Introducing the Small Business Trends Publisher Channel

Today we are pleased to announce the Small Business Trends Publisher Channel.  This is a new program of editorially-curated content we syndicate from a select few hand-chosen partners.

Starting in April you will begin seeing syndicated content appearing here on Small Business Trends from Personal Branding, DashBurst, Higher Visibility and SmallBizTechnology.  In the coming months, expect to see more publishers.  We plan to open it up to a small number of additional hand-selected publishers that “speak” to the small business audience.

For readers, the Publisher Channel will bring you more coverage on issues affecting your business.  This program goes hand in hand with the increase in original content and small business news coverage you may have noticed here at Small Business Trends.  We have more than doubled our original content output from our staff journalists and editors over the past year.  Our staff includes a half dozen journalists located around the world, including those with significant newspaper and online experience â€" all with our famous focus on small business success.

We will be able to bring you even more content â€" in more depth â€" on the topics you care about.  This content will be hand-curated by our Editors.  It will add to our direct coverage.

For publishers, our platform delivers powerful value in the form of exposure to a loyal and significant small business audience.  Your content will get visibility through our newsletters, RSS and various social media programs.  We plan to selectively open the Publisher Channel to more publications with credible niche expertise in small-business topics.  If your site publishes a large amount of content regularly and you’d like to know more, please contact us.

Since 2003, Small Business Trends has been exclusively focused on covering the small business market and serving small business readers.  The site, which reaches over 6 million small business readers annually, is known for its authentic voice and engagement.  Small Business Trends LLC is also the founder of the Small Business Book Awards and the Small Business Influencer Awards.  The company also runs BizSugar, with over one million registered small-business members.

Small Business Trends is like a dose of “small business success … delivered daily.”  And now we’ll be delivering even more through the Publisher Channel.

Media Image: Shutterstock



How to Handle the Flood of Data and Content Headed Our Way

I recently attended Social Media Marketing World, so my head is aflood with all kinds of great information. Judging by author and social media expert Mark Schaefer’s session, “The Future of Social Media: What Businesses Need to Know,” information is the name of the game for the foreseeable future.

In his session, I was floored to hear that by 2020, data will increase 600%, 75% of which will be created by consumers, not companies. We’re consuming 7x the content we did a hundred years ago. But man! How can we possibly handle more without getting what Schaefer calls “content shock?” How can companies even hope to make a splash in that high volume of data?

The Secret to Standing Out

Schaefer says the secret is:

“You don’t have to be the best. Just be first and awesome.”

He went on to talk about how brands can shock and awe their audiences:

  1. Find an unsaturated niche.
  2. Build an aggressive strategy based on keywords.
  3. Never stop.

In other words, it’s the constant diligence of producing content and being on social media that will effectively help your brand swim upstream. Or at least, that’s what I took away.

Leverage Influencers

Schaefer also talked about finding influencers who can also help you get your audience’s attention (as did John Jantsch in another session). He calls it “borrowing a bigger pipeline,” which essentially means finding those people who are talking about your industry (or even your products) and connecting with them to have a bigger impact.

He suggested using a tool like Appinions, which identifies influencers in a given market and helps you measure your own influence online.

Don’t Sweat the Big Content

In an era where it seems blog posts are getting longer and longer, Schaefer contradicted this trend by saying not  to worry about producing big chunks of content and instead focus on atomizing your content.

Tools like infographics and Vine make it not only easy to create smaller, more manageable bites (not bytes) of data, but also make content more appealing to consume.

“RITE”ing Great Content

Schaefer closed his presentation by giving advice that doesn’t just apply in the future as it relates to content marketing, but also right now. He said that content should be:

  • Relevant
  • Interesting
  • Timely
  • Entertaining

He stated:

“Power comes from content that moves.”

It’s not enough to simply put content on your site. It’s got to do its job in attracting your audience and engaging them.

