Birds of a Feather Flock Together on Vingle, a New Social Network Site

Do you have any hobbies you really love? A new South Korean-based social network called Vingle wants to help you connect and converse with people who have similar passions across the globe no matter what languages they speak!

The site boasts over 2,000 interests that users can create and follow via a collections tool. Popular topics on the site include news, sports, entertainment, food, fashion and travel.

Vingle allows users to share and schedule “cards” for publishing that are basically posts which can include photos, videos or links. The site lets you both follow a feed of personally selected “collections” or just everything popular on the site in a Pinterest-like grid view.

Now even though the network may look like Pinterest at first glance, the site is more about connecting people around common interests than the easy bookmarking of media. You can use the Vingle bookmarklet in your browser to easily clip highlight reels, photo galleries, travel journals and other Web pages to share with the community. Vingle has received approximately $1.5 million U.S. dollars in funding to date, and has apps available for the Android and iOS.

Vingle was founded in October 2011 by Jiwon Moon and Changseong Ho, makers of the popular international video site Viki where people can watch movies with subtitles translated in 150 different languages. The founders vision for the Vingle platform drew from the global spirit of communication offered via Viki to also allow near unlimited language support. The most active languages on the site so far are English, Spanish, Indonesian, Korean, Thai and French.

The Vingle team highlighted the goals of the site:

“We, the Vingle staff, are a group of people gathered from 10 different countries to build an international playground that transcends all borders. We want to help people both connect, and enjoy talking about their passions. Your passion is the life of the party! Enjoy the party!”

You can also check out DashBurst’s favorite interests on Vingle here. Just hover over any of our collections like “Art & Design” or “Social Media” to follow along!

Republished by permission. Original here.

Image: DashBurst

More in: Publisher Channel Content

Twitter Profile Page is Changing. Here’s 4 Reasons You Should Care.

Twitter is changing its profile page, as announced on their blog. The main changes Twitter is making are:

• Best Tweets: Tweets that have received more engagement will appear slightly larger, so your best content is easy to find.
• Pinned Tweet: Pin one of your Tweets to the top of your page, so it’s easy for your followers to see what you’re all about.
• Filtered Tweets: Now you can choose which timeline to view when checking out other profiles. Select from these options: Tweets, Tweets with photos/videos, or Tweets and replies.

Visually you’ll find a much bigger profile photo you can use - mimicking Facebook’s profile pages.

• Pictures and video rule in social
• Engagement is priceless - thoughtless Tweets are no longer acceptable; every Tweet matters
• Twitter is not just for geeks, but for more main stream communication
• Keep using Facebook, it’s great, but don’t ignore Twitter. Explore it.

Should Phone Companies Force You To Get Rid of Old Phone Lines?

While many of  us are leveraging digital phone systems in our homes, home offices and corporate offices, there’s a number of folks who are using circuit switched (old fashioned) telephone lines for communications.

A Wall Street Journal article reads, “AT&T says the transition will create faster, cheaper networks that speed creation of improved high-definition voice and video calling. Circuit-switched phone networks require separate, point-to-point connections for each call. Because Internet protocol systems zap traffic in small packets, AT&T could reduce the number of places where it hands off traffic to other carriers to a handful from thousands now”.

If you’re still using old school telephone lines for your communications be in serious consideration to update and leverage the advantage of higher speed, digital, data lines.

What are those advantages:

• Faster communications
• Ability to more easily connect multiple devices to the Internet
• Leverage software based voice communications (voice mail as email for example)
• and other benefits

Read the entire WSJ article to get both sides of the issue, but overall, for sure, broadband, digital lines or much better for small businesses than old fashioned circuit switched telephone lines.

How to Create a LinkedIn Profile That Rocks At Generating Leads

If yours is a B2B business (meaning, your customers are other businesses versus consumers), then by now you probably know the value of LinkedIn.  Not only does LinkedIn deliver credibility, but it can help you make the right networking connections and drive leads.  With 300 million business members, you are sure to find key prospects in virtually every business niche.  

Reaching them through LinkedIn is not about luck or chance.  It’s about strategy and knowing how to use LinkedIn.

If you read “It All Begins with Your LinkedIn Profile” you will know that I am obsessed with the profile as the cornerstone of all LinkedIn activity. Without a robust, informative profile, who of any merit would want to connect with you?

Operating with a solid strategy and some carefully defined goals, and then building a great profile, you can accomplish great things with, and on, LinkedIn. It is all within your grasp. Your profile needs to instantly grab the viewer’s attention.  More importantly, it needs to encourage them to action: To explore more, connect, or reach out for another reason.

