New York Times Hacked Via Crafty Phishing Attack

It was another reminder of the vulnerability of businesses that conduct all or some of their activities online.

Both the New York Times and Twitter were hacked yesterday.  Or, at least, their domain names were “hacked” â€" i.e., hijacked for a time.

The two companies essentially had their domain names rerouted to different servers.  In the case of the New York Times, it was the entire NYTimes.com web URL that was affected.  In the case of Twitter, it was only the domains for the images hosted on Twitter.

A group claiming to be loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad claimed responsibility in a series of messages on Twitter.

The group, calling itself the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA), also claimed to have hacked the Huffington Post, but that site does not appear to have been affected.

How The Hackers Did It: A Phishing Email

The SEA hacking attack was relatively low-tech (as such things go). It started with a phishing email.

The email enticed an employee of a reseller of Melbourne IT in Australia to give up login credentials. Melbourne IT provides online DNS services for The New York Times website, Twitter and many other clients.

Typically, a phishing email tries to get unsuspecting recipients to click on a link taking them to a fake page that may look exactly like a legitimate site. Upon logging in, the login credentials are captured.

Once the SEA had the login credentials, they were able to gain access to the DNS records for the New York Times website. They then changed the records to point to a different server. When visitors went to the NYTimes.com site, they saw a screen with an SEA insignia.

That’s because the DNS information was directing Internet traffic to go to the substituted server location for information, not to the New York Times’ Web servers. Writes The Next Web, “DNS is akin to a ‘phone book for the Internet’ and is responsible for taking you to the website that you want to visit.”

Although Melbourne IT changed the DNS information back promptly after the intrusion was discovered, the effects lingered. The reason:  it can take up to 24 hours for your ISP’s caches to be cleared of information.

Almost a full day later, some people (including here at the Small Business Trends offices) were still not able to access the New York Times website. Up until nearly noon Eastern time today, New York Times Vice President of Communications, Eileen Murphy, was still responding to inquiries on Twitter from readers who said they could not access the site.

The DNS tampering also affected Twitter to a lesser degree. The SEA managed to access the DNS records for where Twitter images are hosted (although not the main Twitter servers). Twitter issued an official status update saying “Viewing of images and photos was sporadically impacted.”

2 Lessons You Can Take Away:

1 ) Train employees to spot and avoid phishing emails.

Be wary of unexpected emails that seem to come out of the blue prompting logins. Look closely at the URL for any page you are directed to. Sometimes the pages look perfect, and only the URL is a giveaway that it’s a phishing site.  Make sure employees are trained to watch out.

2) Secure the Logins for Your Domain Name Accounts

Small businesses typically have their domain name registrar manage their DNS. If someone gains access to your domain name account, they may be able to tamper with where your website traffic is pointed to. While domain registrars usually require multi-step security for transferring a domain name, that may not be the case for changing DNS settings.  Protect login credentials carefully.

New York Times Building Photo via Shutterstock

7 Ways Facebook and Twitter Are Helping Small Businesses Reach New Customers

Facebook is on a constant evolution to help very small businesses advertise on Facebook - to get more customers and/or keep the ones they have. If you have not yet tested the waters of Facebook advertising - try it out.

Recently, Facebook made things a bit easier by giving you free access to millions of Shutterstock images and a few other enhancements they did as well in regard to advertising and Facebook pages. Read the full announcement here.

My book “The Facebook Guide to Small Business Marketing” and a presentation I created about Facebook for business here can help you.

Twitter is also making big strides in making it easier for small business owners to use Twitter to advertise. I received a simply written email from Twitter which reads:

Challenge

@AlterBrooklyn wanted to drive more exposure and engagement on Twitter and attract new customers

Solution

They used Promoted Accounts targeted to users in New York City to grow a follower base of style mavens and potential customers. To reach an entirely new audience beyond their followers, @AlterBrooklyn used Promoted Tweets with sneak peek photos to drive awareness of their brand and to introduce new products.

250% increase of followers  on Twitter and increase number of in-store visits

Social Media marketing works - you just have to be Frequent, Relevant, Engaging and Analyze your results

Advertising through social media has of lot of benefits to your business. Here are 7:

1. Quick results of the success of not success of your marketing
2. Virality - ability to quickly reach others beyond who you directly marketed to
3. Details measurement - through tracking links, hashtags and other methods you can get a granular view of how your marketing works
4. Instant results - within minutes you can quickly see how your campaign is working (not hours, days, weeks or months for a radio, TV or print advertisement)
5. You are in direct control - by advertising on social media you can control every detail of your advertising (the image used, how the copy looks and so much more, the time is launches)
6. There are so many 3rd party services and solo professionals who can help you
7. There’s lots of ways to learn - extensive help is all over the Internet

Remember social media advertising is not just about NEW customers - but it’s great to build loyalty with current customers as well!

7 Ways Facebook and Twitter Are Helping Small Businesses Reach New Customers

Facebook is on a constant evolution to help very small businesses advertise on Facebook - to get more customers and/or keep the ones they have. If you have not yet tested the waters of Facebook advertising - try it out.

Recently, Facebook made things a bit easier by giving you free access to millions of Shutterstock images and a few other enhancements they did as well in regard to advertising and Facebook pages. Read the full announcement here.

My book “The Facebook Guide to Small Business Marketing” and a presentation I created about Facebook for business here can help you.