My Takeaways

Given that I am a content marketer, this presentation hit home. It’s daunting to consider how much more content we’ll have online in the next few years, but getting a handle on it now will help us continue to engage readers for our brands.

He inspired me to consider how I can inject fun into my content marketing, as he said being entertaining is definitely a must-have in terms of great content. Not every blog post or whitepaper has to be serious and educational.

I’ll be rethinking every article and aiming for his requirements of being “RITE.”

Flood Photo via Shutterstock



Paychex and IHS Introduce New Small Business Jobs Index

Paychex and IHS have launched a new Small Business Jobs Index. Two years in the making, the index aggregates payroll data from approximately 350,000 of Paychex’s small business clients with fewer than 50 workers.

Paychex and IHS executives launched the new index after participating in the NASDAQ Stock Market Opening Bell Ceremony at the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York City this week.

Company leaders discussed the index at an event afterwards where Small Business Trends also attended.

During the announcement, Frank Fiorille, Senior Director in Risk Management at Paychex explained:

“We think our index will be the most relevant and timely of all the reports, and part of that is because we’ve partnered with a great firm like IHS. We hope and see this as being the key barometer when people want to look at employment trends in small business. It’ll be the one they’ll go to first. This index is purely small business, the mom and pop shops on Main Street. We’re not mixing in enterprise or large commercial firms. This is a true picture on how small businesses are doing.”

Since small businesses account for nearly 95 percent of all employers in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the company believes its index will give the best view of the U.S. job market.

President and CEO of Paychex Martin Mucci said there were a few ways the Paychex index differs from the ADP Small Business Report:

“We have over 570,000 clients who are small and mid-sized businesses and this is 350,000 with under 50 employees, so I think it’s the largest sample size out there. It’ll be the most real-time report, and we have over 40 years of history serving this client base, so it’s the most accurate.”

Mucci (seated) and Fiorille (at the podium) discuss the index in more detail in the photo below.

small business jobs index

The index will cover the 20 largest metro areas based on US population. Those cities include, in order of the most robust job growth rate:

  • Dallas
  • San Francisco
  • Riverside California
  • Houston
  • Chicago
  • Seattle
  • San Diego
  • Minneapolis
  • Detroit
  • Los Angeles
  • Atlanta
  • St. Louis
  • Philadelphia
  • Boston
  • New York City
  • Tampa Bay
  • Phoenix
  • Miami
  • Washington
  • Baltimore

The data will be released the Tuesday before the first Friday of each month.

small business jobs index

Jim Diffley, Senior Director, IHS Economics, said the data would also be useful in benchmark economic progress by community or region. He explained:

“One other important use of the index is that it gives us a new piece of data at which to benchmark small business conditions in different states and cities across the country.”

The index may also eventually contain breakdowns by city. Paychex hasn’t yet released details on the average or median size of the small businesses the company serves or how close it comes to the size of businesses covered in the index.

Paychex is a payroll, human resource, and benefits outsourcing solutions provider based in Rochester, New York. The company serves more than 570,000 payroll clients from 100 offices across the U.S.

IHS is an analytics company that has 8,000 employees in 31 locations around the world and serves businesses and governments in more than 165 countries around the world.

Images: NASDAQ, Paychex



How The Most Creative New Yorker (Borbay) Blends Art and Business Profit

Many artists struggle to make a living. Borbay, New York City’s most creative artist shared how he does what he loves (art) and has built a thriving business at the same time.

Watch below, or click here, as the shares his secrets of success at the 3rd Wix Small Business Breakfast, sponsored by Infusionsoft.

Wix provides awesome do it yourself web creation services - feature rich and simple to use web sites for small business owners.

Infusionsoft is the leading small business sales and marketing CRM software company - helping small business owners date their leads and marry their customers.

Watch here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPnF3xbv1n0 or below:

(Check out all Small Business Breakfasts here)



How to Survive Near-Death Business Experiences

Ever wonder what it’s like to jump off the world’s fourth-tallest skyscraper? If you’re starting your own business - you already know.

