at AlgoSec, said: “Increasing complexity in network security not only impacts an organisation's ability to protect itself from cyber threats, but also hampers business agility.

“Based on the survey results, it's clear that organisations are faced with increasing insider threats as well as rising risk of network and application outages, but process improvement and better security policy enforcement that leverages automation can provide significant dividends.”

The survey also found that the number of respondents who had adopted next-generation firewalls has risen to 57 per cent, up from 41.2 per cent surveyed in 2012. Of those who have adopted next-generation firewalls, 56.5 per cent reported that their objective is to improve protection from attacks, while the same figure had increased work to manage the firewall process.

Data loss seen as inevitable, as employees fail to follow IT rules

Almost three-quarters of IT security professionals believe their organisations will suffer a data breach in next six months.

According to a survey of 250 professionals, 73.3 per cent of respondents would not bet against their company suffering a data breach in the next six months. The survey also found that 81.4 per cent of IT personnel think that staff tend to ignore the rules that IT departments put in place, while 75.8 per cent think that employees in their organisation have access to information that they do not necessarily need to perform their jobs.

Philip Lieberman, president and CEO of Lieberman Software, said: “These figures highlight the fact that many IT security professionals recognise that their organisations are woefully unprotected against cyber attacks.

“For example, this survey revealed the unfortunate fact that 32 per cent of IT groups are still not changing default passwords when deploying new systems. This simply must be a standard practice in any size organisation. Default privileged passwords are, in the truest sense, open backdoors into systems that are deployed on production networks.

“Most default passwords are publicly known and easily found online, meaning that anyone with malicious intent can use these default credentials as a foothold to gain anonymous access to systems and applications throughout the network.

“IT departments that do not have a solution in place to automatically detect, flag and change default privileged passwords on newly deployed systems are neglecting a very dangerous security hole.”

SC Cyber Security Day: Key threat trends identified

A security program should begin with IT and business people getting round a table and ‘talking, and talking more'.

Speaking in a session at the SC Magazine Cyber Security Day, Steve Durbin, global vice president of the Information Security Forum (ISF), highlighted the top five threats for 2013 as: cyber (in)security; supply chain; Big Data; cloud; and consumerisation.

An opening audience poll of listeners found that 36 per cent deemed social media to be the largest threat, followed by third party suppliers by 29 per cent. Durbin said: “It is very important to focus on the ‘so what' question and address the issues, as it can become a major challenge for me.”

For cyber (in)security, Durbin recommended following initiatives in cyber space and law enforcement, and establishing links with them to "broaden your security knowledge and improve your cyber resiliency, and to make sure your contingency arrangements are in place".

After a start to 2013 that saw third-party flaws and zero-day vulnerabilities well covered, Durbin recommended assessing what security third parties are using, as this can have an impact on security departments.

He said: “Review your security implications and impact; would you be impacted Take issue with your business rather than a solo standpoint to mitigate against potential risks.”

For Big Data and cloud, Durbin recommended reviewing legal aspects of agreements and governance and "being clear on where the data is, what you do with it and how you see it".

He said: “Ensure security is included, determine where it is on the way in and on the way out as that is the only way you will have any clout.”

Finally, for consumerisation and bring your own device (BYOD), Durbin recommended having a policy in place with good governance of devices within the business context, and also recommended looking at encrypting data, looking at mobile data loss prevention technologies and authentication technologies if BYOD is to be adopted.

He said: “It is about maintaining situation awareness and knowing how to deal with attacks. Do an assessment within your organisation and you will be better equipped to deal with things.”

Join the SC Magazine Cyber Security Day at http://www.informationsecurity2013.com/ and follow the conversation on Twitter at #sccybersec.

Is Skype Dead What Small Businesses Need to Know About Video

Technology has globalized the workforce, providing new opportunities for companies that might not have otherwise been able to work together. A business owner in Ohio can hire a specialized worker in Japan without spending a dime on travel, all thanks to the ability to have face-to-face communication using little more than a couple of pieces of hardware and software. Skype chats have become a regular part of doing business, usable for free with many of today’s PCs and mobile devices.

While Skype is certainly a free, easy-to-use solution for videoconferencing, some of its functionality can be limiting for business users. Many small business owners have found alternatives to Skype that provide more targeted support for their specific needs. Here are a few suggestions from some of the best minds in small business today.

join.me

“Skype is great for voice, but we use a few other solutions,” Greg Brooks, founder of textbook rental service TextbookAssault.com, says. “For a very quick and free solution, I recommend trying join.me. A new visitor can set up a conference in about ten seconds and does not need to register. For impromptu meetings, join.me is great.”

Brooks also points out that for $149 per year, businesses can upgrade to join.me Pro and host meetings involving up to 250 participants. The pro version includes unlimited audio conferencing and management and reporting services.