Twitter is also making big strides in making it easier for small business owners to use Twitter to advertise. I received a simply written email from Twitter which reads:

Challenge

@AlterBrooklyn wanted to drive more exposure and engagement on Twitter and attract new customers

Solution

They used Promoted Accounts targeted to users in New York City to grow a follower base of style mavens and potential customers. To reach an entirely new audience beyond their followers, @AlterBrooklyn used Promoted Tweets with sneak peek photos to drive awareness of their brand and to introduce new products.

250% increase of followers  on Twitter and increase number of in-store visits

Social Media marketing works - you just have to be Frequent, Relevant, Engaging and Analyze your results

Advertising through social media has of lot of benefits to your business. Here are 7:

1. Quick results of the success of not success of your marketing
2. Virality - ability to quickly reach others beyond who you directly marketed to
3. Details measurement - through tracking links, hashtags and other methods you can get a granular view of how your marketing works
4. Instant results - within minutes you can quickly see how your campaign is working (not hours, days, weeks or months for a radio, TV or print advertisement)
5. You are in direct control - by advertising on social media you can control every detail of your advertising (the image used, how the copy looks and so much more, the time is launches)
6. There are so many 3rd party services and solo professionals who can help you
7. There’s lots of ways to learn - extensive help is all over the Internet

Remember social media advertising is not just about NEW customers - but it’s great to build loyalty with current customers as well!

Creatively Challenged? Get Help With 140 Character Tweets With This Neat Tool

One of the challenging things people find about working with Twitter is what 140 characters to use in their Tweets. Not everyone is creative and can take a phrase like this “We have neat hand bags, in several colors, blue, red, gold. Which handbag would you pick for your hot date?”. It’s not easy to take a thought and turn it into several 140 character Tweets - turning it into several Tweets is even harder.

Vertical Response launched a new tool, Conversation Starter, which I I tested out. You fill in some blanks in a sentence, press submit, and are returned a list of suggested Tweets.

Are you “Twitter challenged” - check it out.

Two other tools Vertical Response tools include:

Button Builder: Use the VerticalResponse Button Builder to create vibrant, highly customizable buttons that help make emails pop and drive reader engagement.

PageRank Checker: This tool enables businesses to instantly learn their website’s Google PageRank score (Google’s system of assessing a website’s influence and importance by assigning it a score of zero to 10).

From this…

To this…

How To Find The Necessary Funds For Your Business

What is the toughest challenge for an entrepreneur? Most times, it’s finding the appropriate funds to launch the business and then grow it.

So, how do you embark on this task?

The first and foremost step in materializing your business ideas is to collect the necessary money. Certain funding opportunities like grants offer very limited capital. It does not cover all the costs needed for a new business and entrepreneurs with for-profit enterprises are often refused grants. If you aspire to establish a non-profit organisation, the chances of getting grants are positive.

In the midst of these uncertainties, the wisest idea is to weigh all the options for finding the right financial match for your business. Below are some simple tips to guide you through the fundraising process of all the stages of a business cycle.

Bootstrap: Use Your Own Financial Resources

In the initial stages of your business, using money from your savings account may be the right option. Since you are in the experimental stage, taking loans may not be safe. Keeping in mind the chances of succeeding in the long run, you may decide to stick to the current business idea or shift focus to a new one.

If you are considering bootstrapping, you need to be careful of making use of your precious savings.

Ask Among Family and Friends

If you do not have adequate savings to invest in your business, there is no need to lose hope as there is another way. Invite your family and friends to invest in your venture. Once you are successful, repay the money to them.

Before any of your family and friends make an investment in your business, come to an understanding that it may a considerable amount of time to repay the money.

Crowdfunding

If you don’t have enough money in your savings account, you’re not ready for venture capital funding, you have failed to qualify for a bank loan and your family and friends are not willing to invest in your business, then you must be wondering whether there is any other way left. The answer is yes, and it comes in the form of crowdfunding.

Launched on January 1, 2013 under the JOBS Act, crowdfunding allows a wider group of small investors with fewer limitations. When it comes to investment in the early stages of a business, this option is ideal.

There are many sites offering crowdfunding. In such situations, you require selecting with utmost awareness. Carry out thorough research on top online resources for crowdfunding and decide on the best one for you.

Angel Investors

When your business advances to the next stage of growth and you need more capital to progress further, you may approach angel investors. Is the concept of an angel investors new to you?

If so, angel investors are wealthy individuals or a group of individuals that offer funds for launching a business in exchange of translatable debt or ownership equity.

You can locate angel groups on the Internet. They make their presence felt on the Web with an eloquent description of their objectives. These groups decide whether your business fulfills their requirements. If so, they will arrange a meeting to collect more data. Investments can start from $50,000 to $500,000 and even more.

Bank Loan

A growing business in the later stages may require funding for different purposes to ensure long-term growth. At this juncture, a bank loan can be the source of monetary resources.While applying for the loan, the financial institution will ask for detailed information about you and your business. This information is vital to secure a loan.

The process is lengthy and complicated. You can facilitate it by establishing an amicable relationship with the bank at the nascent stages of your enterprise. The point of contact need not be for a loan at first. It can be a merchant account, checking account or credit cards. With time, the financial institution will become familiar with your enterprise and you as an entrepreneur and you may find yourself in an advantageous position to avail of their services.

If you devise a business plan, taking into account these five options for funding, it will be easier for you to secure the capital you require, no matter which stage of business you are in.

Searching Photo via Shutterstock

Creatively Challenged? Get Help With 140 Character Tweets With This Neat Tool

One of the challenging things people find about working with Twitter is what 140 characters to use in their Tweets. Not everyone is creative and can take a phrase like this “We have neat hand bags, in several colors, blue, red, gold. Which handbag would you pick for your hot date?”. It’s not easy to take a thought and turn it into several 140 character Tweets - turning it into several Tweets is even harder.