A profile must be professional, but the best ones are interesting and sometimes fun.  They should make the visitor want to connect with you.  An incomplete or blah profile may cause the visitor to just pass by â€" then your opportunity is wasted.

I’ve come up with a LinkedIn profile ranking system. While it may seem arbitrary, it is based on some strong experience:

• I’ve been a member of LinkedIn for over ten years now.
• I have studied, spoken and written about, and coached the use of LinkedIn since 2008.
• My profile generates qualified leads on a regular basis.
• In 2009, seven profiles out of nearly 60 million were chosen as the best on LinkedIn in the Rock the World with Your Online Presence contest. Mine was one of the seven selected.

Be honest with yourself if you want the best results.  Take a long look at your LinkedIn profile with an eye toward where and how you can improve it. I am going to show you how.

Your LinkedIn rank is comprised of thirteen different elements:

The Name

The name you are known by in professional circles.   No one introduces you as “Joe Smith, MBA’ so leave the degrees, certifications and other stuff for later.  And names in ALL CAPS is for elementary school.

The Photo

It should be you, smiling. A head and shoulder shot with good lighting that creates a professional impression.  No photos of the kids or your pets, please.  There’s a time and place for sharing personal photos - your LinkedIn profile is not it.

The Headline

This is valuable real estate so use it well.  Do not have your job title, as that shows up very soon anyway.  Incorporate your major skill into the headline.  

The Summary

It should outline what you do and how your background helped. Avoid platitudes and meaningless adjectives. This is the beginning of your story, so write in the first person and be conversational in tone.  Be clear. How will someone know you’re the right person to hire or engage if they can’t understand what you are good at?

The Specialties

The ones that are your primary and secondary skills - tell the world what they are and don’t be shy about it.

Your Experience

This provides good information on your company, the work you do for that company, the special projects you have worked on, and other important details.  List the business your company is in, what you do there, market(s) served, and other pertinent details.

Skills and Expertise

This is an area that should be used to reinforce what you specialize in. Many don’t seem to realize you can edit this.  LinkedIn allows up to 50 skills, but no one is going to read fifty.  Therefore, do not include every single skill you have. Select those that enhance the message you want your profile to convey - jettison the rest.

Your Group

Your group selection is something people checking you out will look at.  Important: You must be in groups outside of your company and alumni groups if you want to connect. Join industry association groups as well. This is not about numbers, but about quality. Whichever professional groups you are in - be active in them.

Your Use of Graphics

Photo and video uploads, presentation uploads, etc. This is another area where few know that you can enhance your profile.  Add visuals to any section of your profile to make it more interesting and engaging. You can access this feature in the “Edit profile” mode.

Other Info

You should include association memberships, honors and awards. Include past and current affiliations, and include roles in those groups.

Advice for “Contacting Me”

This is where you let people know what types of contact you encourage and welcome.  It delivers it in clear, concise language.  When others see that, it encourages them to reach out.

Recommendations

Those of the written variety are great profile enhancers. There are two parts to this.  The first part is getting recommendations.  Try to encourage others to give recommendations. How do you that?  That’s where the second part comes in â€" giving recommendations.  We all have people who have assisted us in our careers. Acknowledge those people.  Give written recommendations to them, and then you may start receiving recommendations in turn.

The Overall Impression

This is created by each of the above. It needs to make you look great.

A profile is a work in progress.  Keep making progress on yours by updating and improving it on an ongoing basis.

Want more? See my article on using LinkedIn to develop thought leadership.

Lead Photo via Shutterstock

More in: LinkedIn

Newly Sworn SBA Chief Must Deal With Lending Defaults

Newly sworn-in Small Business Administration Chief Maria Contreras-Sweet may want to give small businesses access to more loans. But a bigger challenge may be adding some oversight to the administration’s current troubled loan guarantee program. Critics like the Government Accountability Office (GAO) say the program is already costing taxpayers billions.  And that’s bad for everyone, small businesses included.

Contreras-Sweet was formally sworn in to her post earlier this week after being confirmed in a vote by the U.S. Senate in May. She replaces former SBA head Karen Mills, who resigned as administrator in February 2013.

During her confirmation hearings, Contreras-Sweet stressed the importance of getting small businesses access to more financing. That would include SBA guaranteed loans in which the agency backs about 85 percent of the money put up by private lenders. If a borrower defaults, the SBA will still pay the private lender up to the amount of the guarantee to reduce the overall risk.