Making the decision to turn your back on the corporate grind forever and start your own company is almost as (if not more) daunting than deciding to leap off One World Trade Center with only a parachute standing between you and certain death.

There are plenty of things that can go wrong for a small business, but knowing how to keep going in the face of adversity can mean the difference between success and failure. Whether you’re launching a new app or opening a local store, having the courage to not only embrace catastrophe but power through it can be an invaluable learning experience.

Here are five (hard) lessons I learned from bootstrapping my own company.

Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway

near death business

When something threatens your business, it’s natural for you to feel fear. After all, the “fight-or-flight” instinct is an evolutionary response to danger that helps us survive potentially life-threatening encounters. Although situations that could tank your business, such as losing key clients, probably aren’t actual life-or-death scenarios, that doesn’t mean that your survival instincts won’t kick in. They certainly did for me when my company, WordStream, lost one of its biggest clients during the first year we were in business.

When you’re presented with a major obstacle that could leave your business in ruin, resist the temptation to flee. This will probably go against everything your instincts are telling you, but you should power through it. Why? Because these situations can be crucial for the growth of your business.

When I was growing my company, I was faced with not one but two situations early on in which I could have thrown in the towel and given up - but I didn’t. The prospect of my business failing forced me to get creative and come up with new solutions to my business problems. The result? We forged ahead, identified new sources of revenue, and ultimately continued to grow.

Fear can be a powerful motivator - make it work for you.

Ignore the Voices in Your Head

near death business

Remember when you first started telling people about your business idea? The chances are pretty good that at least a few people scoffed at your idea, or dismissed you as crazy for wanting to go it alone and start your own company. Even if everyone around you was 100% behind you (lucky you!), I’ll bet you still struggled with internal doubts from time to time - I know I did.

Listening to these voices is toxic for a growing business. As soon as you give doubt room to grow, you’re essentially giving yourself permission to quit. After all, the longer you dwell on what might go wrong, the more likely your survival instincts are to persuade you to get the hell away from whatever’s keeping you up at night.

If you’ve got a solid idea, tell the voices to shut up and get on with growing your business. You have to have confidence in your idea, and your ability to execute it. If you don’t, why should anyone else?

Everybody feels doubt at one point or another, but the most successful entrepreneurs learn to ignore the voices and keep looking forward.

Be Brutally Honest with Yourself

near death business

It’s one thing to ignore the insidious whispers of doubt we all hear in the darkest hours of the night, but it’s another thing entirely to pour everything into a venture that isn’t going to take off. Knowing the difference between the two is essential for any would-be business owner.

Pursuing an ill-conceived business idea can cost you - literally. Yes, it’s vital that you have passion, conviction and the resolve to bring your idea to life, but you must be brutally, uncompromisingly honest with yourself about whether a business idea is genuinely workable. If it isn’t, it could cost you everything.

Not every idea is going to pan out - or even be any good. Recognizing this fact is crucial to building a successful business. It can be hard to admit that an idea needs work, but it takes true courage to turn your back on an idea altogether. However, taking a long, hard look at your business, and why it might not be growing as you’d hoped, could save your venture in the long run.

Be brave, be honest, and be willing to say “no” to ideas that just aren’t working out.

Learn From Your Mistakes

near death business

What happens if you ignore the voice in your head that was screaming at you that your original idea sucked? Time to give up and crawl back to the Dilbert lifestyle in a soul-crushing cubicle farm, right?

Wrong.

Many people are terrified of making mistakes - but mistakes are awesome. Everybody (especially the most successful entrepreneurs) makes mistakes. But knowing how to learn from them is a rare quality that separates the runaway success stories from the flaming wreckage at the side of the highway.

Not every venture is going to work out. However, even the most spectacular failure can be an invaluable learning experience. Rather than crying yourself to sleep, ask yourself some hard questions. Why did your business fail? Was it due to poor product/market fit? Lazy or ineffective marketing? An overly crowded market? Once you’ve identified where you went wrong, you can use these experiences as a roadmap for how to succeed next time.