GoToMeeting

“As a 100 percent teleworking company, HiringThing uses videoconferencing for both internal and external meetings,” a spokesperson for the Cloud-based online recruiting service says. “We find it’s easy for customers to use and it provides the opportunity to have several people in one meeting, share screens, and record the meeting.”

Another benefit to GoToMeeting is that it has become a popular videoconferencing solution for many businesses. As HiringThing points out, the fact that clients are already familiar with the service helps meetings run more smoothly.

Google Hangouts

Social media marketing firm ReSoMe founder Shawna Tregunna moved to Google Hangouts after using Skype for a while. “A few  quick plugin downloads and you can be up and running. We now use Skype mostly for chat and Google Hangouts for video conferences and for screen sharing.”

Tregunna especially likes the way Google Hangouts showcases who is talking, as well as the ability to easily share screens with others on the call.  Hangouts also integrates well with other Google apps, Tregunna adds.

Samsung Smart TV

Collexion’s Peter C. Kirwan, Jr. raves about this Samsung Smart TV, which includes integration with Skype. A small startup, Collexion is using several tools for remote collaboration of team members. Kirwan found that using the Smart TV’s built-in video camera and included Skype app, they are able to hold meetings with team members and partners, even sharing desktops between locations during meetings.

“The nice thing is everyone has Skype, so we can tie anyone into it without special hardware,” Kirwan says, adding that having the screen in his conference room allows his on-site group to join in on the meeting. “The large size of the TV makes it seem like the person is really there.”

EasyMeeting.net

“We first started using Skype, but then made the switch to EasyMeeting.net,” WAM Enterprises LLC president Mike Wolfe says. “It’s Cloud-based and allows us to use it on any device (we have a Bring Your Own Device policy). We can also use it with clients on their hardware.”

As busy entrepreneurs increasingly need to connect with clients and co-workers from anywhere, solutions will likely become more robust and competitive. Businesses are already beginning to save thousands of dollars by using videoconferencing solutions to save and store training videos, meet with clients, and attend webinars with experts in their chosen industries. Thanks to the innovative minds behind technology solutions, businesses can remove geographic restrictions and work more globally.

Introducing Software Defined Networking: Empowering Businesses Remote Capabilities

Location is probably one of the most limiting factors to collaboration. Perhaps in the turn of the 21st century, the small business office was a very sacred place, but it doesn’t have to be that way anymore. Requiring everyone to be in the same room to collaborate within the same network is a thing of the past with new software-defined network (SDN) solutions popping up.

Let’s explain software-defined networking: An SDN is an abstract network built for remote access. Although it may be similar to the virtual private network (VPN), it works a bit differently. An SDN not only lets you keep access confined to a few users, but it also lets you host a number of applications that others can use (such as Microsoft Exchange).  Also, SDNs do not use hardware to route packets. Instead, they use software within a server on the cloud or on-premise (hence the term “software-defined”). So, you can basically harness all of the power of network switches without actually having to touch a switch. Anyone with Internet access can get into your network as long as they are authorized to do so.

Right now, almost every SDN platform takes the form of an in-house module running on a corporate server. That’s not exactly ideal for smaller organizations. A company called Pertino did us the courtesy, however, of moving all of this stuff into the cloud so that you don’t need to purchase the equipment.

The end result is an elegant platform that puts you in the command center of your own little worldwide network. Using this type of beast, you suddenly are endowed with the power to create, destroy, modify, and configure nodes of your network, connecting employees around all corners of the earth with your office. They’ll have all the access to software you run just like they would if they were connected within the office.

With your own SDN platform, you’d be able to hire an employee in Mumbai without having to make him/her miss out on all the other internal software you run. Small businesses can now embrace a power that multi-national corporations have enjoyed for years.

Introducing Software Defined Networking: Empowering Businesses Remote Capabilities

Location is probably one of the most limiting factors to collaboration. Perhaps in the turn of the 21st century, the small business office was a very sacred place, but it doesn’t have to be that way anymore. Requiring everyone to be in the same room to collaborate within the same network is a thing of the past with new software-defined network (SDN) solutions popping up.

Let’s explain software-defined networking: An SDN is an abstract network built for remote access. Although it may be similar to the virtual private network (VPN), it works a bit differently. An SDN not only lets you keep access confined to a few users, but it also lets you host a number of applications that others can use (such as Microsoft Exchange).  Also, SDNs do not use hardware to route packets. Instead, they use software within a server on the cloud or on-premise (hence the term “software-defined”). So, you can basically harness all of the power of network switches without actually having to touch a switch. Anyone with Internet access can get into your network as long as they are authorized to do so.