Vertical Response launched a new tool, Conversation Starter, which I I tested out. You fill in some blanks in a sentence, press submit, and are returned a list of suggested Tweets.

Are you “Twitter challenged” - check it out.

Two other tools Vertical Response tools include:

Button Builder: Use the VerticalResponse Button Builder to create vibrant, highly customizable buttons that help make emails pop and drive reader engagement.

PageRank Checker: This tool enables businesses to instantly learn their website’s Google PageRank score (Google’s system of assessing a website’s influence and importance by assigning it a score of zero to 10).

From this…

To this…

Tawki Develops One-Click Video Production

Small business owners realize the value of online video in marketing these days. The rise of Vine and Video on Instagram demonstrate video’s role in social media too.

But some entrepreneurs just can’t make time to create their own video on a daily basis no matter how important. That’s where Tawki comes in.

Fundraising Launched for Tawki Development

Developers expect Tawki to function as both a video production tool and a social media platform when completed. The Tawki team includes members with backgrounds in video production, Search Engine Optimization, social media marketing and site development. And developers thought specifically about small business users at every step in the process.

The group launched a campaign on fundraising platform IndieGogo yesterday in hopes of generating at least $100,000 to complete phase two of the site’s development.

Contributors could receive a range of rewards depending on the sizes of their donations. These rewards could include, in some cases, the option to become a beta tester or to give input on the product.

Video Production and Video Sharing

The first innovation the new platform will offer is what the development team calls one-click video production. With the entry of a keyword, Tawki will create very simple video with still photos, short video clips and background music fitting that keyword or phrase.

“It’s kind of like stock photography, but in video form,” said co-founder David Leonhardt.

However, Leonhardt said the video production tools would also allow some customization.

The system will allow users to upload their own photos or video clips, enter text, choose their own music, and add voice-overs. Beyond the basics, Tawki will also offer some custom animation options. See a sample of the kind of animation it will create below.

And that’s not all. Tawki will also help you easily share the videos you’ve created on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. Developers say the Tawki platform will also function as a social media site. So this will allow you to share your new videos with others quickly and easily on Tawki too.

Field Agent App Crowdsources Data Gathering

Gathering data for marketing research has traditionally been costly and impractical for small businesses. Your company may need intel on a competitor or even someone to check on in-store displays of your product. But now a smartphone app, Field Agent App, puts a potential army of freelancers at your command.

Data Collection for Literally a Few Bucks

Fivver recently passed two million gigs crowdsourcing everything from website design to advertising services starting for as little as $5 per job.

The Read More

The post Field Agent App Crowdsources Data Gathering appeared first on Small Business Trends.

When Customers Stick: Customer Retention by the Numbers

From the small business to a huge corporation, everyone is earnest to know the secret to customer retention. Let’s face the facts: It is sure much easier to keep a customer than to obtain a new one. So, how does one earn repeat business for years and years to come?

Customers That Stick explores this issue in the following infographic where they use various customer retention statistics to break down the three most important aspects of customer retention why Read More

The post When Customers Stick: Customer Retention by the Numbers appeared first on Small Business Trends.

5 Ways to Use Vine to Market Your Small Business

These days, marketers and small business owners are challenged to keep up with a multitude of social media sites. Not only must they sign up for accounts on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, and FourSquare, they mustalso keep up with those accounts on a regular basis. At some point, a business owner must look at each of these social media sites and choose the ones that are most likely to reach the target demographic of his or her business.

A new social media site has entered the scene, catching on quickly with creative types who want to express themselves, as well as social media users who want to be entertained in short clips. Owned by Twitter, Vine is still a newbie to the social media field, but it already boasts 40 million users. Those aren’t necessarily active users, but millions of “Vines” are linked on Twitter each day. With Instagram rolling out its own video-sharing service, Vine faces stiff competition, but Vine’s unique easy-to-use interface makes it ideal for busy small business owners.

How can sharing six-second videos with the masses help you promote your small business? Here are a few ways you can reach out to Vine’s spirited user base to promote what your business is offering.

Promote Products

National retailer J.C. Penney recently posted a Vine campaign promoting its “First Day Look” for back to school. The company finds unique ways to reach out to its customer base through fun videos while also displaying its latest products.

Show the People

Many companies use Vine to take customers behind the scenes, showcasing company culture. Gap lets customers see inside company parties, but you don’t have to have a party to introduce customers to your staff.

Demonstrate DIY Projects

While six seconds isn’t long to teach someone how to build a house, small jobs like re-tiling a bathroom or installing a toilet can be demonstrated in six seconds. As with other social media sites, Vine is a great way to show customers how great your work is and get your name out there.

Go Viral

On Vine, when a video connects with large numbers of people, it joins the “Popular Now” section of the app. The site also distinguishes videos that are “On the Rise.” Browse the videos on these lists and note that many are creative videos designed to make people laugh or connect with people through their relatability.

Have Fun

If there’s one thing that’s clear when browsing through Vine videos, it’s that people are there to have fun. Inject your videos with humor and lightheartedness and your customers will respond.

Vine is a unique social media tool that’s both easy to use and entertaining to view. All you need to get started promoting your business on Vine is a smartphone with an app and the creativity to come up with fun six-second videos. Add in a little creativity and you’ll be building your audience in no time.