Never Give Up

near death business

Some entrepreneurs think that once they hit a certain financing milestone, or acquire a certain number of clients, or [insert your lofty business goal here], life as a business owner magically becomes easier. Guess what? It doesn’t. You have to keep going - all day, every day, whether you feel like it or not.

Some days will be easier than others, and some mistakes will cost you more dearly. However, no matter what happens to your business, never give up. Keep going, learn from your mistakes, and forge ahead. Remember, by actually launching your own business, you’re already doing way better than most other people. Especially the naysayers who told you it’d never work or laughed in your face.

Forget about them. Be your own boss and make it work - because you’re awesome!

Tunnel Photo via Shutterstock, Superman Photo via Shutterstock, Voices Photo via Shutterstock, Honesty Photo via Shutterstock, Determination Photo via Shutterstock, Road Sign Photo via Shutterstock



24 million reasons to lock down DNS amplification attacks

5.3 million home and office routers worldwide were being used for DNS amplification attacks in February, according to a new study.

Research from Nominum, a US security consultancy that supplies ISPs with DNS-based analytics and revenue advice, claims to show that 24 million home and small office broadband routers around the world are vulnerable to being tapped as part of a massive DDoS attack.

Distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) swarm attacks have been around for years, but hijacking routers is a relatively recent trend, driven largely by the fact that very few users actively update the firmware of their legacy routers.

Rather than hack the host computer, Nominum says that the hackers can now manipulate DNS (Domain Name System) traffic lookups - the technology that translates alphabetic domain names (e.g. www.bbc.co.uk) into its numeric identifier (e.g. 987.65.43.21). 

By spoofing the target's IP address and generating a small IP request (ICMP) to a vulnerable router, the router will then generate a larger IP data packet to the real IP address. Nominum claims that this `amplification' effect can be tapped to turn a few megabits of data bandwidth into many tens of gigabits of bandwidth hogging IP streams. 

This is no theoretical analysis, as the consultancy claims to have spotted over 5.3 million home and office routers being hijacked during February to generate IP attack traffic - with as much as 70 per cent of total DNS traffic being attributed to one attack seen during January. 

Nominum says the effect on ISP traffic is immense, with trillions of bytes of attack data disrupting ISP networks, websites and individuals. In the longer term, the consultancy says there is a network impact generated by malicious traffic saturating the available bandwidth and a consequent loss of revenue as users migrate to other ISPs due to an apparently poor experience. 

Sanjay Kapoor, the SVP of strategy with Nominum, said that existing DDoS defences do not work against today's amplification attacks, which can be launched by any criminal who wants to achieve maximum damage with minimum effort. 

“Even if ISPs employ best practices to protect their networks, they can still become victims, thanks to the inherent vulnerability in open DNS proxies," he said. 

Peter Wood, CEO of pen-testing specialist First Base Technologies, says that the problem identified by Nominum is often found by his research team where remote branch offices and staff working from home are involved. 

"We've recently been testing a Draytek Vigor router in this regard, and the good news is that most of the attack ports that could be used are turned off by default. Conversely, we also tested a Buffalo router, where the exact reverse was true," he explained. 

"This is the joy of OpenDNS proxies. It's also not that obvious how to configure a fixed IP on many routers," he said, adding that some clients are - thankfully - becoming more aware of the security risks from the amplification attacks identified by Nominum's research. 

Sven Schlueter, a senior consultant with Context Information Security, said that DNS application attacks mean that only minimal resources are required to conduct an attack against the availability of a larger system or network. 

"This type of attack is then often performed from different sources, all spoofing the source ‘to origin from the target', resulting in a DDoS against the available bandwidth of the targeted hosts and networks when content is returned from the legitimate DNS," he said, adding that a number of mitigation solutions are now possible. 