Right now, almost every SDN platform takes the form of an in-house module running on a corporate server. That’s not exactly ideal for smaller organizations. A company called Pertino did us the courtesy, however, of moving all of this stuff into the cloud so that you don’t need to purchase the equipment.

The end result is an elegant platform that puts you in the command center of your own little worldwide network. Using this type of beast, you suddenly are endowed with the power to create, destroy, modify, and configure nodes of your network, connecting employees around all corners of the earth with your office. They’ll have all the access to software you run just like they would if they were connected within the office.

With your own SDN platform, you’d be able to hire an employee in Mumbai without having to make him/her miss out on all the other internal software you run. Small businesses can now embrace a power that multi-national corporations have enjoyed for years.

Introducing Software Defined Networking: Empowering Businesses Remote Capabilities

Location is probably one of the most limiting factors to collaboration. Perhaps in the turn of the 21st century, the small business office was a very sacred place, but it doesn’t have to be that way anymore. Requiring everyone to be in the same room to collaborate within the same network is a thing of the past with new software-defined network (SDN) solutions popping up.

Let’s explain software-defined networking: An SDN is an abstract network built for remote access. Although it may be similar to the virtual private network (VPN), it works a bit differently. An SDN not only lets you keep access confined to a few users, but it also lets you host a number of applications that others can use (such as Microsoft Exchange).  Also, SDNs do not use hardware to route packets. Instead, they use software within a server on the cloud or on-premise (hence the term “software-defined”). So, you can basically harness all of the power of network switches without actually having to touch a switch. Anyone with Internet access can get into your network as long as they are authorized to do so.

Right now, almost every SDN platform takes the form of an in-house module running on a corporate server. That’s not exactly ideal for smaller organizations. A company called Pertino did us the courtesy, however, of moving all of this stuff into the cloud so that you don’t need to purchase the equipment.

The end result is an elegant platform that puts you in the command center of your own little worldwide network. Using this type of beast, you suddenly are endowed with the power to create, destroy, modify, and configure nodes of your network, connecting employees around all corners of the earth with your office. They’ll have all the access to software you run just like they would if they were connected within the office.

With your own SDN platform, you’d be able to hire an employee in Mumbai without having to make him/her miss out on all the other internal software you run. Small businesses can now embrace a power that multi-national corporations have enjoyed for years.

Why Google Plus Wants Every Business Blogging

No, Larry Page won’t be cold calling you anytime soon. But as Google Plus continues to explode (now the second largest social network), you can expect to start feeling the heat from Google. Google’s powerful social media platform may not be as convenient as Facebook or as sexy as Instagram, but ignoring it is certainly more dangerous than ignoring any of the other platforms.

The Huffington Post recently devised a case for why no one should be ignoring Google Plus. It comes down to this:

• Google Plus is the first social network that truly is based on trust. Google Plus users rank Web content by +1-ing blog posts and websites. In turn, sites with multiple +1’s end up getting higher ranking in the Google search engine results.
• Google Plus users enjoy custom-tailored search engine results. When I search “content marketing” for example, I get specific search results that other people in my Google Plus circles have +1-ed.
• Google Plus is integrated with YouTube, Gmail, Google Docs and other great Google products. We can expect that Google will be rewarding Google+ users with more perks.

How Google Plus Rewards Bloggers

Okay, so that’s all well and good, but what about blogging Well, the Google Plus blogging connection has been inarguably forged. At this point, it’s only a question of how strong it will become.

Google Plus has this little feature known as the rel=“author” tag. This short piece of code can be added to your blog or website, letting Google know that this content belongs to you (and your Google Plus account). When you show up in the Google search results, your relevant Web page will look like this first search result (instead of the non-Google Author results below it):

Not only does that first link look more authoritative and click-worthy, it actually is. According to Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO:

“Within search results, information tied to verified online profiles will be ranked higher than content without such verification, which will result in most users naturally clicking on the top (verified) results. The true cost of remaining anonymous, then, might be irrelevance.”

By the way, when Schmidt says “anonymous,” he isn’t referring to any subjective position about your Internet status. In Google’s mind, if you’re not on Google Plus, then you are anonymous (and will be treated as such).

Avoid Anonymity: Set Up rel=“author”  in Google Plus

Setting up the rel=“author” tag really isn’t that difficult to do. If you know enough to operate your own little business blog, then you’re definitely capable. There are a number of short tutorials out there, but I recommend this one from Search Engine People, which will show you how it’s done from point A to point Z.

While setting up a Google Plus profile and this tag will produce the desired result (a picture next to your search engine results), I highly recommend using Google Plus actively. We’re not sure yet exactly how users’ level of Google Plus activity will affect their results in the search engine, but it’s very likely that more engaged users will be better rewarded.

