PSA Station
Business, Marketing, and New Technology
Norton Anti-Virus Takes the Cake
Dec 9th
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Norton Small Business by Symantec for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
As my loyal readers will be aware, I recently had an issue with my computer, which decided to invite a couple dozen viral guests to visit. OK, maybe they weren’t invited, but they came in anyway, and wreaked havoc on my computer. After having to pay to get it all cleaned out, I went searching for new malware prevention software.
Norton leads the way with their newly introduced products. They came out with two last September, the Norton 360 and the Norton Internet Security 2012. These two are cutting edge, and will most certainly take care of any issues that I may have. You should check them out here to make sure that you have the latest and greatest - Norton Small Business by Symantec . It sure would have saved me some grief, if I’d looked them up just a month sooner. You never know when that nasty Trojan will knock on your (virtual) door, but it surely would be a good idea to have some protection BEFORE it happens. Thinking and hoping and praying that it won’t happen is just not good business.
If your business depends on your computer, (and whose doesn’t?) then having good protection is vital. The nasties out there are forever trying to steal your identity, your bank account, or just mess up your system. I have no idea why the hacker get so much pleasure from pure destruction, especially when they don’t even know who is getting hit, but the reality of it is that they are there, and we all need to keep our systems safe. I’ve been doing some research, and am quite impressed with the protection that Norton provides. They current have a 30% discount for small businesses, so that’s a good deal. You can protect your Small Business from the latest online threats by getting more information.
What are you doing to keep your system safe? Have you had to deal with viruses that crashed your computer? Leave a comment for me, and tell me which one of the Norton products might benefit you, and why you think so. Thanks!
Business Telephone Systems Miami
Dec 4th
I have friends who live in Miami, Fla, USA. They have a small business there, and in spite of the rough times that the economy is dealing with, they seem to be doing very well. Their business has been steady, and actually growing bit by bit. I guess you could say they are one of the lucky ones. Although, if you talked to them, you would get story after story of how hard they are working, and how careful they are to keep expenses down.
It is often the capital expenses that can make or break a company, and they were telling me how important it is to make sure that the regular monthly expenses are kept to a minimum. This only makes sense. If you let your profits get chewed up by high costs that hit you again and again, there just is no way to get ahead. (I’ve noticed this with my own budget, haven’t you?)
One of the ways that they have managed to cut their expenses is by getting a really good deal on their business telephone services. They switched from having their old service, to a VOIP service from Telephone Systems Miami . Now they are saving about 50% over what they used to be paying. That’s a great savings, each and every month.
Still, just saving money is no great deal if the service is no good, so it’s very important to get hooked up with a company that gives really great customer service as well as good phone service. Being good stewards of their business money, my friends made sure to check this out with Miami City Information before they actually made the switch. This way they were sure that they knew what they were getting.
So far, they are really happy with the deal, saving money on the phone bill each month, and getting quality phone service to keep the business running smoothly. Way to go guys!
Delicious Gormet Coffee for Your Office
Nov 29th
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Tassimo for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
It was Black Friday. 12:00 midnight. I had driven straight from Asheville, NC, (3 hours away) where I had enjoyed a great Thanksgiving dinner with my family. Still, since I was arriving home so very late, and I was still awake, I figured, why not hit the Black Friday Sales? So I did.
Cruising the store and gathering up great deals in my arms (there were no carts available) was no big deal. I didn’t want much, and I found it rather quickly. The problem was, the checkout line wrapped all the way around the store! Even that would not have been so bad, as it moved slowly and imperturbably forwards. The bad thing was, as I crawled my way to the front of the store, I saw one more thing I wanted to investigate. It was one of those awesome single serving coffee makers.
I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t get out of line with out losing my place. I couldn’t carry it in my arms, with all the other stuff. So… I just yearned, and gazed, as my slow steady shuffle worked me away, around the corner, and out of sight. *sigh*
Then, what should I encounter the next day at a friend’s office? Her company had an awesome Tassimo Professional Brewer right there in the break room! She could make coffee house style drinks right there at work- cappuccinos, and lattes, and all kinds of variations on flavors- hot chocolate and even Twinnings tea! It was so easy to use. All it takes is one touch, and there are LCD instructions for everything. There are many different individual disks for making your choice of drink, and they fit the office brewing machine exactly (so don’t even think about taking these home, folks, they will not fit the home brewers. 