"For example, a DNS server administrator can ensure that the resolver is not open to the Internet. Very rarely - usually only for service providers - is a resolver required to be open to the Internet. However, if necessary, rate limiting and monitoring can be applied to slow down, detect and mitigate attacks," he said. 

"ISPs can also enforce restrictions so that spoofing of addresses is not possible. Service owners, such as a Web site administrator, can only slightly mitigate the issue by dynamically allocating more bandwidth and filtering the attack at the border/ISP core, to the network affected," he added. 

Jag Bains, CTO of DDoS remediation specialist DOSarrest, said that is a need for focused DDoS protection services as his firm is seeing more and more attack vectors and agents emerge - something that he says is only going to increase as the `Internet of Things' gains further traction. 

"Strategic decision makers will need to understand what specific assets need protection and in what specific manner, and ensure they buy the right solution," he noted. 

Lamar Bailey, director of security research with Tripwire, said that home and small office modems, gateways and routers are a generally the second weakest link in a home/small office network behind printers. 

"Internet providers do update or use current technology for home user gateways and the end user is generally stuck with what every the provider gives them. The routers are generally on very old technology and not easy or possible to secure. DDoS and other attacks are very successful on these old routers," he said. 

Bailey went on to say that the ISPs need to take security more seriously and help protect their consumers. 

"In the US each region has limited options for ISPs which is almost a monopoly. This is bad for consumers and great for attackers and bot herders," he explained. 

"Internet providers do update or use current technology for home user gateways and the end user is generally stuck with what every the provider gives them. The routers are generally on very old technology and not easy or possible to secure. DDoS and other attacks are very successful on these old routers," he said. 

Bailey went on to say that the ISPs need to take security more seriously and help protect their consumers.

"In the US each region has limited options for ISPs which is almost a monopoly. This is bad for consumers and great for attackers and bot herders," he explained.



LinkedIn plug-in mines for user email addresses

"This highlights the fine line between acceptable and unacceptable usage of your information" says Nigel Stanley, CEO of Incoming Thought.

The complex world of approved and third-party browser apps has been highlighted after LinkedIn announced it had sent a cease-and-desist letter to the developers of the curiously-named ‘Sell Hack' add-on for Chrome, Firefox and Safari web browser clients. 

LinkedIn says that it recently became aware that the Chrome version of Sell Hack automatically mines email addresses from LinkedIn servers - a feature that is normally only available to people that the LinkedIn user has 'connected' with. However, even then this is only on an opt-in basis by members of the business social network.

The Sell Hack app is not available on the official add-in/plug-in/extension browser libraries, but can be downloaded from the Sell Hack website. 

Both LinkedIn and Sell Hack remain vague on how the app is apparently able to circumvent LinkedIn's normal privacy controls, but unconfirmed reports suggest that the app cross-references normally hidden data on the LinkedIn site - along with data elsewhere on the web - in order to `mine' user email addresses. 

The BBC quotes a LinkedIn spokesperson as saying the company is doing everything it can to shut Sell Hack down. "On 31 March LinkedIn's legal team delivered Sell Hack a cease-and-desist letter as a result of several violations," the spokesperson said.  

"LinkedIn members who downloaded Sell Hack should uninstall it immediately and contact Sell Hack requesting that their data be deleted." 

The story from Sell Hack's side is a little different, with the app developer acknowledging receipt of the cease-and-desist letter, but announcing that the plug-in no longer works on LinkedIn pages. 

"We only processed publicly visible data from LinkedIn based on your profile permissions… all of which has been deleted," says the company in its latest posting, adding that it has been described as sneaky, nefarious, no good, not ‘legitimate' amongst other references by some. 

"We're not. We're dads from the Midwest who like to build web and mobile products that people use," the firm adds.  

Rob Bamforth, a principal analyst with business and security research house Quocirca, said that LinkedIn already harvests data from users' address books. 

"I've noticed this feature myself over the last few months on the `people you may know' feature. A few of them have now passed away, so it's clearly doing something with my email address book," he said. 