Putting Television in Your Lobby or Place of Business: What you Need to Know

Whether your business is hospitality-driven, office-related, or sports-minded, having a television can boost your sales and lead to happier customers.

In today’s ‘want it now, want it fast’ world, customer expectations are at an all-time high. Customers seem to want to stay connected to what’s happening and have access to the outside world all the time, no matter where they happen to be. And a few magazines scattered on tables in the lobby are not enough anymore â€" people want to engage through visual technology.

That’s where business TV comes in.

Today, TVs serve as customer service amenities for customers and clients who have to wait, and marketing aids for visitors to your business. Televisions lend themselves as efficient and inexpensive tools for conveying information to employees. In hospitality-related businesses such as bars and restaurants, TVs can be an important part of your offering mix to draw customers, and keep them staying longer and spending more.

Dollar for dollar, business television is an inexpensive marketing and customer satisfaction technique.

Let’s take a deeper look at key points you need to know about business TV and the role it can play in your business:

There are some obvious choices for business television, and some not so obvious ones:

Bars, Restaurants, Coffee Shops - Bars are a natural for TVs. Sports bars, in particular, need televisions with the most up-to-date sports packages just to compete. But think outside the box. Casual restaurants, coffee shops and sandwich shops can also also benefit from television â€" think morning news or local programming that draws in regulars.

Offices/Lobbies - Business TV gives visitors the impression that your business is vibrant and connected.

And for companies that use television integrally to serve clients - such as PR firms and advertising agencies â€" television is an important work tool.

Waiting Rooms - Whether a doctor, lawyer, car repair shop or dentist, use TV as an amenity that keeps clients feeling positive even if they must wait. TV can create a welcoming environment, and reduce anxiety.

Exercise/Fitness Centers - People today love to multi-task. Getting caught up on the news, watching sports or simply enjoying their favorite talk shows while they exercise, can make all the difference to those who don’t like to exercise. It’s an added amenity that can set your facility apart from competitors.

Your cable television service provider may offer packages designed specifically for your type of business or needs. That can make your choices easier.

Hardware: What Size and How Many TVs?

The answer to this question depends on the type of business, the number of people watching, the setting and layout. Here are some thoughts to get you thinking:

Sports bars generally need multiple large screen TVs, at least 50 inches or larger. You should have enough TVs where your patrons can watch several events from several locations.

In a small business lobby or waiting room of a professional, TVs can be the same size as what you’d find at home. For instance, in a doctor’s office with two intimate seating areas, two 32” tabletop sets may be best for patients. In the lobby of your company’s offices, a single 42” wall mounted TV may suffice.

When it comes to fitness centers, even small ones might have at least four wall-mounted TVs, 42 inches or bigger. For large fitness centers, the number of TVs needed could be much higher.

Where Do We Place TVs?

In places with high foot traffic or lots of people, flat screen televisions mounted high up on the wall, â€" perhaps one in each corner â€" will typically be the better choice, versus set top models or a TV placed in an entertainment center.

Consider traffic patterns and seating arrangements. Try to make it so that people (including wait staff) walking about do not disrupt others’ line of sight. And try to ensure that every seat in the house has an unimpeded view of at least one TV. In larger or unique environments, speakers and acoustics may be another consideration. Tilting helps reduce glare, and tilt mounts are necessary for higher mounting applications.

Every business owner shudders to think about it, but you need to consider theft and vandalism. Wall mountings that are up high make it harder to reach TVs so they can’t be accidentally broken. Some wall mounts come with the ability to lock the television to the stand with a key, making theft harder.

If your place of business is compact, you may be able to install the television hardware in-house. But for larger installations, bring in a professional audio/video company to lay out where to place television sets, and get the right configurations, including mountings. Professionals also have access to a greater range of hardware than you can buy retail.

Affordability and Tax Considerations

Your cable TV provider can provide service packages with the correct number of TV outlets for your facility, along with suitable packages of local, news, sports and/or entertainment programming. Look for packages specifically set up for businesses similar to yours. By bundling with Internet and related services, you may be able to get additional savings.

Finally, keep in mind that costs associated with business television can usually be deducted or depreciated on your business taxes.

You should always consult with your own tax advisor for specific tax advice, but for general background information we reached out to Barbara Weltman, the author of JK Lasser’s Small Business Taxes. She says that the cost of monthly business television cable service and programming “can be viewed as an ordinary and necessary business expense, which makes it deductible” provided the TV service is used for business purposes.

When it comes to hardware, such as television sets, she notes, “Generally, the cost must be depreciated. However, the cost may qualify for the Sec. 179 deduction (up to $500,000 for 2013 as long as the business is profitable for the year) and/or bonus depreciation (50% of cost in 2013 as long as the equipment is new and not pre-owned).”

As you can see, there are good reasons to use TV in your business. And the cost can be affordable, especially when you factor in the potential for tax deductions and depreciation.

Gym Photo via Shutterstock

Putting Television in Your Lobby or Place of Business: What you Need to Know

Whether your business is hospitality-driven, office-related, or sports-minded, having a television can boost your sales and lead to happier customers.

In today’s ‘want it now, want it fast’ world, customer expectations are at an all-time high. Customers seem to want to stay connected to what’s happening and have access to the outside world all the time, no matter where they happen to be. And a few magazines scattered on tables in the lobby are not enough anymore â€" people want to engage through visual technology.

That’s where business TV comes in.

