Complete History of Social Media: Then And Now

Interacting with friends and family across long distances has been a concern of humans for centuries. As social animals, people have always relied on communication to strengthen their relationships. When face-to-face discussions are impossible or inconvenient, humans have dreamed up plenty of creative solutions. Avalaunch Media recently unveiled their Interactive Infographic entitled, “The Complete History of Social Media.”

History of Social Media: Then And Now

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The roots of social media stretch far deeper than you might imagine. Although it seems like a new trend, sites like Facebook are the natural outcome of many centuries of social media development.

Social Media Before 1900

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The earliest methods of communicating across great distances used written correspondence delivered by hand from one person to another. In other words, letters. The earliest form of postal service dates back to 550 B.C., and this primitive delivery system would become more widespread and streamlined in future centuries.

In 1792, the telegraph was invented. This allowed messages to be delivered over a long distance far faster than a horse and rider could carry them. Although telegraph messages were short, they were a revolutionary way to convey news and information.

Although no longer popular outside of drive-through banking, the pneumatic post, developed in 1865, created another way for letters to be delivered quickly between recipients. A pneumatic post utilizes underground pressurized air tubes to carry capsules from one area to another.

Two important discoveries happened in the last decade of the 1800s: The telephone in 1890 and the radio in 1891.

Both technologies are still in use today, although the modern versions are much more sophisticated than their predecessors. Telephone lines and radio signals enabled people to communicate across great distances instantaneously, something that mankind had never experienced before.

Social Media in the 20th Century

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Technology began to change very rapidly in the 20th Century. After the first super computers were created in the 1940s, scientists and engineers began to develop ways to create networks between those computers, and this would later lead to the birth of the Internet.

The earliest forms of the Internet, such as CompuServe, were developed in the 1960s. Primitive forms of email were also developed during this time. By the 70s, networking technology had improved, and 1979′s UseNet allowed users to communicate through a virtual newsletter.

By the 1980s, home computers were becoming more common and social media was becoming more sophisticated. Internet relay chats, or IRCs, were first used in 1988 and continued to be popular well into the 1990′s.

The first recognizable social media site, Six Degrees, was created in 1997. It enabled users to upload a profile and make friends with other users. In 1999, the first blogging sites became popular, creating a social media sensation that's still popular today.

Social Media Today

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After the invention of blogging, social media began to explode in popularity. Sites like MySpace and LinkedIn gained prominence in the early 2000s, and sites like Photobucket and Flickr facilitated online photo sharing. YouTube came out in 2005, creating an entirely new way for people to communicate and share with each other across great distances.

By 2006, Facebook and Twitter both became available to users throughout the world. These sites remain some of the most popular social networks on the Internet. Other sites like Tumblr, Spotify, Foursquare and Pinterest began popping up to fill specific social networking niches.

Today, there is a tremendous variety of social networking sites, and many of them can be linked to allow cross-posting. This creates an environment where users can reach the maximum number of people without sacrificing the intimacy of person-to-person communication. We can only speculate about what the future of social networking may look in the next decade or even 100 years from now, but it seems clear that it will exist in some form for as long as humans are alive.




Go Daddy Executive Named COO, Transformation Continues

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Scott Wagner, formerly of private investment firm, KKR Capstone, will stay on as a Go Daddy executive indefinitely. And that suggests that KKR Capstone, which bought 65% of Go Daddy in 2011 along with Silver Lake Partners and Technology Crossover Ventures, will be continuing the transformation of Go Daddy.

The company released an announcement formally confirming Wagner as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer on Wednesday.

Wagner first began working at Go Daddy temporarily after KKR Capstone led the leveraged buyout of GoDaddy for a rumored $2.3 billion.  Wagner stepped in last summer to fill in as interim Chief Executive Officer  after former CEO Warren Adelman stepped down.

“It's not often you see an operator of Scott's caliber and experience elect to join the portfolio company he was ‘dropped in' to assist,” said new CEO Blake Irving in a released statement. ”Scott … shares our passion to change the world for small business,” Irving added.

Go Daddy had been run for 15 years by its founder Bob Parsons, a colorful and sometimes-controversial figure who took heat for shooting elephants.  Parsons still owns a large chunk of the company.

Following the private equity investment, members of KKR stepped in to run the company and begin its transformation.  In  January of this year they brought in Irving, a former Yahoo and Microsoft executive, to be CEO.

Since Irving's arrival the company has added executive talent and opened new offices in Sunnyvale, California and near Seattle, Washington.  Just last week the company announced groundbreaking for a technology center in Tempe, Arizona.

Prior to 2012 Go Daddy focused on domain name registration, hosting and related website services.  In a bid to expand the breadth of its products, last summer it acquired Outright, a bookkeeping software for solo small business owners and entrepreneurs.

Today when you go to the home page of Go Daddy, it's far different than it was one year ago.  Back then, the cluttered home page could be overwhelming unless you were a technologist.  It tended to focus on buying domain names and aggressive upsells. The page had considerable technical terminology that could be baffling to non-technologists.

The home page is much cleaner and simpler these days. It places more emphasis on building a website.  It feels much less intimidating to a small business owner or manager.

Gone also is the emphasis on good-looking women such as Nascar driver and spokesperson Danika Patrick. That  emphasis, along with racy Super Bowl commercials, earned Go Daddy a perceived reputation for being sexist. While the emphasis gave Go Daddy a memorable brand, it was offputting to some women business owners.

Last week CEO Irving said, ”GoDaddy is well on its way to being the largest platform for small businesses around the world.”

That transformation still seems to be a work in progress, however, and the company has a long way to go before it's truly a platform for small businesses.  Go Daddy does not appear to have done much yet with the Outright product it acquired. Go Daddy will need to provide small businesses with tools for many more business functions than their online presence  and bookkeeping, to be a true platform.

Go Daddy has grown since its beginnings as a scrappy startup back in 1997.   Go Daddy's revenue hit $1.3 billion last year. The company says it serves 11 million customers worldwide with Web hosting and domain registration services and bills itself as the largest provider of these services worldwide.  The company has 3,400 employees worldwide.




VerticalResponse Now Connects To CRM Solutions Offering Three Great Advantages To Your Business

If you're serious about marketing your business, chances are you're using an email marketing platform, a customer relationship management (CRM) solution, or both. A combination of both gives you plenty of power over your marketing campaigns, ensuring that you know who opens their emails and keeping track of your most loyal customers.

The recent affordability of both CRMs and email marketing platforms has made conducting a business much easier than it used to be. But how can we make that even easier? VerticalResponse has an answer to this: How about we combine both CRM and email marketing into one solution?

According to their recent announcement, VerticalResponse has integrated SyncApps by Cazoomi, bringing a unified interface that allows you to connect well-known CRMs to your email marketing dashboard. Data will be synced between the two and you'll have updated information on all of your campaigns.

Here are the CRMs you can now connect with: Base CRM, SalesForce, HighRise CRM, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, Nimble, Podio, SugarCRM, and Zoho CRM.

There are some advantages to making the jump to a more holistic solution:

  • You save plenty of time. The communication between both applications will let you focus on other things, rather than having to go in and out of each solution to update them.
  • Your email marketing strategy can be more targeted. You can get data from your CRM into VerticalResponse and send more personalized emails to certain groups of customers, depending on their preferences. As an example, about a week ago, I received an email from eMag (an electronics distributor) showing me some smartphones I might be interested in. This is a result of the fact I've been browsing smartphones on their site a few days before that. It's nice to have that kind of touch and shows the customer that you're aware of what he/she is looking for.
  • Information is more transparent. You'll be able to have a clearer picture of what's going on in the online front of your business without having to actually extrapolate the data yourself.