For example, the SBA saw a 28 percent default of franchise loans backed by the agency between 2003 and 2012 costing taxpayers at least $1.5 billion, Bloomberg reports. Over that same period, bad loans granted through the Patriot Express program have cost taxpayers $31 million. The program is designed to speed the loan process for military veterans. The SBA’s own inspector general even noted that the agency doesn’t properly assess risk when granting loans.

In a separate report, the GAO says that many of the loans granted through Patriot Express may not even be going to veterans or their families. The GAO expressly criticized the SBA’s oversight of this program. It said that a lack of oversight will continue to direct loan money to non-veterans.

The SBA’s ability to bring financing to small businesses is an important function to be sure, as is the agency’s advocacy for the small business community.

But it is also imperative that the agency get its own lending programs under control for the benefit of all taxpayers, including the small business community it seeks to serve.

What’s In My Bag: 13 Business Tools I Can’t Live Without

Try this. Remove your laptop or tablet from whatever bag you carry it in and turn that bag upside down - then shake.

All sorts of things may fall out of your computer bag when you turn it upside down. I wanted to find out what items, gadgets, and junk were in my daily carry. A spring cleaning, if you will.

Now, as a tech reviewer, I’m routinely changing out the contents of my bag so perhaps it isn’t a fair test. Nonetheless, let’s take a look.

Spark Earbuds From id America

I’ll be brutally honest. I never leave home without these because I can work in a wide variety of noisy environments, but some voices or noises simply penetrate through my physical “ignore filter.”

Slim Backup Battery

I have written about a lot of different battery backups and out of all the ones that I’ve tested the Anker Astro Slim2 (4,500 mAh worth of juice it stores) is always in my bag. The other one that I keep topped up in the office is the Digital Treasures flask style battery (13,000 mAh). I carry it when I need more juice for a tablet, iPad, or if I suspect a colleague might need it.

iPhone 5S

From Aio Wireless, now Cricket Wireless, (media loan) with a kevlar case on it from Evutec. And no, I don’t think the case would stop a bullet.

Samsung S3

From Ting (based on Sprint network) with a rubberized, Otter Box style case on it (my personal unit). If you want an a la carte cell phone plan, Ting is a serious contender for small business.

Dell Latitude Laptop

This is a total workhorse machine. (Remember, I said to remove your laptop before turning your bag upside down!)

Google Nexus 10

This is a tablet and I also carry a wireless keyboard from Kensington when I’m not carrying my laptop. I simply prop up the tablet and fire up this little keyboard.

Paper Notebook

Yes, I still carry a journal. I like to use a pen or pencil sometimes. But I will share that if I have an especially brilliant note, I take a photo of it with Evernote, which scans handwritten notes and makes them searchable. Bic pen. I gave up on fancy pens a long time ago.

Bracketron Cigarette Lighter Adapter/Charger

For tablets and smartphones while driving. They are well known for having a wide variety of adapters.

Two Different USB to Micro-USB Cables

For charging obviously.

LED Flashlight

Just in case.

Swiss Army Knife

With my name on it, from a dear Swiss friend. Because you just never know when you might need to rip into a new box while on your travels.

Pocket Toddy

This is for cleaning screens on all devices. The company sent these to me around the holidays and they are eye-catching designs. I have a bunch of others from Walmart, too.

Device Stands

Mine is a rather elegant stand that holds my smartphone or tablet upright.

All of this is carried in my favorite LowePro bicycle messenger bag. They make great bags. I’m far from a minimalist, but I think my daily carry is pretty light. It does get a bit heavier when I have to travel by plane, but not much.

I mention specific brands in my posts to save you time searching and that have consistently worked for me and that I like. (If not noted as a media loan, it is something I have paid for.)

So what gadgets and gear do you absolutely have to have on you throughout the day?

Dud Android app fools thousands

April 09, 2014

Chart-topping paid-for Android security app does absolutely nothing

The efficacy of Google's much-vaunted security vetting process for Android apps has been called into question after it emerged that a security application- Virus Shield - was removed from the Play store on Sunday, with more than 10,000 users having downloaded the software.

According to Android Police, the £2.40 app - which was rising high in the Android pay-for software charts earlier this month - did little more than `screenprint' an image on to the display of the smartphone or tablet concerned.

The newswire says that the software is actually a fake security app. Instead of scanning apps, settings, files, and on-device media - as the Google Play description suggests - the shield icon merely changes from an `x' image to a check mark after a single tap of the screen.

Programmer Zhuowei Zhang is quoted as saying that he decompiled the Java code within the app and - after mirroring the code itself - he realised that app was little more than a simple program call that displays a picture.

The support email for the app reportedly goes to a Live.com `free' - and relatively anonymous - email address.

The Appbrain ratings site says that Virus Shield was the number one paid app during the first week of the month. Other charts show the app in the number three paid app position.