Today, TVs serve as customer service amenities for customers and clients who have to wait, and marketing aids for visitors to your business. Televisions lend themselves as efficient and inexpensive tools for conveying information to employees. In hospitality-related businesses such as bars and restaurants, TVs can be an important part of your offering mix to draw customers, and keep them staying longer and spending more.

Dollar for dollar, business television is an inexpensive marketing and customer satisfaction technique.

Let’s take a deeper look at key points you need to know about business TV and the role it can play in your business:

There are some obvious choices for business television, and some not so obvious ones:

Bars, Restaurants, Coffee Shops - Bars are a natural for TVs. Sports bars, in particular, need televisions with the most up-to-date sports packages just to compete. But think outside the box. Casual restaurants, coffee shops and sandwich shops can also also benefit from television â€" think morning news or local programming that draws in regulars.

Offices/Lobbies - Business TV gives visitors the impression that your business is vibrant and connected.

And for companies that use television integrally to serve clients - such as PR firms and advertising agencies â€" television is an important work tool.

Waiting Rooms - Whether a doctor, lawyer, car repair shop or dentist, use TV as an amenity that keeps clients feeling positive even if they must wait. TV can create a welcoming environment, and reduce anxiety.

Exercise/Fitness Centers - People today love to multi-task. Getting caught up on the news, watching sports or simply enjoying their favorite talk shows while they exercise, can make all the difference to those who don’t like to exercise. It’s an added amenity that can set your facility apart from competitors.

Your cable television service provider may offer packages designed specifically for your type of business or needs. That can make your choices easier.

Hardware: What Size and How Many TVs?

The answer to this question depends on the type of business, the number of people watching, the setting and layout. Here are some thoughts to get you thinking:

Sports bars generally need multiple large screen TVs, at least 50 inches or larger. You should have enough TVs where your patrons can watch several events from several locations.

In a small business lobby or waiting room of a professional, TVs can be the same size as what you’d find at home. For instance, in a doctor’s office with two intimate seating areas, two 32” tabletop sets may be best for patients. In the lobby of your company’s offices, a single 42” wall mounted TV may suffice.

When it comes to fitness centers, even small ones might have at least four wall-mounted TVs, 42 inches or bigger. For large fitness centers, the number of TVs needed could be much higher.

Where Do We Place TVs?

In places with high foot traffic or lots of people, flat screen televisions mounted high up on the wall, â€" perhaps one in each corner â€" will typically be the better choice, versus set top models or a TV placed in an entertainment center.

Consider traffic patterns and seating arrangements. Try to make it so that people (including wait staff) walking about do not disrupt others’ line of sight. And try to ensure that every seat in the house has an unimpeded view of at least one TV. In larger or unique environments, speakers and acoustics may be another consideration. Tilting helps reduce glare, and tilt mounts are necessary for higher mounting applications.

Every business owner shudders to think about it, but you need to consider theft and vandalism. Wall mountings that are up high make it harder to reach TVs so they can’t be accidentally broken. Some wall mounts come with the ability to lock the television to the stand with a key, making theft harder.

If your place of business is compact, you may be able to install the television hardware in-house. But for larger installations, bring in a professional audio/video company to lay out where to place television sets, and get the right configurations, including mountings. Professionals also have access to a greater range of hardware than you can buy retail.

Affordability and Tax Considerations

Your cable TV provider can provide service packages with the correct number of TV outlets for your facility, along with suitable packages of local, news, sports and/or entertainment programming. Look for packages specifically set up for businesses similar to yours. By bundling with Internet and related services, you may be able to get additional savings.

Finally, keep in mind that costs associated with business television can usually be deducted or depreciated on your business taxes.

You should always consult with your own tax advisor for specific tax advice, but for general background information we reached out to Barbara Weltman, the author of JK Lasser’s Small Business Taxes. She says that the cost of monthly business television cable service and programming “can be viewed as an ordinary and necessary business expense, which makes it deductible” provided the TV service is used for business purposes.

When it comes to hardware, such as television sets, she notes, “Generally, the cost must be depreciated. However, the cost may qualify for the Sec. 179 deduction (up to $500,000 for 2013 as long as the business is profitable for the year) and/or bonus depreciation (50% of cost in 2013 as long as the equipment is new and not pre-owned).”

As you can see, there are good reasons to use TV in your business. And the cost can be affordable, especially when you factor in the potential for tax deductions and depreciation.

Gym Photo via Shutterstock

5 Ways to Use Vine to Market Your Small Business

These days, marketers and small business owners are challenged to keep up with a multitude of social media sites. Not only must they sign up for accounts on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, and FourSquare, they mustalso keep up with those accounts on a regular basis. At some point, a business owner must look at each of these social media sites and choose the ones that are most likely to reach the target demographic of his or her business.

A new social media site has entered the scene, catching on quickly with creative types who want to express themselves, as well as social media users who want to be entertained in short clips. Owned by Twitter, Vine is still a newbie to the social media field, but it already boasts 40 million users. Those aren’t necessarily active users, but millions of “Vines” are linked on Twitter each day. With Instagram rolling out its own video-sharing service, Vine faces stiff competition, but Vine’s unique easy-to-use interface makes it ideal for busy small business owners.

How can sharing six-second videos with the masses help you promote your small business? Here are a few ways you can reach out to Vine’s spirited user base to promote what your business is offering.

Promote Products

National retailer J.C. Penney recently posted a Vine campaign promoting its “First Day Look” for back to school. The company finds unique ways to reach out to its customer base through fun videos while also displaying its latest products.

Show the People

Many companies use Vine to take customers behind the scenes, showcasing company culture. Gap lets customers see inside company parties, but you don’t have to have a party to introduce customers to your staff.