I guess I have coffee and hot chocolate on my mind, because now I’m quite sure I want one of these machines for my office. My friend says I can sign up for a Tassimo Professional free demo anytime I want at baristainside.com/workplace. You can too, and I really suggest you do so. This brewer is amazing- once you see it in action, and taste the gourmet drinks that the Tassimo Professional can make, you’ll want one for your office, too.
Outsource Your Online Marketing Services
Nov 26th
Do you do any online marketing for other companies? Then this post is for you.
I don’t have to tell you how overwhelming it can be to keep track of every little detail for your numerous clients. There’s the social platforms, like FaceBook, and Twitter, and Linked In, not to mention the hundred of other social sites that vie for your attention. Keeping up with those alone is a challenge. How about blog posts? Do you offer those services for your clients also? The online world of marketing is huge, and complex, and can gobble up your time.
One way to deal with this effectively is by outsourcing. By choosing another company to do some of your work, it can not only save you time, effort, and money, it can often have much better results. This is because companies that specialize tend to do better at what they do.
In the case of SEO, a company that specializes in just that can run hundreds of campaigns, in all kinds of arenas. So they know what works and what doesn’t work. They can handle all the important aspects of running an online marketing campaign, such as visitors to the website, search engine rankings, back-links, or any of the other multiple tasks that are needed for a full online campaign. If you find a good outsourcing company that offers White labeled SEO, they can do all the hard work, better than you can, and you can still take the credit.
It’s a win for you, win for the outsourcing company, and win for the client.
I call that a good arrangement!
Training for New IT Careers
Nov 26th
That the economy has taken a dive is no news to anyone. Many people are out of work, and there is no work for them. This is partly because of the shifting of labor and businesses around the world. Businesses and jobs that used to be located in one country (like the USA) have moved elsewhere, simply because economic dictate that it is more economical to do so. This leaves workers in some places jobless and searching.
Naturally, many have come to the realization that going back to school is the answer, as they retrain, relearn, and/or acquire totally new skills- skills that are now in demand where they live. Our country is moving from labor intensive, to information intensive. This has opened up an entire new avenue of needed skills. As more and more businesses make use of higher and higher technology, there are more and more people needed to support these fields. The tech is always changing, and has a serious need for trained technicians, not only for development, but for maintenance and daily operations.
The F5 technologies are right on the crest of things. They create a responsive, and flexible infrastructure that is needed for companies to keep their businesses in line with IT functions that are constantly changing. The F% technologies are more flexible and integrative than using single-purpose solutions that often conflict with other needs.
Training to master these new technologies would be a worthy goal in these economic times, because there is a demand for those who can work with them. So, taking some F5 training courses
is one way to make yourself valuable to potential employers. Along those lines, the Cisco IronPort training courses would be just as valuable. Check them both out, if you are interested in a new IT career.
Get Fast Money in Fla – Title Loans In Miami
Nov 18th
Vacations are fun just about any time at all. They give us something to look forward to. They can be exciting just to plan. You look up places on maps. You talk to friends about where they went, and whether or not you should go there. You watch travel shows on TV. You subscribe to travel magazines. Just trying to decide where you will end up is fun and exhilarating all on its own.
Then, once you’ve chosen a destination, you get to decide what’s the best thing to see and do in that area? Are there any good activities around? Special sights to see? What about festivals or shows, or local fairs? These things might have a bearing on when you go. What about the local restaurants? I know of one couple who planned their entire vacation around 5 star restaurants. Of course, they were in exotic locals, but since they knew exactly where they were having dinner every night, they were assured of great food and service every single time! And, you usually don’t find 5 star restaurants in ugly places, so there was lots of beautiful scenery around to partake.
No matter where you go, there can always be unexpected expenses. Sometimes these are just more than you could have planned for. For instance, what if you were planning a trip to Visit Miami
, and all your clothing was lost or stolen? Maybe you’ve maxed out your credit cards, and it appears you have no way to deal with this situation. Well, there are always options. You might want to remember that car title loans give you a way to get cash immediately. With a title loan, you can get a cash loan, using your car as collateral, and then when you get home, and get a better grip on your finances, you can just pay off the loan. Getting title loans in Miami is not difficult, and you’ll be able to continue your vacation.