The problem with Sell Hack - as with all apps of this type - he says, is that anything that works as a plug-in can operate outside of the normal controls of a website and its interface. "You then run the risk of problems and issues with that app as a result," he explained. 

"The fact that the app hooks into via the web browser is always a potential security risk. The methodology may be perfectly legitimate in most cases, but there can be an issue, as this saga clearly illustrates," he said, adding that the `halo of trust' is always going to be potentially problematic in such situations. 

Fellow analyst Nigel Stanley, CEO and analyst with Incoming Thought, echoed Bamforth's comments, noting that LinkedIn is a valuable source of information for most of its users. 

"I think this highlights the fine line between acceptable and unacceptable usage of your information. It would be interesting to see what LinkedIn's T&Cs in this regard are - but the bottom line is that any information that you upload to the Internet should be considered to be in the public domain, even if the site or service promises to take care of that data," he said. 

Over at security consultancy Pentura, Paul Cronin, the firm's technical director, said that, although Sell Hack is using an algorithm to check publicly-available data, it is a concern that add-ons like this can watch activity - and collect information - on any direct connections made via LinkedIn. 

"Many individuals have their personal email accounts connected to services such as LinkedIn, which they may not want exposed. It's also not clear what is being done with this information," he said, adding that this is something that the tool's vendor needs to make explicit if users are going to trust it.



New Contact Widget from Nimble Makes Management Of Your Contact’s Easier

In the world of information overload, tools should make it easy for you to manage contacts and get all the information in one place. When you are looking for information on a business contact, you usually have to use a plethora of tools to get more information and connect with them. Last week I saw a demo for a new widget that Nimble - a CRM company is releasing today- that you can install on your Chrome Browser.

When you see a name anywhere on your browser the new Nimble widget allows you to right click and search for that person and enables you to take action by communicating with contacts,  add task, and follow-ups directly within the widget itself.

Here are 5 reasons why Nimble will be useful to your small business :

  1. Setting an engagement calendar. You can choose a contact and specify how often you would like to be in  touch with them - weekly, once a month, annually.
  2. Add new people into your Nimble Contact list from a simple search through your browser
  3. Using Nimble to consolidate all your connections from different networks and having a simple and neat inbox
  4. Tag and manage your contacts for easy retrieval
  5. Manage your networks in one place and schedule or set tasks for each connection

I tried the new Nimble widget  with a search for Ramon Ray and at once Nimble’s engine told me that Ramon matches my keyword for contacts and offered to mark this contact as important. I also scheduled a follow-up with Ramon weekly and wrote a note about the connection and if I wanted to I could create a task or setup a deal.

My recommendation is to try Nimble and the inclusion of this new widget has made your business contacts much easier to manage and grow.



Lenovo Introduces 8-Inch Windows Tablet, Recalls Faulty Battery Charger

Lenovo has just introduced a new Windows Tablet, the ThinkPad 8. But the company has also been forced to recall a faulty batter charger in recent days.

If you’re in need of a mobile device that runs Windows software to stay compatible with the computer at your office, the ThinkPad 8 is a new option to consider. By today’s standard, the 8.3 inch screen is bucking the tablet trend that believes bigger is better.

The new ThinkPad 8 runs a full version of Windows 8 so there are no worries about limited access to some of the apps you use to run your business.

A Wired review of the device touts its powerful (Intel Atom) processor. Like many tablets today, it features two cameras. There’s a 2 MP front facing camera for video conferencing and an 8 MP rear facing camera with flash and video recording capabilities.

The Verge describes the device as somewhere between a tablet and a PC for functionality. It is priced starting at $399.

At the same time, Lenovo has been forced to recall battery packs from many of its ThinkPad laptops. The recall was ordered after it was realized the battery packs could overheat and possibly cause a fire, said a notice on the official U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

No one has been hurt by this defect, according to the company. At least two reports were filed before the recall in which overheating caused computer and some property damage.