Demonstrate DIY Projects

While six seconds isn’t long to teach someone how to build a house, small jobs like re-tiling a bathroom or installing a toilet can be demonstrated in six seconds. As with other social media sites, Vine is a great way to show customers how great your work is and get your name out there.

Go Viral

On Vine, when a video connects with large numbers of people, it joins the “Popular Now” section of the app. The site also distinguishes videos that are “On the Rise.” Browse the videos on these lists and note that many are creative videos designed to make people laugh or connect with people through their relatability.

Have Fun

If there’s one thing that’s clear when browsing through Vine videos, it’s that people are there to have fun. Inject your videos with humor and lightheartedness and your customers will respond.

Vine is a unique social media tool that’s both easy to use and entertaining to view. All you need to get started promoting your business on Vine is a smartphone with an app and the creativity to come up with fun six-second videos. Add in a little creativity and you’ll be building your audience in no time.

4 Old Fashioned Ways of Marketing that Aren’t Dead - Yet

Internet marketing. When you hear this buzz phrase, chances are you inevitably think about social media, virility and PPC (pay per click) campaigns. While these are certainly some of the best avenues for marketing in today’s digital world, the market is so saturated that it can be difficult to gain a foothold.

YouTube, for instance, has an astonishing 72 hours of footage uploaded to the site every minute. And millions of users and pages update their Facebook so often that posts easily get lost on the news feed.

With so much competition in modern day advertising, why not consider old fashioned, yet highly effective, ways of marketing online and in the real world?

Mailed Newsletters

Yes, I mean physically mailed, not emailed - like with an envelope, stamp and mailman. Direct mail is considered one of the cheapest yet most effective ways to create customers in today’s digital age. On average, the response rate of direct mail campaigns hovers around 4.4 percent. While the cost per lead is generally the same or comparable to the cost of email marketing, customers created through direct mail are more likely to perform repeat business.

One of the great aspects of direct mail is the ability to directly tie it into your current Web marketing efforts. For instance, encouraging direct mail recipients to enter a promo code as they purchase your product online is a proven technique to introduce the recipient to your website.

Promo Materials

Whether it’s key chains and water bottles for an upcoming convention or fancy products for major giveaways, promotional materials are an easy way to help your business gain attention. Because physical items such as pens, bags and bumper stickers will circulate throughout a wider audience than the person who receives the promotional product, you will experience a higher ROI (return on investment) for this type of marketing.

In fact, you can even directly tie promotional materials into your digital advertising by always printing your logo on each product. This ensures that if a potential customer has a need for your products or services, they’ll be able to easily recall your business or website and avail themselves of your offerings.

Earning Attention

Instead of paying the high price for short-lived marketing campaigns online, why not achieve attention the old fashioned way? By earning it.

In online marketing, we refer to this as SEO - search engine optimization. Through content marketing and website optimization, you can clearly define the purpose of your Web presence and business for the search engines. By regularly making your site a trusted resource in your industry, you will gain authority among consumers and major search engines such as Google.

Hosting a Contest

With all the focus on SEO and website design, it’s easy to forget the simpler tactics that drive traffic quickly and effectively to your site. One of these tactics is to host a contest for your consumers and fans. By determining the winner via vote count, entrants will share their submissions with their friends, thereby earning more exposure for your business.

Entrants will inadvertently become ambassadors for your brand.

Mailbox Photo via Shutterstock

Users still running Java 6, which is vulnerable to zero-day exploit

A 'critical' vulnerability impacting the out-of-date, but still widely used, Java 6 platform has been added to a commercially available exploit kit.

Timo Hirvonen, a senior analyst at security firm F-Secure, told SCMagazine.com that on Monday he first saw the bug (CVE-2013-2463) exploited in the wild via the Neutrino exploit kit. Although those users who have upgraded to the latest Java version, 7u25 released in June, are patched against the threat, users running Java 6 remain vulnerable to attacks.

Oracle, which maintains Java, dispatched its final fix for Java 6 in April, and now only organisations with support contracts have access to updates.

“An attacker can execute their own code on the system to infect it with malware,” Hirvonen said of the exploit. “It might be that you get some links in spam, and that link leads to this Neutrino exploit kit, or you visit an infected website,” and unknowingly install the exploit kit, a process known as a drive-by download.

Hirvonen told SCMagazine.com that the exploit's proof-of-concept was made public last week, prior to in-the-wild attacks surfacing on Monday.

According to Oracle's June critical patch update advisory, the vulnerability was assigned a score of 10 out of 10 on Oracle's implementation of the Common Vulnerability Scoring System, the highest mark. The vulnerability lies in Java Runtime Environment's 2D sub-component, which is used to make two-dimensional graphics.

Wolfgang Kandek, CTO of cloud security firm Qualys, told SCMagazine.com on Tuesday that the use of Java 6 still is prevalent, opening up a significant number of users to the threat.

After analysing millions of endpoints throughout May, June and July, the firm found that about half of the users were still running Java 6 installations.

For organisations concerned about disrupting mission-critical applications, if they try to disable or update Java 6, considering many software applications still depend on the version, they should consider whitelisting Java applets through their browsers, a feature supported by Internet Explorer and Google Chrome, Kandek said.

However, the safest option, he advised, is to bite the bullet and upgrade to the patched version of the platform.

“[Java 6] is very widely used, and since it is out of support since April, there's no way to fix this other than to go to the Java 7 version,” Kandek said.