Old Customers = New Money
Nov 18th
Is your business growing? Are your customers happy? Do you have enough of them?
The act of turning prospects into customers is more of an art than a skill. However, there are certainly many ways to improve the odds. First and foremost is of course, follow-up. Many a business ended up on the rocks because they did not make any attempt to follow through with first contact, or even with customer contact after the sale.
It is well known that it is much easier to sell something to a current customer than it is to find a new one. Therefore, it should be a no-brainer that keeping in contact with your customers is one of the most lucrative and efficient ways to turn a profit. The problem is in the details. Keeping track of who is an active customer, what they bought, what they might like, etc. can be a tangled nightmare. Keeping track of when they were contacted, and why only adds to the mess.
That is, unless you have mastered your customer relations management (CRM). There are many different software options out there for your CRM solutions. By utilizing programs that are designed specifically to keep track of all your customer interactions, the entire process can be streamlined, and optimized. The bottom line? Your business is more profitable!
Business Anywhere?
Nov 18th
The world is getting smaller, for sure. Not only has public transportation gotten faster and faster, but the internet has tied us all together. Even just a few years ago, only the largest of corporations could have video conferencing. It was used as the symbol of advanced technology on television and in movies. Think of scenes of corporate meetings, with a video screen on the wall, and the suits talking to each other across the world- we were awed at the possibility.
Now, anyone with a computer can do it. Skype and a dozen other free applications allow us all to video conference at will, not to mention that all smart phones can do the same. What used to be almost symbolic of top-of-the-line status, is now available to all of us.
S0- what does this mean to the average man? It means, you can live wherever you want, and still be in full contact with the rest of the world. Where do you want to live?
Drafting on Steroids
Nov 18th
Back in the Jurassic Age when I went to college, I studied drafting. Of course, back then, everything was done on paper *gasp*, and the tools were entirely different. We recently cleaned out the attic, and my kids were fascinated by the drafting tools that were “unearthed”. I had “triangles” and a “T-square” and a brush made just for clearing away erasure dust. I even had a very special pencil sharpener that would sharpen a very special pencil lead to a very special point. It was kinda sad for me to know that the students today do not even know what these tools are for.
Still, it is progress. I also am a bit sad that I do not know how to work the new CAD programs on the computer. You know, the ones that all the design work is done on now. They make the work much, oh, so much faster, and more accurate. There is no guesswork as to “just how thick is that line there, anyway?” Everything is specific, and changeable. The engineering software that is available these days is nothing short of miraculous! The CAD/CAM programs can design houses, landscapes, new inventions, you name it. They can do everything from creating 2-D objects, to 3-D solid modeling, dimensioning, and everything in between. Amazing.
Online Shopping Explosion at the Virtual Mall
Nov 11th
When Amazon first came out as a bookstore, I remember thinking that the name was really odd. Why would a bookstore name themselves after a river? It sounded odd to me, and it was some time before I got used to it. Later, I heard that they named it that because the Amazon was the largest river in the world, and the word “Amazon” had a meaning of “the largest ever”. It had been the online bookstore’s goal from day one to be the largest bookstore on the planet.
They succeeded.
Now, not only do they sell books, but everything else as well. Amazon is a Virtual Mall . People like shopping online. I like shopping online because I don’t have to leave home to do it. I don’t have to fight traffic to get there, and I don’t have to circle round and round to find a parking space, which, inevitably is about a mile away from the store. Then, of course, after I’ve walked from one side of the store to another, I have to go back for the one thing I forgot to pick up. The time spent just walking from place to place (although good for my heart) is just not efficiently spent.
So, I shop online. Not only for the time convenience, but because everything in the whole world is sold online, not just whatever specialty store I may be in. (Have you ever tried to buy a sexy pair of undies, while wandering through a Home Depot? Not going to happen.)
Online stores are exploding because people love them. They are extraordinarily convenient. If you were to google any given product, and see how many different sites it can be found on, you will see just how many virtual stores are out there. Some sites act like a virtual mall, with many, many different kinds of products available. It’s still easy to find what you want, because when you’re shopping online, your item is always just a click away.
What do you think? Do you think online stores are going to overtake the regular ones?