If you want SyncApps integration, you'll have to pay a basic fee of $9.99 per month. The professional version, which gives you a wider array of features, will cost just under $50 a month. Either way you go, you'll benefit greatly from the ability to see your data in a new way, along with the ability to send more targeted messages to your customers!



5 Rules That Lead To Effective Online Advertising

The world of advertising is a very difficult one to navigate, particularly because of the sporadic nature of the consumer. Today, the consumer may expect one thing, while a few years past, that same person thought or felt differently about that same thing. That's actually why it's hard to make any return on investment from an advertising campaign. Learning to use the tools of the trade requires a lot of experimenting, so you're going to need a nice fat budget when you begin.

Advertising your business can get confusing really fast. If you don't understand the online world and the basics of how consumer psychology applies to the Internet, using an ad platform can be compared to entering a foreign country where Swahili is the official language.

There are two types of online advertising: Social Media and Web. I'll try to get into social media advertising, but my main focus here is web-based advertising (you know, the kinds of ads that appear on websites you visit). These two methods have the ultimate goal of driving traffic to your business and (hopefully) engaging a few people so you score a sale. There's a lot of disagreement on what's the best way to do this, but there are a few general black/white areas where people completely agree. Here are a few general rules you should follow when creating an ad that would appear on websites (some of this can also be applied to social media ads):

  • Place your ads above the fold, if you can. Many advertising publishers allow you to select where your ads will be. “Above the fold” would be anywhere where visitors to a website would see your content without having to scroll down. These ads are naturally more expensive, but they're very much worth it. Your ads will be in a high-visibility position and they'll get the brunt of clicks.
  • Change your ads as time passes to see how newer designs work out. One of the coolest things about advertising platforms is that they let you change your ads. This gives you the opportunity to make changes that could drive more traffic.
  • Remember to tell visitors what exactly you want them to do. For example, saying “Download our free guide for advertising” is better than saying “We have a guide for advertising.” If you're offering a product with a promotional discount, you can do something like this: say the product's name (i.e. “Samsung Galaxy S4″), show the visitor a shiny picture of the product, show the original price of the product with a slash going through it (i.e. “$699“), and then show them the promotional price, in a big, bold font (i.e. “$599“). After that, place a button on the bottom of the ad saying “Buy Now!” or something to that extent. That's an example of a proper traffic-driving ad. If you want customers to remember your business, place its logo on the bottom or top of the ad.
  • If you've got more ads running, make sure that your logo and call to action remains the same throughout all of these ads. Otherwise, you confuse visitors that spot more of your ads (especially during remarketing).
  • If your ad promotes a particular product or service, remember to make the ad lead to the landing page for that particular item. By the way, ads promoting a product or service are more likely to succeed than those that promote your business as a whole.

While you're pondering a new strategy based on what has been discussed here, there's one final piece of advice: Engage in retargeting/remarketing as much as you can. It's a very elegant way of branding. Show Internet users that you're a serious company by plastering your ads wherever you can. If you want more details about remarketing, and three tools that will give you this edge, have a look here.



NYC Events: Upcoming NYC Business and Technology Events (5/10 – 5/16)

Here is a listing of NYC Business and Technology Events for the upcoming week (5/10 â€" 5/16) that we thought would be beneficial to our small business community in the Greater NYC area. Have a business and/or technology event coming up in the New York City area that you'd like us to add to our weekly post? If so, email us at eve...@smallbiztechnology.com.

 

Building Disaster Resilient Communities

May 10, 2013, â€" 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM,  CityWide Disaster Services NY, 5809 Foster Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11234

The Information Technology Disaster Resource Center will present a FREE Disaster Preparedness workshop titled “Building Disaster Resilient Communities”, hosted by CityWide Disaster Services NY.  Learn from subject matter experts as they share best practices and lessons learned from recent disasters, which will benefit small businesses, non-profits, and other community organizations.  A light lunch will be served, and pre-registration is required to ensure adequate seating.

 

The Power of Email Marketing

May 10, 2013, - 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM, 125 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10011

In this seminar, you will learn email marketing best practices and how easy it is to implement them. You will take away knowledge of how to:
- Adhere to the do's and don'ts of email marketing
- Create email campaign strategies that are effective for your business
- Build your mailing list to include people who are truly interested in your message
- Write compelling subject lines and copy
- Interpret email campaign results (open-rates, bounce-rates, click-thru rates, etc.)
- Develop targeted follow-up campaigns -
Successfully integrate your email and social media marketing efforts
Come learn how to build strong relationships that will lead to more business and growth through the power of email marketing.

 

Business Plan Development

May 13, 2013, â€" 9:00 AM, 3rd Ward, 195 Morgan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11237

This workshop will guide you through the process of analyzing your market, evaluating the risks and opportunities associated with your business idea, developing financial projections and creating an operating plan. This course will focus both on the process of creating a plan and putting that plan into action, with an emphasis on the use of concrete tools and resources. Wonder if you even need to write a business plan? You do. A business plan can help you to secure funding, save money and, most importantly, develop a road map for navigating your creative industry.

 

The Next Level: Managing for Success

May 14, 2013 at 9:00 AM â€" Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 4:00 PM, 37 West 20th Street, #1101, New York, NY 10011

At Next Street, we know that small businesses and urban nonprofits need premier talent as much as a FORTUNE 500 company or large NGO does. We understand the thought and hard work you put into your business every day, and know how frustrating it can be when you do not get the results you need in order to build a sustainable enterprise. Our seminars are designed to further develop the knowledge, skills, and abilities of your team that will assist them in taking the organization to the next level of success.

 

Business Building Blocks: Finance and Marketing Clinic

May 14, 2013, â€" 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM, 575 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10022

We know it's not easy managing and growing a business. That's why Regal Financial NYC and Infusionsoft are joining together to bring you practical insight on how you can GROW YOUR BUSINESS through smart financial strategies and marketing best practices. Every growing businesses wants access to capital (loans, more favorable credit, etc.) Anthony Davenport, Founder and President of Regal Financial, will show you how your business (big or small) can get the financing you need to grow.

 

Power Personal Branding and Networking

May 14, 2013 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM, 575 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10022

Join Judy Sahagian and Ramon Ray for 2 hours of inspiration and insight in how to BOOM YOUR BUSINESS by leveraging personal branding and networking. While traditional marketing is good, most small businesses rely on word of mouth marketing for new customers. If you are not able to network and build your personal brand, your word of mouth marketing will fail (or not be as effective as it could be). Ramon will share 5 successful strategies he's learning in building his personal brand. Judy will share her proven strategies for being New York City's most connected real estate professional. Join them and learn!

 

BRONX SEMINAR SERIES: 5th of 5 Workshops â€" Simple Steps for Starting Your Business

May 15, 2013, - 9:30 AM â€" 11:30 AM, The Bronx Museum, 1040 Grand Concourse, Main Floor Conference Room, Bronx, NY 10456

GETTING THE MONEY TO FINANCE YOUR BUSINESS
In this important session, we will focus on how to get money to finance your business and present it properly for a loan application. We will give you an inside view of how a banker assesses the merits of business plans and loan applications.We will also discuss such critical related topics as:

  • Business and personal credit scores
  • How credit reports are used
  • Banking relationships
  • Loan applications
  • Ratio analysis (I think this one will scare people off. I'd eliminate it.)
  • The importance of tax returns
  • Preparation and review of financial statements
  • How to strengthen your funding pitch

 

Take Your Business To The Next Level By Getting Out Of The Way

May 16, 2013, â€" 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM, 112 West 34th Street, New York, NY 10120

Join Ramon Ray (Infusionsoft) and Dr. Sharon Melnick as they share with you their experience in building successful businesses. Dr. Sharon Melnick will share how you need to FOCUS and ensure each day you are doing the right things to be successful. It's about how to ‘get out of your own way' (e.g. stop chasing the shiny object') and get focused on the right actions, get yourself to take action instead of procrastinating and to have the confidence to get bigger clients and opportunities. Once you've gotten out of your own way, Ramon will show you how to use Lifecycle Marketing to help your business capture leads, nurture prospects and further GROW your business. Register today and join them to learn how to remove obstacles (yourself!) so you can start growing your business!