In his analysis, Zhang says that he has decompiled the app and mirrored the Java code on the GitHub site.

"We've confirmed that this app is totally and completely devoid of any security benefit, but you don't have to take our word for it - several Google+ users have helped us to confirm its bogus nature," he says.

Commenting on the emerging saga - which Google has refused comment on, pending a full investigation - Rob Bamforth, a principal analyst with Quocirca, said that the Virus Shield incident raises several issues with the Android app ecosphere.

"Having said that, an app store provider has a tough job on its hands. With Android, you either take a tough line with your app store, or you welcome people with open arms. In either case, there are pluses and minuses," he said.

With the Google Play app store, he explained, it is clear that developers are not policed out of the store - due to the open nature of the Android operating system.

"As this situation shows - and has also been the case with the Apple app store - you are going to get the occasional piece of rubbish, but my main question is how the developers managed to get Virus Shield into the app charts. There may be parallels here with the fake reviews you see on hotel comparison sites - with people posting fake reviews in order to raise the profile of the app in question," he said.

Bamforth went on to say that the reason why Virus Shield was able to get into the paid-for app charts might have been due to the automated processes that many analysis systems use. This, he noted, means that the potential for this type of situation to take place could be a lot more widespread than many people realise.

Dan Drummond, a technical consultant with Manchester-based app specialist Apadmi told SCMagazineUK.com that, as the old adage goes: `if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.'

“It's worth noting, however, that due to the fast pace of technology, many things which a few years ago would have seemed too good to be true are now tools that people use every day," he said.

"User reviews are the main source of information that a user has to protect them from this sort of scam, but unfortunately fake user reviews can make an app look useful, when in actual fact it isn't," he added.

"Google and Apple both work actively to uncover, prevent and remove fake user reviews and accounts but consumers should try looking for reviews from other sources, such as Android Police, other blogs, news sources and magazines when looking for independent, trustworthy information on apps," he said.

Drummond went on to say that, thankfully in this case, the app caused no harm.

"Many malicious apps are prevented from getting onto the Play store and the Apple app store thanks to the efforts of Google and Apple in detecting malware on submission," he noted, adding that, having said this, consumers still need to be wary when installing new apps - and should always check that the permissions that apps request are consistent with the task that they claim to perform.

Dud Android app fools thousands

April 09, 2014

Chart-topping paid-for Android security app does absolutely nothing

The efficacy of Google's much-vaunted security vetting process for Android apps has been called into question after it emerged that a security application- Virus Shield - was removed from the Play store on Sunday, with more than 10,000 users having downloaded the software.

According to Android Police, the £2.40 app - which was rising high in the Android pay-for software charts earlier this month - did little more than `screenprint' an image on to the display of the smartphone or tablet concerned.

The newswire says that the software is actually a fake security app. Instead of scanning apps, settings, files, and on-device media - as the Google Play description suggests - the shield icon merely changes from an `x' image to a check mark after a single tap of the screen.

Programmer Zhuowei Zhang is quoted as saying that he decompiled the Java code within the app and - after mirroring the code itself - he realised that app was little more than a simple program call that displays a picture.

The support email for the app reportedly goes to a Live.com `free' - and relatively anonymous - email address.

The Appbrain ratings site says that Virus Shield was the number one paid app during the first week of the month. Other charts show the app in the number three paid app position.

In his analysis, Zhang says that he has decompiled the app and mirrored the Java code on the GitHub site.

"We've confirmed that this app is totally and completely devoid of any security benefit, but you don't have to take our word for it - several Google+ users have helped us to confirm its bogus nature," he says.

Commenting on the emerging saga - which Google has refused comment on, pending a full investigation - Rob Bamforth, a principal analyst with Quocirca, said that the Virus Shield incident raises several issues with the Android app ecosphere.

"Having said that, an app store provider has a tough job on its hands. With Android, you either take a tough line with your app store, or you welcome people with open arms. In either case, there are pluses and minuses," he said.

With the Google Play app store, he explained, it is clear that developers are not policed out of the store - due to the open nature of the Android operating system.

"As this situation shows - and has also been the case with the Apple app store - you are going to get the occasional piece of rubbish, but my main question is how the developers managed to get Virus Shield into the app charts. There may be parallels here with the fake reviews you see on hotel comparison sites - with people posting fake reviews in order to raise the profile of the app in question," he said.

Bamforth went on to say that the reason why Virus Shield was able to get into the paid-for app charts might have been due to the automated processes that many analysis systems use. This, he noted, means that the potential for this type of situation to take place could be a lot more widespread than many people realise.