Hacker group takes responsibility for DNS attack on major media sites

"Media is going down..." The Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) tweeted on Tuesday, as the pro-Assad hacker collective announced domains belonging to The New York Times, Huffington Post UK and Twitter were compromised. It appears the hackers were able to change registry information and modify the DNS records for the companies, according to Whois records.

Security researchers studying the attack believe it was directed at Melbourne IT, an Australian web and email hosting company that provides services for the media sites, in addition to other big-name companies such as Microsoft and Yahoo.

HD Moore, chief research officer at vulnerability management company Rapid7 and chief architect of the Metasploit framework, told SCMagazine on Tuesday that Melbourne IT is the "one common factor" that ties all of these sites together.

There are a couple of ways the attackers could have compromised Melbourne IT's servers to pull off the DNS hacks, Moore said, but it's most likely they registered their own domain with the registrar and "found a way to reset passwords or jump over and take over other accounts".

The ability to redirect the domains to any site of their choosing is just one of the things Moore said an attacker could do with these kinds of privileges, so he recommended that people "don't use [Melbourne IT] sites for a couple of hours" and await direction from officials as more information becomes available.

Christina Thiry, a spokeswoman at Twitter, emailed SCMagazine.com on Tuesday and said that the company was investigating the incident.

The company is now confirming the incident was malicious in nature, according to a statement posted online.

A New York Times spokesperson did not immediately respond to SCMagazine.com for comment, but a story posted on the Times website indicates that Melbourne IT has been affected and acknowledges that SEA is taking responsibility for the attack.

Melbourne IT is an Australia-based domain name registrar that also offers a host of services, including website design, hosting, email, cloud computing and online marketing, according to its website. Founded in 1996, the company has six locations throughout Australia, New Zealand and the US and earned more than $170 million in revenue last year. Melbourne IT's customer base consists of more than 400,000 clients.

Representatives at Melbourne IT and Huffington Post UK did not immediately respond to SCMagazine.com for comment.

Everything started coming to a head some point after 4pm EST, when users who visited the Times site saw a message that read, "Hacked by SEA". The website seemed to be back up before long, but has been experiencing sporadic downtime.

Yes, You Can Minimize Chargebacks: Best Practices For Merchants

Every small business that accepts credit cards knows about chargebacks. A chargeback is when a credit card transaction is reversed. Some (but not all) of the common reasons for chargebacks include:

• The customer did not receive the service or item purchased.
• The service or item purchased was not as advertised.
• The customer was charged the wrong amount or was charged twice.
• The customer didn’t recognize the charge on their credit statement.
• Fraud, either as a result of identity theft or the credit card was used with the deliberate intent to request a chargeback later.

As a merchant it pays to know your stuff and be proactive. The more you know and the harder you work to anticipate and avoid issues, the more you can minimize chargebacks.

The good news is that many chargebacks can be avoided. Some of the following tips may seem obvious, but they are basic blocking and tackling that businesses sometimes fail to do.

Communicate Clearly and Provide Contact Information

Sometimes, a chargeback can come from miscommunication or unclear communications.

Advertise as accurately as possible and provide clear terms of service. Giving insufficient information can cause as many problems as giving inaccurate information, especially if you are selling online or via mail order and the customer doesn’t have the opportunity to physically inspect the item. Err on the side of giving as many details as practicable if selling online.

If there is an issue, try to resolve it with the customer directly and reiterate your return policy if necessary.

Make sure transactions from your business are easy to identify on the customer’s credit statement. It’s a good idea to also include your customer service number or website. This way, if the customer doesn’t recognize the charge, they can contact you directly.

Give Great Customer Service and Respond Quickly

Good customer service makes it more likely that a customer will come to you first if they are unhappy with a service or purchase, giving you the opportunity to fix the problem before a chargeback is filed.

For online orders, ship before you deposit the transaction. if an item is out of stock or there are delivery delays, notify the customer so as to manage expectations.

Have a generous return policy and state it clearly on your sales receipts or website. Then customers will come to you for a possible refund instead of going through the chargeback process.

Refunds or replacements are two ways to solve issues, of course, but being creative also helps. A generous discount for a future purchase may satisfy the customer. Sometimes instructions or assistance to resolve a problem installing or operating an item may be answer. But you won’t have that opportunity to “make good” unless you respond quickly and professionally.

Avoid Technical Errors

Double-charging a transaction is an all-too-common occurrence in this age of technology. Make sure you enter a transaction into your point of sale terminal only once and deposit it only once.
Be sure to void any incorrect sales receipts and only process the transaction once.

If the customer is present, let them know that you have voided the transaction and tear up the old receipt in front of them. If you notice that a customer was charged twice or incorrectly, immediately correct it and refund the customer’s account.

Deposit sales receipts and credit receipts at the acquirer as soon as possible.

Leave a Paper Trail

Create whatever paper trail might be necessary to verify the customer authorized the transaction and received their purchase. Make sure the customer has signed the receipt.

If you’re shipping an item, be sure to get delivery confirmation. Keep a record of your sales drafts and do not alter them in any way.

Train Staff â€" and Explain Why

It won’t be much help for you understand the issues that can lead to chargebacks and how to avoid them, if your staff doesn’t. Take the time to not only explain what your staff should do, but why. That way you empower your staff to anticipate issues and make daily decisions to satisfy customers.

Think broadly, too. It’s not just retail sales staff or customer support who need to understand. Consider such staff as your webmaster, who may be able to forestall duplicate online credit-card charges by putting a notice on a Web page not to click the back button during an online transaction, as it may result in a double charge.