Tech Thursday (5/9): News from Brazzlebox, Dell SonicWALL, Hiscox and HooteSuite

It's Tech Thursday from Smallbiztechnology.com. Each week we take a quick look at business and technology news and updates for the small business community and share them with you in a quick and simple round-up.

 

 

 

 

 

Neopost USA to Offer Award Winning Digital Printing Solution throughout the U.S. Powered by OKI Data Americas

 

Customers to benefit from both organizations' long standing reputations in excellence

 

Neopost USA, an innovative solutions provider in the postal and related digital communications industry, and OKI Data Americas â€" an industry leader in printing technologies â€" announced an agreement through which Neopost USA will enhance its wide product offerings to include Neopost HD Office Printers powered by OKI Data Americas. This agreement draws on Neopost USA's broad range of mailing, shipping and customer communications solutions and its expansive customer base, as well as OKI Data's expertise in the development and marketing of innovative printing technologies.

Some of the key features of the Neopost HD Office Printers include exceptional high definition print quality with LED print heads, microfine toner, advanced print registration and auto calibration.

You can read more about this new offering here.

 

BrazzleboxLaunches Out of Syracuse, New York

The social network for small and home based businesses launches in New York and begins nationwide expansion

 

Brazzlebox is a community based social network for small and home-based businesses. Our key features will help promote business, allow the creation of exclusive local and national professional networks and connect businesses directly to their community.

Brazzlebox is now live and launched beginning in the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica and Albany, New York. They will soon expand into all of New York State and then nationwide. Small and home based business owners, agents of business, business consultants, community groups and consumers can all join Brazzlebox for free.

You can read more about this new social network for businesses here.

 

Dell introduces SonicWALL Hosted Email Security 2.0 Cloud Service

 

New service provides multi-layered email threat protection

 

Dell today announced SonicWALL Hosted Email Security 2.0, a cloud-based service providing advanced, multi-layered email threat protection backed by world-class 24×7 online and phone support.

Hosted Email Security offers powerful inbound and outbound protection from threats including spam, phishing, zombie and malware attacks at an affordable, predictable and flexible monthly or annual subscription price. At the same time, it minimizes upfront deployment time and costs, as well as ongoing administration expenses.

  • Powerful, inbound and outbound email threat protection from a security industry leader
  • Efficient to deploy and manage, easy to use
  • Available globally with data centers in the US and Europe; includes 24/7 worldwide phone support

For more on this new service from Dell, click here.

 

Hiscox Authors Series launches 2013 program with small business expert Gene Marks

 

Hiscox Authors Series for Entrepreneurs shares tips, tools and guidance for small business owners

 

Hiscox, a specialist insurer that provides U.S. small businesses with the simplest way to purchase customized business insurance online or over the phone, announced today the second installment of its Hiscox Authors Series for Entrepreneurs. The Hiscox Authors Series is a three-month thought leadership initiative that shares expertise, insight and guidance from well-known entrepreneurial authors to help others in successfully launching, running and building their small businesses.

Gene Marks , author of, In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash - Simple Lessons from Smart Business People, will share what he has learned from his own experiences as an entrepreneur. His direct approach to guidance includes everything from taking the leap to start a business and the associated risks, to the happenings in Washington and economic trends relevant to small business owners.

As part of the 2013 Hiscox Authors Series, small business owners will have direct access for three months to tips, tricks and tools through Hiscox's website, live events and various social media channels, including blog posts, Google+ Chats and webinars. Visit Hiscox's Facebook , Twitter and Google+ social media channels for up-to-date information on the Hiscox Authors Series with Gene Marks through the end of June.

For more on the Author Series, click here.

 

HootSuite Continues Global Expansion with Apps for Tencent Weibo, VK.com and Russian Language Version

 

HootSuite's newest apps Tencent Weibo and VK.com empower customers to reach broader global audiences within the HootSuite dashboard

 

 

HootSuite, makers of the market-leading social media management system, extends their App Directory with the introduction of two major social media networks: Tencent Weibo, China's prevailing microblogging platform with over 540 million registered accounts, and VKontakle, more commonly known as VK.com â€" Russia's largest social media network with over 200 million registered accounts. A new Russian language version of the dashboard has also been added.

Tencent Weibo and VK.com users can now manage their localized social media accounts alongside other networks including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ Pages, Foursquare, and more within the HootSuite dashboard. These new integrations empower HootSuite's over six million Free, Pro, and Enterprise users to reach broader global audiences.

For more on this story, click here.

 



New App Helps You Find and Hire Freelance Contractors Within Your Social Network

One third of the American work force works as freelancers, independent contractors, consultants, part timers, temps and self-employed entrepreneurs. With lay-offs continuing and on-roll jobs becoming harder to come by, the Intuit 2020 report estimates that this figure will balloon to nearly 40 percent of the overall workforce.

For growing businesses, this means being able to tap into a growing talent pool of freelancers at competitive rates, mostly via online freelance job portals such as Elance, ODesk, Guru and Freelancer. But hiring freelance contractors also poses its own set of challenges.

Firstly, businesses looking to hire contractors from any one of these portals are often faced with the problem of plenty, with a single job attracting hordes of applications from all round the globe, making it a time consuming and cumbersome process to select the right candidate for the job.

Secondly, while each portal has its own system of contractor ratings derived from feedback from other clients, these can often be unreliable. Let's face it what's average for you, may represent an excellent delivery for another.

And finally, there are the tax implications of hiring independent contractors which are handled differently on these sites and need to be well understood.

Coworks.com an online portal based on network recommendations

Coworks has created a solution to help make the process of finding a qualified freelance worker easier. Coworks is an online portal that combines the features of existing freelance websites with some of the features of LinkedIn. Simply put, it works on the ‘referral model'. What this essentially means is that once you list a job, the website recommends contractors who have been recommended by people within your own network on the site. So instead of having to review several applications, you will receive contractor profiles that come recommended by people known to you and therefore offer the promise of quality and trust, which are vital in any business equation.

You can even login on the site using your Facebook or LinkedIn I.D. and password. The other aspect that works in favor of businesses is the pricing. The premium package of $69 a month lets you list any number of jobs across the four job categories (writing and translations, design and illustration, photo-video and web-apps) with zero transaction fees, compared to nearly 8 to 10 percent that you would normally pay on other sites. So if you are a regular employer of freelance contractors, then this could be a real cost saver.

While the site is still in the beta stage, the model can work successfully for businesses and contractors alike by inviting people within their social circles (LinkedIn and Facebook) to join Coworks.com. The more the merrier and more the chances of doing business with someone who is known to someone you know (inspired by the theory of ‘six degrees of separation' I suppose), which is at least half the problem solved while hiring a freelance contractor!

 



Temporary fix out for Department of Labor website IE8 zero-day

Microsoft has released a "Fix it" that temporarily addresses a high-profile IE8 zero-day vulnerability, according to a blog post by the Redmond, Wash.-based vendor.

The software giant said the update to Security Advisory 2847140 aims to prevent all known exploits that take advantage of the vulnerability. All Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) users are encouraged to apply the fix, which does not require a reboot. Users of IE versions 6, 7, 9 and 10 are not affected by this vulnerability. Microsoft reiterated that it is working on a permanent security update to repair the flaw, while keeping watch for related exploits.

Originally discovered by Milpitas, Calif.-based vendor FireEye Inc., the IE8 zero-day was found to have been used in watering-hole attacks aimed at the U.S. Department of Labor's Site Exposure Matrices website, which provides data on toxic substances present at facilities run by the Department of Energy.