Dan Drummond, a technical consultant with Manchester-based app specialist Apadmi told SCMagazineUK.com that, as the old adage goes: `if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.'

“It's worth noting, however, that due to the fast pace of technology, many things which a few years ago would have seemed too good to be true are now tools that people use every day," he said.

"User reviews are the main source of information that a user has to protect them from this sort of scam, but unfortunately fake user reviews can make an app look useful, when in actual fact it isn't," he added.

"Google and Apple both work actively to uncover, prevent and remove fake user reviews and accounts but consumers should try looking for reviews from other sources, such as Android Police, other blogs, news sources and magazines when looking for independent, trustworthy information on apps," he said.

Drummond went on to say that, thankfully in this case, the app caused no harm.

"Many malicious apps are prevented from getting onto the Play store and the Apple app store thanks to the efforts of Google and Apple in detecting malware on submission," he noted, adding that, having said this, consumers still need to be wary when installing new apps - and should always check that the permissions that apps request are consistent with the task that they claim to perform.

How Much Can Poor Customer Service Cost Your Business? Read On

Customer service is important. If you run a business, you already know that. But you might not realize just how great an impact poor customer service can have on your company’s bottom line. The data collected by ClickSoftware explains:

“Poor customer experiences result in an estimated $83 billion loss by U.S. enterprises each year because of defections and abandoned purchases.”

When dealing with customer service issues, it can be easy to focus more on the cost that might be associated with correcting issues. But the cost of not making your customers happy can be much greater. In many cases, just one misstep can cost you a customer that could have made future purchases with your business. In fact, the data suggests that 89% of consumers who experience poor service will switch to another brand.

[Click Image to Enlarge]

It’s not just bad customer service that can impact your bottom line. The data also states that 63.9% of consumers consider customer service to be more important than price when deciding whether or not to do business with a company. And 55% would actually pay more to guarantee better service.

So even though providing good service can cost your company in some cases, customers appreciate it. And a strong reputation for customer service can actually help you balance out the costs sometimes associated with keeping your customers happy.

In order to maintain a strong reputation for customer service, using social media is almost a necessity. Customers who once had to call, write, or otherwise reach out to a company privately now turn to social media to express concerns or comments. Even though 70% of complaints on Twitter go unanswered, customers expect you to respond to them.

This more public means of airing grievances means that not only do businesses have a responsibility to address the concerns of their customers, but also the concerns of the rest of their social connections as well. Thanks to social media, one poor service experience can do more than just lose you a customer. It can damage your brand with all your followers.

So next time you’re dealing with a customer service issue - be sure to consider the real potential cost.

Unhappy Photo via Shutterstock

Different approaches to security under development

April 09, 2014

IDS platform uses expert-led reinforcement of learned behaviour and decision-making

Lateral thinking may still be a valuable weapon in the cyber-security battle, judging from new developments at Binghamton University in the US to build a secure method of pushing data to a mobile device, and an alternative approach patented by IBM to push ‘secure notifications to mobile computing devices.

The IBM Labs idea centres on a cloud-based data facility that securely pushes data to mobiles across otherwise in-the-clear data channels. The cloud resource then auto-encrypts data that is suitably marked, before pushing it to the mobile device.

Additional layers of security are provided by cloud-to-mobile authorisation process.

By using applications that can encrypt data notifications, the cloud-linked app assigns the notifications with a unique message identifier in the cloud that is securely transmitted to a mobile device via a third-party service provider. Once the end-user's device authorises the message, the recipient can pull down and access the encrypted message content from the cloud.

"This patented invention will enable developers and service providers to design and build applications that ensure sensitive or personal information is not inadvertently exposed across mobile networks," said Benjamin Fletcher, the technology's inventor and a software engineering researcher with IBM Labs.

"Regardless of the nature of data being pushed to or from a mobile device, it should never be exposed to third-parties since they cannot always guarantee security and confidentiality to customers," he explained.

Over at Binghamton University, New York, a team of students led by Patricia Moat And Zachary Birnbaum have secured US Air Force Office of Scientific Research funding to develop a network intrusion detection that uses object access graphs, a type of heuristic analysis, to spot unusual behaviour on the IT resource.

In the analysis process, system calls accumulated under normal network operation are converted to graph components, and used as part of the IDS (Intrusion Detection System) normalcy profile.

By analysing the profiles - and comparing them against the profiles seen in previously detected attacks - the research team claims to have developed a powerful real time visualisation system that supports “expert-led reinforcement of learned behaviour and decision making.”