If you’re a business owner and you’re not blogging, then the time to start is now. You don’t have to take it from me - just ask Google.

Why Google Plus Wants Every Business Blogging

No, Larry Page won’t be cold calling you anytime soon. But as Google Plus continues to explode (now the second largest social network), you can expect to start feeling the heat from Google. Google’s powerful social media platform may not be as convenient as Facebook or as sexy as Instagram, but ignoring it is certainly more dangerous than ignoring any of the other platforms.

The Huffington Post recently devised a case for why no one should be ignoring Google Plus. It comes down to this:

• Google Plus is the first social network that truly is based on trust. Google Plus users rank Web content by +1-ing blog posts and websites. In turn, sites with multiple +1’s end up getting higher ranking in the Google search engine results.
• Google Plus users enjoy custom-tailored search engine results. When I search “content marketing” for example, I get specific search results that other people in my Google Plus circles have +1-ed.
• Google Plus is integrated with YouTube, Gmail, Google Docs and other great Google products. We can expect that Google will be rewarding Google+ users with more perks.

How Google Plus Rewards Bloggers

Okay, so that’s all well and good, but what about blogging Well, the Google Plus blogging connection has been inarguably forged. At this point, it’s only a question of how strong it will become.

Google Plus has this little feature known as the rel=“author” tag. This short piece of code can be added to your blog or website, letting Google know that this content belongs to you (and your Google Plus account). When you show up in the Google search results, your relevant Web page will look like this first search result (instead of the non-Google Author results below it):

Not only does that first link look more authoritative and click-worthy, it actually is. According to Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO:

“Within search results, information tied to verified online profiles will be ranked higher than content without such verification, which will result in most users naturally clicking on the top (verified) results. The true cost of remaining anonymous, then, might be irrelevance.”

By the way, when Schmidt says “anonymous,” he isn’t referring to any subjective position about your Internet status. In Google’s mind, if you’re not on Google Plus, then you are anonymous (and will be treated as such).

Avoid Anonymity: Set Up rel=“author”  in Google Plus

Setting up the rel=“author” tag really isn’t that difficult to do. If you know enough to operate your own little business blog, then you’re definitely capable. There are a number of short tutorials out there, but I recommend this one from Search Engine People, which will show you how it’s done from point A to point Z.

While setting up a Google Plus profile and this tag will produce the desired result (a picture next to your search engine results), I highly recommend using Google Plus actively. We’re not sure yet exactly how users’ level of Google Plus activity will affect their results in the search engine, but it’s very likely that more engaged users will be better rewarded.

If you’re a business owner and you’re not blogging, then the time to start is now. You don’t have to take it from me - just ask Google.

Twitter, Google Key Communications Channels After Marathon Bombing

The tragic Boston Marathon bombing Monday again highlighted the power of Twitter and other social media.  Social media became key communication channels as the tragedy unfolded and people flocked to understand what was going on and find out about loved ones.

Twitter Broke the Story on the Marathon Bombing

Twitter users shared the first posts and photos on the marathon bombing before traditional media could react.  The first reports were shared with the world by eyewitnesses via Twitter.

Minutes later, the Boston Globe made its first tweet - even before posting anything on its website. Twitter users quickly started disseminating details including number of injuries and even raw video.  Traditional media struggled to keep up.

The tragedy also helped demonstrate the value of the Twitter hashtag. One of these, #BostonMarathon, was the highest trending topic on Twitter much of the day. It started as a hashtag simply used to follow the day’s race news.  Later, it became the main channel for breaking news of the disaster as it happened. Another hashtag #prayforboston also became a place to share news and reflections about the day’s tragedy.

Twitter, while sometimes enabling the spread of rumors that inevitably occur immediately after a tragedy, also helped dispel rumors.  For instance, one report held that cell phone networks in Boston had been shut down supposedly to prevent remote detonation of additional bombs.  That report appeared later to be false â€" it was just a temporary overload.   ATT and Verizon representatives used Twitter to reassure customers their cell phone networks were still operational, and remind people to text their messages to free up voice capacity in the network.

Google, Facebook and YouTube Also Assist

Google set up a Person Finder  to help people look for loved ones after the blast.

People also used Facebook to check on friends and loved ones at the scene of the tragedy. Those who were there signed into their accounts to post they were OK so that friends and family could breathe a sigh of relief.  One commentator called it the “Facebook huddle.”

YouTube set up a page dedicated to aggregating video on the explosions and related issues in YouTube Spotlight. The page, at last count, had more than four million subscribers.

Social media was used to share other important details including hotlines and emergency information, too.

It all serves as a reminder:  in a breaking situation or public tragedy, turn to Twitter and other social media for on-the-scene reports and to learn where to find more.

Image credit: ABC news coverage