The vulnerability was used to redirect visitors to a website that included a downloadable exploit that installed the Poison Ivy remote administration toolkit. AlienVault Labs, which initially discovered the Labor Dept. website compromise, has speculated that the command-and-control infrastructure used in the attacks is the same one that security vendor CrowdStrike had previously linked to Deep Panda, a cyber-espionage group believed to be based in China.

Separately, Adobe Systems Inc. is currently preparing a patch for a critical vulnerability that was found in its ColdFusion Web application development platform.

The vulnerability, CVE-2013-3336, affects versions 9 and 10 of ColdFusion and could allow an unauthorized user to remotely retrieve files that have been stored on an affected ColdFusion server. Adobe reported there is a publically available exploit that takes advantage of the vulnerability.

Enterprises that are running a vulnerable version of ColdFusion can expect the patch to arrive on May 14. Until then, Adobe has advised customers affected by the vulnerability to follow the security best practices issued in ColdFusion 9 Lockdown Guide and the ColdFusion 10 Lockdown Guide.




Department of Labor website hack highlights advanced attack trends

Experts say a zero-day attack hidden in a U.S. government website highlights key trends in contemporary targeted attacks: Organizations don't possess the layered security to ward off never-before-seen attacks, and they can't effectively respond until damage is done.

The bad guys are looking for the weakest animal in the pack.

John Prisco,
CEO, Triumfant Inc.

On May 1, a vulnerability research team at AlienVault Labs reported a watering hole-type exploit on a U.S. Department of Labor website that serves as a repository for sensitive information used by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The attack exploited what Microsoft confirmed was a new vulnerability, designated as CVE-2013-1347, in its Internet Explorer 8 browser. The memory flaw allows an attacker to use IE to execute arbitrary code. Microsoft released a temporary fix for the vulnerability late Wednesday.

Security analysts said the exploit was mounted in late April from the Labor Department's Site Exposure Matrices website, a repository for a list of toxic substances found at Energy Department facilities. The information is used in an occupational safety program designed to compensate workers exposed to radiation at DoE nuclear facilities, which suggests that the malicious code was planted to target specific Web visitors interested in that information.

Security analysts rated the severity of the Department of Labor website attack as "high," adding that it may have included "advanced reconnaissance capabilities." In a blog post updated on May 6, Cisco Systems security threat researcher Craig Williams warned, "Given the nature of this vulnerability, additional exploitation is likely."

While no one is speculating on the origin of the attack, analysts agree it was sophisticated and was likely designed to sniff around for details on network defenses and vulnerabilities. That information could then be used in a future attack.

Whoever mounted the Labor Department exploit "clearly knew what they were doing, and this software had been tested" to ensure the success of a "one-shot" attack, Williams said in an interview with SearchSecurity.

Advanced attack-detection mechanisms lacking

One observer describes the current state of affairs in advanced cyberattacks as "cyber Darwinism."

"The bad guys are looking for the weakest animal in the pack," said John Prisco, CEO of Rockville, Md.-based security vendor Triumfant Inc.

The disclosures about another malware attack on a government website surfaced days before the Defense Department for the first time explicitly accused China's military of launching attacks on U.S. computer networks. The accusations came in an annual report to Congress on Chinese military modernization.

In releasing the DoD report on May 6, David Helvey, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, asserted that "numerous computer systems around the world, including those owned by the United States government, continued to be targeted for intrusions, some of which appear to be attributable directly to [Chinese] government and military organizations."

Security vendors have seized on the Department of Labor website attack and other recent attacks to highlight how current malware detection mechanisms no longer work. One reason, they warn, is that enterprises large and small simply can't keep up in a cat-and-mouse game characterized by increasingly sophisticated attacks.

Many see a need for enterprises to shift away from conventional technologies like antimalware and toward a growing number of new detection and analysis tools.

Security vendor Triumfant, for example, is betting the farm that detecting malware and fixing problems begin at the endpoint. "The battle has to be fought at the endpoint," CEO Prisco asserted. "You have to know [malware] is on your machine."

Triumfant is pitching a malware-detection and remediation tool operating on the assumption that, as Prisco asserts, "you can't block it." The tool includes an "agent" that utilizes a pattern-matching algorithm to collect as many as a half-million data points per computer.

The firm's statistical approach is designed to detect an attack quickly when other defensive mechanisms fail to prevent it.

"There is no silver bullet," Prisco concedes. "But if you use a statistical, mathematical approach, then you have a chance" of stopping a breach and protecting intellectual property or other company assets.

While vendors like Cisco promote layered defenses, or what Cisco's Williams called "defense in depth," others leverage detection and analysis tools to probe the behavior of known and future malware to prevent the success of malware.

Srinivas Kumar, chief technology officer at Cupertino, Calif.-based security firm TaaSera Inc., says "the pattern of attacks is emerging" and "not a single malware attack occurs without a human getting involved." A user might, for instance, click on an infected PDF file thinking they are reading it. In fact, the infected file serves as the transport mechanism for installing a file that launches a malware attack.

This is the type of behavior TaaSera has been focusing on, specifically the assumption that malware often needs to complete multiple steps successfully in its "attack chain" in order to steal data. A given piece of malware may be designed to do 10 things, Kumar said, and "you need to catch it before it gets to No. 10."

The result is TaaSera's 12-step program of sorts for fending off malware attacks that seeks to dissect the various segments of the "malware lifecycle," from inbound scan and attack to data breach.

The focus on the behavior of malware, along with the networks and endpoints under attack, is being offered as a way for enterprises to manage their risks rather than merely cleaning up the mess after an attack, said David Nevin, TaaSera's vice president of corporate development.

Heightened awareness about the dangers of malware in the wake of high-profile attacks on government and media websites just might be moving the needle on cybersecurity, experts say. Corporate information security spending might be moving away from current approaches like antivirus and signature-based tools, and toward more proactive approaches that spot breaches and try to fix them before they do further damage.

There is no shortage of new approaches -- and plenty of marketing fluff -- but many observers believe the security industry might be at a crossroads as the frequency and severity of attacks escalates.

"We are really in a transition phase in the vendor community," Triumfant's Prisco said.




3 Contract Agreements Every Small Business Should Have

make a contract

It might be tempting to seal a deal with a handshake. After all, formalities just slow things down and, as a small business owner, you’ve got countless other things to do with your time. However, when you make a contract, proper documentation will give you and your business solid legal protection should the need arise.

While specific business needs vary, below are three common legal contracts you should draw up for your business.

1. Partnership Agreement

If you’re starting or running a business with someone else, you need some kind of agreement in writing. Even if your business partner is your spouse, best friend or sibling, having some kind of partnership agreement in place from the start can be a helpful to figure out the inevitable issues that come up during the course of running a business.

The partnership agreement should contain the following:

  • Define who contributes what: Discuss what you and your partner will be bringing to the table in terms of labor, time, cash, property, customers, etc. Who plans on working on the business full-time, part-time or just acting as a silent partner?
  • Define who gets paid what: Outline how profits will be distributed. Will each partner be paid a salary for his or her role in the business? How much? What about any extra profits for the year?
  • Define how decisions get made: What type of decisions require unanimous votes, and what type of daily decisions can be made by a single partner? Discuss these matters upfront and decide what decision-making structure will let your business run the most effectively while making sure that no one feels left behind.
  • Define what happens to ownership interests: Decide what happens if/when someone dies, retires, goes bankrupt or just wants out. Maybe add in a non-compete clause to protect against a partner leaving, taking your customers and setting up a competing business.

An Internet search for “partner agreement template” will turn up numerous partnership contracts you can use.