The project already allows the IDS to adopt real-time changes in its profiles. Whilst heuristic analysis is nothing new in the world of security, both developments -which are a long way from commercial development, suggest that taking a different approach to security can create new security methodologies and systems that would otherwise have been overlooked.

According to Professor John Walker, a Visiting Professor with Nottingham-Trent University's School of Science and Technology, the issue of lateral thinking on the security strategy front is something he has been tracking - and using - since the 1990s. "It's not simply a case of analysing Big Data, but more about viewing the security threats against a given IT resource in a different way," he said.

"If you look at the way `Neo,' in the Matrix film observes data in the movies, you'll see he views a representation of everything as an alphanumeric stream. The analogy here isn't just about analysing the big data, but more about big thinking," he added.

This approach, says Professor Walker, is about looking at the 'Big Security Picture' as a whole. The security, he explains, is still the same, but allows the onlooker to ignore any components they feel are not relevant. "This is all about the three Bs in IT: big data, big thinking and the big picture," he explained.

Fellow Visiting Professor Peter Sommer with De Montfort University, said that the Binghamton research project into intrusion detection may be rather less novel than is being claimed.

"In essence they are using a technique called behavioural heuristics in which you try to describe particular characteristics of pre-attack events. Some researchers have tried to improve on this by using artificial intelligence techniques to identify `normal' behaviour in relation to a computer and by exception regarding everything else as `abnormal' as thus requiring attention," he said.

"The academic intrusion detection literature was full of this over 10 years ago. The challenge is the number of false positives - when the system gives you an alert which turns out to be unjustified - as well as the associated false negatives - when your system fails to recognise an attack," he added.

Sommer, who is also a data forensics specialist, went on to say that Moat and her team should perhaps be looking at the research papers produced by the symposia on Research in Attacks, Intrusions and Defences.

55 Email Marketing Tools For Small Businesses To Use

These days, marketing has seen a big shift from email to social media, because of the big opportunities there. To some, the idea of email marketing may be past its prime. But nothing could be further from the truth, as you can see from the huge list of thriving email marketing services below.

There are updated entries here from two previous lists of email marketing tools with an emphasis on email marketing for small business. There are also added suggestions shared by members of the small business community. Hopefully you’ll find one that works for you.