The recall includes battery packs on the following ThinkPad models: Edge 11, 13 and 14 series laptops and T410, T420, T510, W510, X100e, X120e, X200, X201 and X201s

The laptops were sold between October 2010 and April 2011. Lenovo is offering free replacement battery packs for the potentially defective units. Until it arrives, the ThinkPads can be powered with just the AC power cord.

Image: Thinkpad 8, Lenovo



Only 6 in 10 firms say their software is always up-to-date

A new report from F-Secure reveals that most companies lack the resources to update legacy applications, with this potentially being a serious security risk.

Drawing on data from its 2013 annual report, the security vendor says that, whilst 94 percent of SMBs (small- to mid-sized businesses) think it is important to keep software updated, only 59 percent of companies report that their software is always up-to-date. 

Perhaps more surprisingly, only 63 percent of businesses say they have enough resources to keep their software updated. 

The key question is why they lack these resources. The report hints at the answer when it says that SMBs are spending an average of 11 hours a week on software updates. On top of this, the larger the company, the more time that the firm spends on patches and updates. Interestingly, businesses with more than 250 employees are reported as spending more than 15 hours a week on updates. 

According to Pekka Usva, F-Secure's VP of corporate security, even the time companies do spend on updates only touches the tip of the iceberg. 

“A common misconception is that the problem is the operating system," he said, adding that operating systems are fairly well maintained and updated. 

"The real problems are third party applications for both business and personal use - Skype, Adobe Reader, browsers with various plug-ins and Java, to name a few," he explained. 

F-Secure says that 70 to 80 percent of the top ten malware detected by its F-Secure Labs research operation could have been prevented with up-to-date software. 

One of the most interesting take-outs from the research is that some SMBs are not only embracing BYOD (bring your own device), but are also allowing staff to use their own software on the company's computers. F-Secure claims that almost half of the 805 respondents to its survey tolerated staff using their own software. 

Researchers found that this was particular true of smaller companies, with 56 percent of firms of less than 50 employees allowing the use of personal applications, falling to 39 percent of firms with 250 or more employees. 

Delving into the research reveals that two-thirds (67 percent) of companies that allow staff to use their own software also expect the employee to update their applications themselves. This percentile rises to a hefty 81 percent among businesses of under 50 employees. 

The report also notes that just 30 percent of respondents worked at companies where the firm only took care of Microsoft software updates. 

Commenting on the research - which took in responses from companies of up to 500 employees in size across eight countries (covering the UK, Europe and the US) - Professor John Walker of Nottingham-Trent University's School of Science and Technology, said this is an issue that crops up in companies time and again. 

"It's all too common - and in some cases it's about the poor controls in place within organisations to get the latest updates out," he said, adding that, in other instances, it is often about the internal processes that require the use of testing for updates before installing them on a businesses' critical IT systems. 

"And then of course, there are the SMEs who don't always have the in-house support to get to all their systems updated in a timely manner," he said. 

"However, one fact that is always close to hand is the problem that, even as soon as an update is delivered, there is an argument to say that the update itself is out of date," he added. 

Walker, who is also director of CSIRT and cyber forensics with Integral Security Xssurance, went to say that this problem is most notable where anti-virus software is concerned, as it also tells us that yesterday's technology no longer delivers anything like the silver security bullet for which IT professionals are constantly searching. 

"If anything, with outdated software, the silver bullet tends to take on more of a tarnished bronze tinge," he explained.



The $7,000 a Month Intern: How Can Your Company Compete?

Spring is here and summer’s not far behindâ€"which means businesses that use interns are starting to think about their summer needs. Qualified interns can be tough to find, and now the competition is getting even stiffer.

A study by Glassdoor (disclosure: A client of my company) found that interns at top companies such as Facebook, Google and ExxonMobil can make as much as $7,000 a month if they work full time.

For small business owners who already struggle to compete for interns with big companies and their on-campus recruiters, this news might be enough to make you throw up your hands. But even for the interns who take these high-paying jobs, it’s not all about the money - and that’s good news for small businesses with small budgets.