Remember that while you may think you’re on the exact same page as your partner(s) today, situations can easily change over the course of a few years. A few conversations and a little administrative work to make a contract at the start can save you major headaches and potential legal battles down the road.

2. Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)/Confidentiality Agreement

Whenever you’ll be sharing your company’s proprietary information with somebody, you should ask them to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Your company’s proprietary info can be anything from the code written for a mobile app product, your business plan, marketing plan, forecasts or financial numbers, as well as your client and customer list.

For example, if you partner with a vendor or freelancer for a marketing project, you should draw up an NDA to make sure your customer list is protected.

You can find a sample NDA template from SCORE. As with any template you download from the Internet, you should have it reviewed by your attorney prior to use.

3. Independent Contractor Agreements

For many small businesses, outsourcing to independent contractors is a great way to get some added help, fill a specific need or bring in specific expertise. It’s a flexible arrangement, and you don’t have to pay workers’ compensation, payroll taxes or employee benefits for contractors and freelancers. However, be aware that the IRS is now on the lookout for employers who misclassify their workers as independent contractors to avoid paying payroll taxes, etc.

For this reason, it’s smart to make a contract.  Create an independent contractor agreement that explicitly defines the relationship between you and the worker. Make it clear that you intend the worker to be an independent contractor who is responsible for his or her own taxes. In addition, the agreement should not exert much control over how work will get done. Don’t set specific hours for when they need to work, or where.

While having this agreement isn’t going to protect you 100 percent from an IRS audit or misclassification ruling, it does provide evidence that you intended to hire an independent contractor.

For these three contracts, as with any legal formality, it’s always best to invest a little time. Make a contract and get it squared away upfront, rather than waiting until you actually need the contract. By then, it’s typically too late. Talk to an attorney if you have any questions at all or just want a professional set of eyes to review a contract. Your business is worth it.

Contract Photo via Shutterstock




Internet Sales Tax Bill May Stall in House of Representatives

internet sales tax bill

Small business owners:  if you are opposed to the Internet Sales Tax bill, you may be able to breathe a sign of relief - for a while anyway.

If you are in favor of the Internet Sales Tax bill, be prepared to have your patience tested.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate passed the Internet Sales Tax bill.  But the House of Representatives, which would also have to pass the bill before it could become law, may just throw a monkey wrench into the legislation.

Reuters is reporting that Speaker of the House John Boehner (R- OH) will send the Senate version of the legislation to the House Judiciary Committee, likely stalling the bill.  Boehner, who opposes the bill like many other Republicans in the House, may wish to delay any vote on the measure.  There is no timetable for a potential vote in the House of Representatives.

The Internet Sales Tax bill would allow individual states to require e-commerce merchants to collect and pay state sales taxes even if merchants don’t possess a physical presence in the state.  Current legal doctrine mostly requires a physical presence. The proposed bill exempts small businesses with less than $1 million in sales in states that collect sales tax.

One Man’s Fairness is Another Man’s Unfairness

The official title of the bill is the Marketplace Fairness Act.  But fairness is in the eye of the beholder.

Those in favor include Amazon.com.  The eCommerce giant initially fought the concept of an Internet sales tax, but more recently came out in favor of the measure.  Some speculate the reason is that Amazon is planning to build warehouses in every state in order to enable same day delivery and thus would have to collect sales taxes anyway.  The bill would give Amazon a competitive edge, due to its huge resources and technology, over smaller retailers not as easily able to handle the burdens.

Retailing giants WalMart and Best Buy are also in favor of the measure becuase they already collect sales taxes due to stores in every states.

It’s said that brick and mortar small businesses also favor the bill.  However, since there is no single voice for small retailers it’s hard to say how strongly or the extent to which they support it.

The affiliate marketing industry also supports the bill, because 76,000 affiliate sellers have been cut off from advertising revenue due to states that already have attempted to pass laws imposing sales taxes.  Rather than pay sales taxes, large merchants simply discontinue their affiliate programs with small web publishers in the affected states that individually passed laws.

Those opposing the Internet sales tax bill include online sellers, and sites like eBay,where millions go to sell merchandise today and mostly do it free of sales tax.  They would have the burden of having to figure thousands of tax options (for 9600 state and local taxing jurisdictions), remitting taxes, and being subject to audit, paperwork and regulatory enforcement by them.  They see it as a tax grab by state governments looking for more tax revenue.

Former Vice President candidate Sarah Palin sounded off against the Internet Sales Tax on her Facebook page this week, where her post already has generated over 1,400 comment. She said, “This new internet tax is not only another barrier to entry for smaller online start-ups, it’s a disincentive to grow a company. This will hit these smaller companies right where their margin of profit is, which means that this will cost jobs because when businesses lose profitability, they lay off workers or shut down.”

But the impact is not nearly as cut and dried for small businesses, even for brick and mortar retailers.   I would add, as a former co-owner of a retail shop in a small town:  while 80% of our sales were local, 20% were online.  And that was a decade ago â€" it likely would be a much higher percentage of sales online today.  So it’s not just about online entrepreneurs.  And while the $1 million sales exemption may sound high, remember, this is retail. That might translate into $150,000 net to a retailer - maybe less.  The retailer may employ only a handful of employees.  That’s hardly a huge business.

Shipping Photo via Shutterstock




Activity-Based Working (ABW) Encourages Worker Productivity

Monotonous cubicle jobs are a thing of the past, and activity-based working (ABW) is what has come to take its place. While focusing more on collaboration and adaptability, ABW allows employees an array of options to get the job done. While how your business incorporates ABW may vary, Staples Advantage suggests several options that can be applied to any workplace to increase office productivity.

One that many businesses overlook is furniture. While it may be more cost efficient to choose basic furniture, Staples Advantage suggests looking into ones that are more ergonomic, and encourage productivity and comfort while being movable and flexible. In a survey, Staples Advantage found that nearly fifty percent of workers believe they would be more productive with ergonomic furniture and natural lighting. Layout is another factor to be mindful of. Having various workstations, as well as natural lighting, allows for workers to be both active and productive, and natural lighting serves a second function as lowering costs. Finally, workers must have the right technology to allow them to be productive at the highest levels. The correct network solutions, laptops, tablets, and headsets, these things work to accommodate employees to work at their best.

Dan Lee, the National Design Manager for Business Interiors by Staples, says businesses, especially small ones, need to maximize their space. Mobile furniture can help them, as it allows for spontaneous brainstorm and collaboration sessions, and can be rearranged afterward to become a more traditional workplace. Having options is what will make the most out of any business, and treating your business like a constantly evolving space is what will pay off large dividends down the road.

The biggest thing a business can do to be successful is to ensure the comfort of its employees, and to provide a workspace that can encourage and facilitate collaboration, productivity, and flexibility. By paying attention to factors like furniture, layout, and technology, any business will be on the right track to becoming a force in their field.



Tech Thursday (5/9): News from Brazzlebox, Dell SonicWALL, Hiscox and HooteSuite

It’s Tech Thursday from Smallbiztechnology.com. Each week we take a quick look at business and technology news and updates for the small business community and share them with you in a quick and simple round-up.

Neopost USA to Offer Award Winning Digital Printing Solution throughout the U.S. Powered by OKI Data Americas

Customers to benefit from both organizations’ long standing reputations in excellence

 

Neopost USA, an innovative solutions provider in the postal and related digital communications industry, and OKI Data Americas - an industry leader in printing technologies - announced an agreement through which Neopost USA will enhance its wide product offerings to include Neopost HD Office Printers powered by OKI Data Americas. This agreement draws on Neopost USA’s broad range of mailing, shipping and customer communications solutions and its expansive customer base, as well as OKI Data’s expertise in the development and marketing of innovative printing technologies.

Some of the key features of the Neopost HD Office Printers include exceptional high definition print quality with LED print heads, microfine toner, advanced print registration and auto calibration.