1. Feedblitz combines email marketing with social media and RSS feed management. Pricing starts at $1.49 for up to 9 email subscribers, and your RSS readers don’t count towards the price.
2. CakeMail has a free plan (for up to 2,000 subscribers), and has a cake logo at the bottom of each newsletter. This is removed if you upgrade. Choose from professionally designed templates, and import your existing contacts.  An $8 a month package gives you up to 500 subscribers.
3. Contactology has a free plan giving you up to 100 subscribers. Paid service after that begins at $10 for 500 subscribers. The platform also gives you a white label service and email campaign tools such as a code editor, bounce tracking, stats on your email, and more.
4. Admail.net allows users to choose from 300+ templates, an HTML editor, a tool to track subscribers’ click-throughs, and more. Services start at $7.95 per month for 8 months giving you 1,000 email credits.
5. Atomic Mail Sender is a stand alone package costing $95, and compatible with Windows XP up to Windows 7.  It is integrated with Atomic Email Tracker, and comes with built-in tracking to monitor who is opening your emails. The software supports mailing lists in Word, Access, Excel, and text files.
6. Envoke strongly emphasizes its Canadian roots on its homepage. The page then goes on to detail numerous features. Highlights include autoresponders, list management, multiple admins, and custom domains. Pricing is pay-as-you-go, with no contract, starting at $10 for 250 email credits.
7. Boomerang for Gmail enables you to pre-schedule email messages.  It works with Firefox, Chrome, and Safari browsers, and Gmail and Google Apps. It is free for up to 10 message credits. Once installed, you see a “Send Later” button. The paid version starts at $4.99 a month.
8. FireDrum has a DIY system, which is very easy for beginners. But one thing which stands out is the spam checker, which will look at your email and make sure it isn’t caught by recipients’ spam blockers. Using tick-boxes, you can decide who will get a particular newsletter, and pre-schedule each one.
9. GraphicMail offers a template library which works on mobile and tablet screens. Image hosting and royalty-free Google images are some of the perks. You can share your emails on your social networks, create SMS’s and mobile coupons.
10. JangoMail‘s unique feature is that it has foreign language support.  Plus the Email Delivery Optimization Tool is another name for a spam checker. The service starts at $15 a month for up to 2,500 emails.
11. Mail Blaze has a long list of features, including importing and synchronizing your contact list. It also removes duplicate and incorrectly formatted email addresses from your list. You can embed Google Analytics into the emails. Prices start at $17 for 2,500 emails a month.
12. Mail Dog has 240+ tools to help you craft your email campaign.  You can customize the email messages for new subscribers and unsubscribes. The service features 28+ inbox previews, including iPhone, iPad, and Blackberry. It starts at $29 per month for 1,000 emails.
13. Mail-List calls itself “an industrial strength listserv” specializing in email discussion groups.  Features include digests, searchable Web archives, clickable attachments, and 90 other features. Pricing starts at $1.07 per member per month for personal accounts. Professional accounts start at $1.87 per member per month.
14. Nourish enables you to turn an RSS feed into an email newsletter. Create multiple campaigns. Subscribing and unsubscribing are completely automated. Everything is absolutely free.
15. BombBomb adds a unique spin to email marketing with video emails.  Emails can be tracked and you can see who is watching your videos. Set up a video email autoresponder and then a series of video emails on a future “drip” schedule. The service starts at $25 a month for up to 500 subscribers when paid annually.
16. Mailman, the GNU Mailing List Manager is a totally free, open-source email list manager. This is not the easiest option and is ideally for tech-minded people. Features include being able to make a customized homepage for each mailing list you set up.
17. MessageSherpa offers two options - full service and self service. Full service involves members of MessageSherpa’s professional staff handling your email marketing for you beginning at $300 a month. Self service allows you to use the company’s tools to manage your own campaign, starting at $15 a month.
18. Sendloop offers a Facebook subscription widget, which is something distinctive from the other services.  Integrate with WordPress, Google, Highrise, and others. The service is $15 for every 1,500 emails sent.
19. SuccessByEmail offers a huge list of features including sending SMS text messages to your subscribers, specifying what timezone you want to use when sending out anewsletter, and exporting your subscriber list to Excel (CSV) for back up. Prices start at $25.
20. YMLP has a free plan which has a large variety of features, including “forward to a friend,” send in any language, and public newsletter archives. The paid plans start at $3.75 per month for up to 500 emails.
21. MailVU also offers a video email service. When you visit the homepage, you are asked if you want your webcam to record a video. The basic plan is $2.50 per month but emails are branded. The business account is $25 per month and you can customize the logo and colors.
22. RedCappi has mobile-compatible newsletters, where you can upload email banners with your logo on it. The service is $10 for up to 500 contacts (unlimited sending). Up to 100 contacts is free.
23. Emma‘s template is mobile-responsive, and you can integrate social networks, CRM’s and shopping carts. Connect to Google Analytics to see stats.  The service starts at $45 for up to 2,500 subscribers. You can claim 20% off if you are a non-profit.
24. Constant Contact offers various email campaign types, including press releases, event announcements, Facebook promotions, and trackable coupons. Pricing starts at $20 per month for the basic service, rising to $45 per month for the “Essential” service.
25. AWeber gives you email auto-responders to deliver a sequence of emails, which is useful if you are selling something like online courses. You also get 600 HTML email templates, automatic conversion of a blog RSS feed into the newsletter, and integration of Paypal and other shopping carts. Payment starts at $1 for the first month.
26. MailChimp is now one of the more recognizable email newsletter brands. They offer individual profiles on each subscriber, which shows their activity on your website. The free plan includes 12,000 emails to 2,000 people a month.
27. iContact says they specialize in high-volume sending. They also mention split testing, where you send out two versions of an email to see which one is better received by customers. The service starts at $10 per month.
28. Vertical Response hosts your email newsletters on the Web forever, so you can share them via a unique URL.  Upload your contact list by dragging the CSV file onto the screen. They also offer Salesforce integration, direct mail postcards, and online surveys. The free plan is for up to 1,000 subscribers. The paid program begins at $26.40 per month for up to 2,500 subscribers.
29. EmailBrain takes a much different approach to email. Instead of basing their pricing on the number of subscribers you have, they instead have “periodic plans” where you buy credits. The cheapest plan is $9.95 for 2,000 monthly credits.
30. eConnect Email offers A/B split testing, spam testing, and automatic CSS adjusting so that your newsletters look good in both Gmail and Outlook. See screenshots of your newsletter in over 20 different email clients. The service costs $18 for the basic plan and $58 for the unlimited plan.
31. FuseMail‘s biggest emphasis seems to be on their email hosting. You have to dig a little on the website to find details about email campaign management.  It costs $2 per user per month.
32. SimplyCast has a huge number of features, including multiple sender addresses, test sending of messages, 95% delivery rate, and change reply address. Prices go as low as $3 per 1,000 emails.
33. GetResponse  gives autoresponders to wish newsletter subscribers Happy Birthday. You can also create landing pages for your various promotions. It costs $15 per month for 1,000 subscribers.
34. Contact29 is focused on the real estate and mortgage industries. They have over 159 pre-written real estate campaign emails that you can use. The service is $14.99 a month, and they accept Paypal.
35. Dyn puts a lot of emphasis on their ability to make sure that your messages are not mistaken for spam and that they land in the inbox. Pricing for Express (less than 750,000 per month) is as low as $3 per month.
36. Campaigner can send up to 10 million+ subscribers, and offers 24/7 support. Send triggered autoresponders depending on what link gets clicked. The cost is $10 per month.
37. EasyContact is owned by Deluxe, and “powered by Vertical Response”. They claim to have clients such as Yamaha and Habitat. Their service is $10 per month.
38. Benchmark Email features include online surveys, A/B testing, and 400+ templates. And their services start at $10 per month.
39. StreamSend says you can deliver your emails to multiple Facebook fan pages as wall tabs, as well as sending personalized emails. It’s $20 per month to get started.
40. myNewsletterBuilderoffers pre-written email content and video hosting. The service is $10 per month.
41. YesMail mentions “automated email analytics and optimization” amongst other features. You can contact them to request a demo or learn more.
42. Mad Mimi adds a Web form on your Facebook business page for more sign-ups. It also cleans up your list by removing duplicates. Finally, you’re able to customize your payment plan.
43. PoMMo is free stand-alone mass mailing software, so you can add a mailing list to your website.
44. Infusionsoft creates automated voice broadcasts, direct mail letters and social media posts. It’s one of the more expensive options though, starting at $200 per month.
45. Wrapmail is slightly different than other tools in that you have to install a toolbar to send emails. It adds a trackable letterhead to monitor clicks. There is a free version and a $50 paid option.
46. Toutapp integrates with Gmail and Outlook, and syncs with other tools such as Firefox, Salesforce, and Chrome. The cost is $30 per month to get up and running.
47. PHP List has huge number of features including foreign language support, PDF messages, and customizable emails. Install it on your web server for free or pay PHP List to host it for you.
48. Streak is a Chrome extension that adds extra tools to Gmail letting you manage relationships directly within your inbox.
49. Active Campaign gives you personal and behavioral details about your contacts. Embed YouTube and Vimeo videos within your emails. It’s $9 per month.
50. ReachMail offers a one-time list cleaning and a survey builder. There is also unlimited support, the company explains. And accounts up to 5,000 contacts are free.
51. Zoho offers small  businesses its Zoho ContactManager service for as little as $1 per  month including full CRM services.
52. Silverpop offers a snooze button so a subscriber can temporarily stop the subscription. Other features include microsites and personalized links.
53. Exact Target is owned by Salesforce, and offers automated campaigns and personalized content.
54. Omnistar Mailer is email marketing for realtors. Omnistar will also create your campaigns for you. The service starts at $27 per month.
55. Mail Machine Pro is extremely customizable email marketing software for your own web server. One license costs $59.