Create a Passionate Workplace

The companies on the top 25 list aren’t known just for offering high salaries - they’re known as places where the best of the best come together, where employees are energized and where ideas flow freely. Said one intern:

“Work is motivated by a real mission. Very few people are there just for money.”

Indeed, interns cited a strong company culture and values as the third most important factor in choosing an internship. Building a strong corporate culture, emphasizing your company’s culture in your recruiting and aligning your values with those of young people (social responsibility, authenticity and transparency) will help you attract not only interns, but full-time employees as well.

Offer Little Extras

Another intern said:

“[The] company [offers] good bonuses and other perks.”

You may not be able to pay the $6,700-plus monthly salary Twitter pays its interns, but can you offer a bonus tied to performance at the end of the internship? What types of free or low-cost perks can you provide?

For interns, something as simple as pizza lunches on Friday, flexible hours or the ability to work at home can make a big difference in how they perceive your workplace.

Provide a Learning Experience

Said one intern of the experience:

“You will learn a ton.”

One of the hallmarks of an internship is that interns actually have the chance to learn relevant career skills (most colleges and universities require this to consider it an internship, not just a job).

However, it’s easy for entrepreneurs at a busy small business to forget this and slip into giving interns “grunt work.” The opportunity for career growth is the single most important factor interns in the study cited in choosing an internship.

Plan how the internship will help the student gain useful skills and experience - not just how it will help your business. You or another key employee should regularly meet with and mentor the intern to further their real-world education.

Give Interns a Chance to Make a Difference

Another intern shares:

“You will ship code used in production [and] you can have a say in virtually all company decisions.”

Who wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to earn respect, be part of a big project and have input into the direction of a company?

Today’s Millennial employees, in particular, want to feel like their work is meaningful from the get-go - and that includes internships. Clearly explain to potential interns the role they will play in the company as a whole. Involve them in meetings and decisions and let them get their feet wet on big projects.

Look Locally

The opportunity to work in a convenient location with a short commute was the third most important factor in choosing an internship (tied with company culture).

Focus on local colleges and universities when seeking interns and emphasize your location.

Interns Photo via Shutterstock



Beer With Real Brains Targets Zombie Enthusiasts

dockstreet walker beer

Beer with brains? It might sound crazy, but a Philadelphia-based microbrewery is hoping it’s just crazy enough to work. The Dock Street Brewing Co. created the interesting blend of wheat, oats, flaked barley, organic cranberries and smoked goat brains in honor of AMC’s hit show “The Walking Dead.”

Over the last four seasons, the show, which features a post apocalyptic society where zombies or “walkers” run rampant, has gained a faithful and enthusiastic audience. Based on a comic book series of the same name, the show is one of the most talked about on social media each week. It’s even spawned a talk show dedicated to discussing the events of each episode.

The show’s season 4 finale delivered 15.7 million viewers. And of course the Dock Street Brewing Co. hosted a viewing party where it officially released its Dock Street Walker beer.

Fans of “The Walking Dead” are not just fans. They are very enthusiastic and dedicated fans. So the microbrewery automatically has a built-in fan base of people who would at least be interested in the beer, if not quite adventurous enough to try it themselves.

But the show’s growing fan base isn’t the only reason microbreweries might choose to take risks with their brews. As Business Insider points out:

“More and more craft and microbreweries are pushing the envelope when it comes to creating new brews partly because they can, and partly because craft beer drinkers are developing ever more adventurous palates.”

A beer brewed with real brains is enough to make anyone curious - and curiosity can be a powerful marketing tool.

dockstreet walker

Even consumers who aren’t fans of “The Walking Dead” could learn of the interesting beer and decide to explore their adventurous side.

The unusual ingredient may even attract some non-risk-takers to the rest of Dock Street Brewing Co.’s beers with more tame ingredients.

Images: Dock Street Brewing Co.