You can read more about this new offering here.

BrazzleboxLaunches Out of Syracuse, New York

The social network for small and home based businesses launches in New York and begins nationwide expansion

Brazzlebox is a community based social network for small and home-based businesses. Our key features will help promote business, allow the creation of exclusive local and national professional networks and connect businesses directly to their community.

Brazzlebox is now live and launched beginning in the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica and Albany, New York. They will soon expand into all of New York State and then nationwide. Small and home based business owners, agents of business, business consultants, community groups and consumers can all join Brazzlebox for free.

You can read more about this new social network for businesses here.

Dell introduces SonicWALL Hosted Email Security 2.0 Cloud Service

New service provides multi-layered email threat protection

Dell today announced SonicWALL Hosted Email Security 2.0, a cloud-based service providing advanced, multi-layered email threat protection backed by world-class 24Ã-7 online and phone support.

Hosted Email Security offers powerful inbound and outbound protection from threats including spam, phishing, zombie and malware attacks at an affordable, predictable and flexible monthly or annual subscription price. At the same time, it minimizes upfront deployment time and costs, as well as ongoing administration expenses.

  • Powerful, inbound and outbound email threat protection from a security industry leader
  • Efficient to deploy and manage, easy to use
  • Available globally with data centers in the US and Europe; includes 24/7 worldwide phone support

For more on this new service from Dell, click here.

Hiscox Authors Series launches 2013 program with small business expert Gene Marks

Hiscox Authors Series for Entrepreneurs shares tips, tools and guidance for small business owners

 

Hiscox, a specialist insurer that provides U.S. small businesses with the simplest way to purchase customized business insurance online or over the phone, announced today the second installment of its Hiscox Authors Series for Entrepreneurs. The Hiscox Authors Series is a three-month thought leadership initiative that shares expertise, insight and guidance from well-known entrepreneurial authors to help others in successfully launching, running and building their small businesses.

Gene Marks , author of, In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash â€" Simple Lessons from Smart Business People, will share what he has learned from his own experiences as an entrepreneur. His direct approach to guidance includes everything from taking the leap to start a business and the associated risks, to the happenings in Washington and economic trends relevant to small business owners.

As part of the 2013 Hiscox Authors Series, small business owners will have direct access for three months to tips, tricks and tools through Hiscox’s website, live events and various social media channels, including blog posts, Google+ Chats and webinars. Visit Hiscox’s Facebook , Twitter and Google+ social media channels for up-to-date information on the Hiscox Authors Series with Gene Marks through the end of June.

For more on the Author Series, click here.

HootSuite Continues Global Expansion with Apps for Tencent Weibo, VK.com and Russian Language Version

HootSuite’s newest apps Tencent Weibo and VK.com empower customers to reach broader global audiences within the HootSuite dashboard

 

HootSuite, makers of the market-leading social media management system, extends their App Directory with the introduction of two major social media networks: Tencent Weibo, China’s prevailing microblogging platform with over 540 million registered accounts, and VKontakle, more commonly known as VK.com - Russia’s largest social media network with over 200 million registered accounts. A new Russian language version of the dashboard has also been added.

Tencent Weibo and VK.com users can now manage their localized social media accounts alongside other networks including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ Pages, Foursquare, and more within the HootSuite dashboard. These new integrations empower HootSuite’s over six million Free, Pro, and Enterprise users to reach broader global audiences.

For more on this story, click here.



3 Ways to Perform SEO on a Shoestring Budget

seo help

As the SEO landscape continues to change in 2013, many tactics that had previously been low cost, easy to implement and effective are becoming less and less effective. For this reason, a lot of small businesses are struggling to choose the right areas of focus to get quality results from SEO on a limited budget. The truth is that things like comprehensive content marketing plans can be very expensive to execute, and for many small businesses a hefty monthly retainer to “do SEO right” might not be a legitimate possibility.

So what can a small business that’s on a budget do to improve their search rankings without exposing themselves to a high level of short term risk?

1) Leverage External Expertise Strategically

One way to leverage external expertise on a limited budget is to contract with an agency in a specific, strategic way. Rather than engaging in a full-on retainer-based relationship, you might consider:

  • An SEO Audit: Have the agency conduct an in-depth audit of your site and give you a list of items to improve. You might consider doing this annually with a different agency every year to get a “new set of eyes” and different ideas for opportunities.
  • Monthly Consultations: Some SEOs will sell hourly phone consultations, which like an audit can be a nice way to get some quick insights for a limited fee. If you have $200-$500 a month to spend, you’ll likely be much better off getting 1 hour of time from a skilled SEO than you would be if you spent that money on services (as you’ll likely either get an extremely limited amount of quality link building, or a lot of lower quality link building that’s likely to hurt you more than harm you in the long run).

In either of these scenarios, you’ll have to be able to actually execute on the advice generated in the audit/consultation. But you’ll put yourself in a position to get a premium quality SEO plan on a restricted budget.

2) Generate Blog Posts by Curating and Aggregating Content

Your blog is one of the most effective SEO tools you have in your arsenal. At least it can be, if you use it right. But one of the most common stumbling blocks encountered by bloggers and business owners is a lack of content. Fortunately, there are tons of resources you can use to generate content ideas. (Think AllTop, Twitter, Google News and many of the sites you’re already using on a daily basis.)

The key to coming up with great content ideas is to shift your thinking from that of a content consumer to that of a content curator. What topics are trending? What are your readers and customers asking you about most frequently? What posts have been re-Tweeted hundreds of times on Twitter? Armed with this data, put a new spin on it - and you’ve got yourself a blog post.

Another useful way to generate share-worthy blog content is to collect quotes from internal subject matter experts and create a blog post surrounding this information. If there’s a hot-button topic in your industry, consult your leaders and ask for their insights. What are their perspectives on the changing trends, up-and-coming events, or recent happenings? If your internal experts have recognizable names, you’ve already got one factor in your corner contributing to the share-worthiness of your content.

A good way to do this can be to simply create an email distribution list for the right folks within the company, brief them on what you’ll be doing, then when news breaks send a simple question to everyone on the list and ask for a few sentences / paragraphs on the topic. You simply need to format the responses and you have what’s likely to be a highly useful and interesting piece of content.

3) Identify and Contribute to Authoritative Blogs in Your Niche

Another way to develop quality inbound links to your site is to create guest blog content.

This is a great low budget tactic if you’re aiming your efforts at quality blogs and avoiding typical guest posting mistakes, because you’re able to develop thought leadership, get referral traffic to your site, and build authoritative links in exchange for your own expertise and effort.

The main takeaway here isn’t necessarily that you should choose these three specific tactics, but rather that in looking for low-cost SEO options you want to consider:

  • Quality Not Quantity: For the actual aspects you’re outsourcing if your budget is extremely scarce, you want to avoid riskier, higher-volume services and focus on extracting very specific value from experts in small doses.
  • Use Your Relationships & Expertise to Get Links: Whether its getting experts (internally or from other sites and companies in your niche) to contribute to your content or contributing your content to other sites, you have expertise and have built relationships over time that you can turn into links

Combining these two (selective involvement from an SEO and a lot of effort from your own team) can net you some great results.

SEO Concept Photo via Shutterstock




Microsoft offers \'fix\' for latest Internet Explorer zero day

With a new module exploiting it already released for the Metasploit Framework, this week's Internet Explorer zero day vulnerability now has a provisional fix in place. Users of IE 8 (other versions aren't affected) can go to a Microsoft advisory page, click on a cheerful "Fix it" button and install a software shim that provides protection from attacks using the zero-day.