Consider also your marketing staff, who are in a position to avoid misunderstandings by clearly writing product descriptions and terms of service. In other words, consider your end-to-end marketing, sales and customer support processes.

Practice Good Fraud Prevention Techniques

There are a number of things you can do at the point of sale to avoid fraud and the resulting chargebacks. Some quick tips include:

• Compare the card signature to the signature on the receipt and make sure they match.
• Swipe the credit card whenever possible - do not key in the card number.
• Never complete a transaction if the authorization request was denied. Instead, ask for another form of payment.
• For online orders, require the security code (the 3-digit CVV2 or CVC2 code, or in the case of American Express the 4-digit CID code).

You can read more about preventing fraud at the point of sale here “Fight Credit Card Fraud at the Point of Sale.”  MasterCard has created a very good Chargeback Guide, in convenient PDF form, which you can find along with other helpful resources at:  MasterCard Rules to Prosper By.

It may not be possible to avoid every chargeback, but following these best practices and policies will definitely help you minimize them.

Credit Photo via Shutterstock

Yes, You Can Minimize Chargebacks: Best Practices For Merchants

Every small business that accepts credit cards knows about chargebacks. A chargeback is when a credit card transaction is reversed. Some (but not all) of the common reasons for chargebacks include:

• The customer did not receive the service or item purchased.
• The service or item purchased was not as advertised.
• The customer was charged the wrong amount or was charged twice.
• The customer didn’t recognize the charge on their credit statement.
• Fraud, either as a result of identity theft or the credit card was used with the deliberate intent to request a chargeback later.

As a merchant it pays to know your stuff and be proactive. The more you know and the harder you work to anticipate and avoid issues, the more you can minimize chargebacks.

The good news is that many chargebacks can be avoided. Some of the following tips may seem obvious, but they are basic blocking and tackling that businesses sometimes fail to do.

Communicate Clearly and Provide Contact Information

Sometimes, a chargeback can come from miscommunication or unclear communications.

Advertise as accurately as possible and provide clear terms of service. Giving insufficient information can cause as many problems as giving inaccurate information, especially if you are selling online or via mail order and the customer doesn’t have the opportunity to physically inspect the item. Err on the side of giving as many details as practicable if selling online.

If there is an issue, try to resolve it with the customer directly and reiterate your return policy if necessary.

Make sure transactions from your business are easy to identify on the customer’s credit statement. It’s a good idea to also include your customer service number or website. This way, if the customer doesn’t recognize the charge, they can contact you directly.

Give Great Customer Service and Respond Quickly

Good customer service makes it more likely that a customer will come to you first if they are unhappy with a service or purchase, giving you the opportunity to fix the problem before a chargeback is filed.

For online orders, ship before you deposit the transaction. if an item is out of stock or there are delivery delays, notify the customer so as to manage expectations.

Have a generous return policy and state it clearly on your sales receipts or website. Then customers will come to you for a possible refund instead of going through the chargeback process.

Refunds or replacements are two ways to solve issues, of course, but being creative also helps. A generous discount for a future purchase may satisfy the customer. Sometimes instructions or assistance to resolve a problem installing or operating an item may be answer. But you won’t have that opportunity to “make good” unless you respond quickly and professionally.

Avoid Technical Errors

Double-charging a transaction is an all-too-common occurrence in this age of technology. Make sure you enter a transaction into your point of sale terminal only once and deposit it only once.
Be sure to void any incorrect sales receipts and only process the transaction once.

If the customer is present, let them know that you have voided the transaction and tear up the old receipt in front of them. If you notice that a customer was charged twice or incorrectly, immediately correct it and refund the customer’s account.

Deposit sales receipts and credit receipts at the acquirer as soon as possible.

Leave a Paper Trail

Create whatever paper trail might be necessary to verify the customer authorized the transaction and received their purchase. Make sure the customer has signed the receipt.

If you’re shipping an item, be sure to get delivery confirmation. Keep a record of your sales drafts and do not alter them in any way.

Train Staff â€" and Explain Why

It won’t be much help for you understand the issues that can lead to chargebacks and how to avoid them, if your staff doesn’t. Take the time to not only explain what your staff should do, but why. That way you empower your staff to anticipate issues and make daily decisions to satisfy customers.

Think broadly, too. It’s not just retail sales staff or customer support who need to understand. Consider such staff as your webmaster, who may be able to forestall duplicate online credit-card charges by putting a notice on a Web page not to click the back button during an online transaction, as it may result in a double charge.

Consider also your marketing staff, who are in a position to avoid misunderstandings by clearly writing product descriptions and terms of service. In other words, consider your end-to-end marketing, sales and customer support processes.

Practice Good Fraud Prevention Techniques

There are a number of things you can do at the point of sale to avoid fraud and the resulting chargebacks. Some quick tips include:

• Compare the card signature to the signature on the receipt and make sure they match.
• Swipe the credit card whenever possible - do not key in the card number.
• Never complete a transaction if the authorization request was denied. Instead, ask for another form of payment.
• For online orders, require the security code (the 3-digit CVV2 or CVC2 code, or in the case of American Express the 4-digit CID code).

You can read more about preventing fraud at the point of sale here “Fight Credit Card Fraud at the Point of Sale.”  MasterCard has created a very good Chargeback Guide, in convenient PDF form, which you can find along with other helpful resources at:  MasterCard Rules to Prosper By.

It may not be possible to avoid every chargeback, but following these best practices and policies will definitely help you minimize them.

Credit Photo via Shutterstock