Business By Miles: Automate Your Business All in a Single System

Business by Miles is a business automation platform that handles tasks like scheduling, human resources, billing, invoicing, project management, payroll and accounting in a single cloud-based system. Managing all of these tasks might require several different apps in another situation.

The platform is intended to keep your employees aware of everyone’s schedule, availability, ongoing projects and more. A small business with a single person at the helm can deal with different apps that help get more work done and organized. But that gets tougher with more employees.

In an interview with Small Business Trends, Miles Technologies CEO and Founder Chris Miles explains:

“One person can deal with disparaging systems. When a company gets larger, disparaging systems leads to efficiency loss.”

The cloud-based platform has several paid tiers available to businesses. Plans start at $49 per user. Miles says a business with 3 or more employees would benefit most from his company’s $99 per month per user plan.

The Business by Miles platform has been 17 years in the making. Miles’ company, based in Marstown, N.J., started in 1997 creating custom software for businesses in all industries and of all sizes. It was three years ago when he and his staff began working on Business by Miles.

Miles adds:

“What we’ve done for 17 years in business is we’ve analyzed a specific process and how we can make it better. It’s got all those things that make a person’s job easier to do.”

Miles believes what sets his product apart from others available to small business owners is an eCommerce hook for service professionals. Miles said that professionals like lawyers, architects, building contractors, and accountants, can use Business By Miles to accept payments from clients. This includes the ability to create and accept subscription payments or payment agreements with your clients. The platform features contract management, invoicing and payment portals.

Business by Miles is also fully optimized for a mobile user. It can be used on a laptop, tablet or smartphone.

Image: Business By Miles