Another approach to mitigating this zero-day is to use Microsoft's Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET). This free toolkit keeps watch over Windows processes and applies various mitigation techniques to find and react to attacks on memory corruption vulnerabilities. In a blog post, Qualys CTO Wolfgang Kandek said, "We ran EMET through its paces with the Metasploit module for CVE-2013-1347, and it indeed catches the exploit before it can install the RAT program." Since this is also by no means the first Internet Explorer zero day, using EMET as a general protection strategy seems wise.

The Microsoft advisory describing the vulnerability also pointed out additional factors mitigating attacks, including the default "restricted" mode used to run IE on Windows Server 2003, 2008 and 2008 R2. Another mitigating factor is that all supported versions of Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express and Windows Mail open HTML-encoded messages in restricted mode.

Several security vendors reported that the U.S. Department of Labor website was hacked over the weekend in an attack that placed code to exploit the flaw within site visitors' browsers and then downloaded malware to their systems. A CrowdStrike blog entry on the attack notes, "Eight other compromised sites were also reported to be similarly compromised, with the data suggesting that this campaign began in mid-March."




New App Helps You Find and Hire Freelance Contractors Within Your Social Network

One third of the American work force works as freelancers, independent contractors, consultants, part timers, temps and self-employed entrepreneurs. With lay-offs continuing and on-roll jobs becoming harder to come by, the Intuit 2020 report estimates that this figure will balloon to nearly 40 percent of the overall workforce.

For growing businesses, this means being able to tap into a growing talent pool of freelancers at competitive rates, mostly via online freelance job portals such as Elance, ODesk, Guru and Freelancer. But hiring freelance contractors also poses its own set of challenges.

Firstly, businesses looking to hire contractors from any one of these portals are often faced with the problem of plenty, with a single job attracting hordes of applications from all round the globe, making it a time consuming and cumbersome process to select the right candidate for the job.

Secondly, while each portal has its own system of contractor ratings derived from feedback from other clients, these can often be unreliable. Let’s face it what’s average for you, may represent an excellent delivery for another.

And finally, there are the tax implications of hiring independent contractors which are handled differently on these sites and need to be well understood.

Coworks.com an online portal based on network recommendations

Coworks has created a solution to help make the process of finding a qualified freelance worker easier. Coworks is an online portal that combines the features of existing freelance websites with some of the features of LinkedIn. Simply put, it works on the ‘referral model’. What this essentially means is that once you list a job, the website recommends contractors who have been recommended by people within your own network on the site. So instead of having to review several applications, you will receive contractor profiles that come recommended by people known to you and therefore offer the promise of quality and trust, which are vital in any business equation.

You can even login on the site using your Facebook or LinkedIn I.D. and password. The other aspect that works in favor of businesses is the pricing. The premium package of $69 a month lets you list any number of jobs across the four job categories (writing and translations, design and illustration, photo-video and web-apps) with zero transaction fees, compared to nearly 8 to 10 percent that you would normally pay on other sites. So if you are a regular employer of freelance contractors, then this could be a real cost saver.

While the site is still in the beta stage, the model can work successfully for businesses and contractors alike by inviting people within their social circles (LinkedIn and Facebook) to join Coworks.com. The more the merrier and more the chances of doing business with someone who is known to someone you know (inspired by the theory of ‘six degrees of separation’ I suppose), which is at least half the problem solved while hiring a freelance contractor!

 



New App Helps You Find and Hire Freelance Contractors Within Your Social Network

One third of the American work force works as freelancers, independent contractors, consultants, part timers, temps and self-employed entrepreneurs. With lay-offs continuing and on-roll jobs becoming harder to come by, the Intuit 2020 report estimates that this figure will balloon to nearly 40 percent of the overall workforce.

For growing businesses, this means being able to tap into a growing talent pool of freelancers at competitive rates, mostly via online freelance job portals such as Elance, ODesk, Guru and Freelancer. But hiring freelance contractors also poses its own set of challenges.

Firstly, businesses looking to hire contractors from any one of these portals are often faced with the problem of plenty, with a single job attracting hordes of applications from all round the globe, making it a time consuming and cumbersome process to select the right candidate for the job.

Secondly, while each portal has its own system of contractor ratings derived from feedback from other clients, these can often be unreliable. Let’s face it what’s average for you, may represent an excellent delivery for another.

And finally, there are the tax implications of hiring independent contractors which are handled differently on these sites and need to be well understood.

Coworks.com an online portal based on network recommendations

Coworks has created a solution to help make the process of finding a qualified freelance worker easier. Coworks is an online portal that combines the features of existing freelance websites with some of the features of LinkedIn. Simply put, it works on the ‘referral model’. What this essentially means is that once you list a job, the website recommends contractors who have been recommended by people within your own network on the site. So instead of having to review several applications, you will receive contractor profiles that come recommended by people known to you and therefore offer the promise of quality and trust, which are vital in any business equation.

You can even login on the site using your Facebook or LinkedIn I.D. and password. The other aspect that works in favor of businesses is the pricing. The premium package of $69 a month lets you list any number of jobs across the four job categories (writing and translations, design and illustration, photo-video and web-apps) with zero transaction fees, compared to nearly 8 to 10 percent that you would normally pay on other sites. So if you are a regular employer of freelance contractors, then this could be a real cost saver.

While the site is still in the beta stage, the model can work successfully for businesses and contractors alike by inviting people within their social circles (LinkedIn and Facebook) to join Coworks.com. The more the merrier and more the chances of doing business with someone who is known to someone you know (inspired by the theory of ‘six degrees of separation’ I suppose), which is at least half the problem solved while hiring a freelance contractor!

 



Go Daddy Executive Named COO, Transformation Continues

godaddy new

Scott Wagner, formerly of private investment firm, KKR Capstone, will stay on as a Go Daddy executive indefinitely. And that suggests that KKR Capstone, which bought 65% of Go Daddy in 2011 along with Silver Lake Partners and Technology Crossover Ventures, will be continuing the transformation of Go Daddy.

The company released an announcement formally confirming Wagner as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer on Wednesday.

Wagner first began working at Go Daddy temporarily after KKR Capstone led the leveraged buyout of GoDaddy for a rumored $2.3 billion.  Wagner stepped in last summer to fill in as interim Chief Executive Officer  after former CEO Warren Adelman stepped down.

“It’s not often you see an operator of Scott’s caliber and experience elect to join the portfolio company he was ‘dropped in’ to assist,” said new CEO Blake Irving in a released statement. ”Scott … shares our passion to change the world for small business,” Irving added.

Go Daddy had been run for 15 years by its founder Bob Parsons, a colorful and sometimes-controversial figure who took heat for shooting elephants.  Parsons still owns a large chunk of the company.

Following the private equity investment, members of KKR stepped in to run the company and begin its transformation.  In  January of this year they brought in Irving, a former Yahoo and Microsoft executive, to be CEO.

Since Irving’s arrival the company has added executive talent and opened new offices in Sunnyvale, California and near Seattle, Washington.  Just last week the company announced groundbreaking for a technology center in Tempe, Arizona.

Prior to 2012 Go Daddy focused on domain name registration, hosting and related website services.  In a bid to expand the breadth of its products, last summer it acquired Outright, a bookkeeping software for solo small business owners and entrepreneurs.

Today when you go to the home page of Go Daddy, it’s far different than it was one year ago.  Back then, the cluttered home page could be overwhelming unless you were a technologist.  It tended to focus on buying domain names and aggressive upsells. The page had considerable technical terminology that could be baffling to non-technologists.

The home page is much cleaner and simpler these days. It places more emphasis on building a website.  It feels much less intimidating to a small business owner or manager.

Gone also is the emphasis on good-looking women such as Nascar driver and spokesperson Danika Patrick. That  emphasis, along with racy Super Bowl commercials, earned Go Daddy a perceived reputation for being sexist. While the emphasis gave Go Daddy a memorable brand, it was offputting to some women business owners.

Last week CEO Irving said, ”GoDaddy is well on its way to being the largest platform for small businesses around the world.”

That transformation still seems to be a work in progress, however, and the company has a long way to go before it’s truly a platform for small businesses.  Go Daddy does not appear to have done much yet with the Outright product it acquired. Go Daddy will need to provide small businesses with tools for many more business functions than their online presence  and bookkeeping, to be a true platform.

Go Daddy has grown since its beginnings as a scrappy startup back in 1997.   Go Daddy’s revenue hit $1.3 billion last year. The company says it serves 11 million customers worldwide with Web hosting and domain registration services and bills itself as the largest provider of these services worldwide.  The company has 3,400 employees worldwide.




Go Daddy Executive Named COO, Transformation Continues

godaddy new

Scott Wagner, formerly of private investment firm, KKR Capstone, will stay on as a Go Daddy executive indefinitely. And that suggests that KKR Capstone, which bought 65% of Go Daddy in 2011 along with Silver Lake Partners and Technology Crossover Ventures, will be continuing the transformation of Go Daddy.

The company released an announcement formally confirming Wagner as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer on Wednesday.

Wagner first began working at Go Daddy temporarily after KKR Capstone led the leveraged buyout of GoDaddy for a rumored $2.3 billion.  Wagner stepped in last summer to fill in as interim Chief Executive Officer  after former CEO Warren Adelman stepped down.

“It’s not often you see an operator of Scott’s caliber and experience elect to join the portfolio company he was ‘dropped in’ to assist,” said new CEO Blake Irving in a released statement. ”Scott … shares our passion to change the world for small business,” Irving added.

Go Daddy had been run for 15 years by its founder Bob Parsons, a colorful and sometimes-controversial figure who took heat for shooting elephants.  Parsons still owns a large chunk of the company.

Following the private equity investment, members of KKR stepped in to run the company and begin its transformation.  In  January of this year they brought in Irving, a former Yahoo and Microsoft executive, to be CEO.

Since Irving’s arrival the company has added executive talent and opened new offices in Sunnyvale, California and near Seattle, Washington.  Just last week the company announced groundbreaking for a technology center in Tempe, Arizona.

Prior to 2012 Go Daddy focused on domain name registration, hosting and related website services.  In a bid to expand the breadth of its products, last summer it acquired Outright, a bookkeeping software for solo small business owners and entrepreneurs.

Today when you go to the home page of Go Daddy, it’s far different than it was one year ago.  Back then, the cluttered home page could be overwhelming unless you were a technologist.  It tended to focus on buying domain names and aggressive upsells. The page had considerable technical terminology that could be baffling to non-technologists.

The home page is much cleaner and simpler these days. It places more emphasis on building a website.  It feels much less intimidating to a small business owner or manager.

Gone also is the emphasis on good-looking women such as Nascar driver and spokesperson Danika Patrick. That  emphasis, along with racy Super Bowl commercials, earned Go Daddy a perceived reputation for being sexist. While the emphasis gave Go Daddy a memorable brand, it was offputting to some women business owners.

Last week CEO Irving said, ”GoDaddy is well on its way to being the largest platform for small businesses around the world.”

That transformation still seems to be a work in progress, however, and the company has a long way to go before it’s truly a platform for small businesses.  Go Daddy does not appear to have done much yet with the Outright product it acquired. Go Daddy will need to provide small businesses with tools for many more business functions than their online presence  and bookkeeping, to be a true platform.

Go Daddy has grown since its beginnings as a scrappy startup back in 1997.   Go Daddy’s revenue hit $1.3 billion last year. The company says it serves 11 million customers worldwide with Web hosting and domain registration services and bills itself as the largest provider of these services worldwide.  The company has 3,400 employees worldwide.




Get people, privacy and policy correct before allowing collaborative working via mobiles

Managing control and compliance of mobile is key to collaborative working.

Stephen Deadman, group privacy officer and head of legal for privacy, security and content standards at Vodafone, said that mobility is driving collaboration, as businesses can allow users to do more than on a PC but the role of IT should be to manage control and meet compliance challenges.

Speaking at the Field Fisher Waterhouse security forum, Deadman said that there are stories of inadequate management and data loss issues when it comes to mobile use and bring your own device (BYOD).

“We see the supply chain, where organisations are secure, where things are done and where there is a controller of the data so the responsibility of the organisation is clear, but in my experience there is no responsibility,” he said.

Looking at privacy, people and policy, Deadman said that privacy needs to determine who accesses what and which services, and this can be very difficult to integrate, especially if a personal device is being used.

He said: “Mobile is blurring the lines between personal and professional lives and the borders between them have changed to make things more difficult to manage. It can be good for the work/life balance but you need to be careful with carving space from employees.

“The perimeter has fizzled away and to work collaboratively and to enable tools, you have to work with the privacy guys and staff, as they are choosing the tools that they want to use. So this is more about risk and my view is that it is about who adapts to that the best and about which risks you can control with the tools, what you can and cannot accept and what you have to deal with.”

He said that there is a proliferation of solutions to allow mobile devices to share and access data, and the challenge is knowing when and what to invest in solutions.

For policy, Deadman encouraged companies to "get smart on policy" and not to put their heads in the sand, as that is not dealing with the problem. Finally for people, he said that before you give users a desktop, engage with the user and if they want to choose a device, they have to work collaboratively with the company.



Failure to share information and work collaboratively can cripple a business

Collaborative working and information is needed to keep a business working, although security has to be built in.

At the Field Fisher Waterhouse security forum, the concept of collaborative working was debated among speakers and delegates.

Paul Vincent, global head of security architecture and design at Lloyds Banking Group, said that information is needed to keep the business working and if you stop the data flowing, "it will not be long before you are crippled beyond repair".

He recommended four approaches: to produce a guidance for secure collaborative sharing and have a good way of sharing data; to roll out technology solutions that don't end up not being used; integrate solutions into the IT landscape; or take an attitude that "collaboration is data leakage and must be prevented at all costs". He said that this is for companies with no solution in place.

He said: “At our business we do not allow webmail access or USB sticks and we have to use a VPN to share data, but this means that from a security perspective, data is not going anywhere but the business is able to function.”

Vincent recommended that to secure information look at network administrator control; to secure applications look at creating a secure workspace; and to secure data look at digital rights management.

However he said that technology is not mature enough yet, but it was getting to a tipping point and the challenge is how to integrate security capability with products.

He said: “The smart companies have a strategy and deliver to it. You need a good guarantee to share data and if people do not work within the security controls, they get fired.

“Have good governance and decide on your approach to collaboration and have a business unit to determine risk. A federated model is good, but it needs control. It is also good if security and innovation are tied up together on this.”

Stewart Room, partner at Field Fisher Waterhouse, said that the objectives of sharing are in realising agility and productivity in business, and the need to make sure it is done securely. “This is a trust issue fundamentally, it is also worth looking at Intralinks' concept of un-sharing and ISO 27010,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Richard Anstey, CTO EMEA of Intralinks, said that "Generation Y have a different notion of what it means to share" and that this has changed the notion of securing the boundary and the firewall and network, to protecting the information itself.

He highlighted a customer who had used Intralinks' technology to protect intellectual property and work better with third parties. “With users, you have to have ease-of-use and simplicity as if the product is incomprehensible, users will use their own tools,” he said.

“It must also be auditable and secured so you know what is going on and search for data over time. Where will your data be in five to ten years' time?”

Ian Bryant, technical director of the UK Trustworthy Software Initiative, encouraged the creation of a ‘trust circle' when it comes to the management of sharing information, in order to determine a community who can use the data and a ‘trust master' who has overall responsibility.

Asked if that trust master should be a regulator, Bryant said that this is not really the case, but it could be a data protection officer or someone who understands how to work with data.