EduNotes Blog

Managing your Information

I seem to remember a song with the lyrics “take time to make time”. I invite you to take a little time now to create extra time for yourself. I wrote previously about how SPAM is taking over our inboxes. There are a few concrete steps you can follow to take back your inbox and manage your information flow.

The easiest is configuring your mail server to tag incoming mail that it suspects is spam with an addition to the header. For example, my mail server uses spam assassin and I have configured it to add “SPAM?” to every header that it suspects might be spam. Then I configured my email client (I use Outlook 2003) to move every message with SPAM? in the header to the Junk Email folder. Now instead of having to wade through the junk in my inbox, I can quickly peruse the Junk Email folder to make sure that there’s nothing valid there and then flush them all away.

But there’s more you can do besides just managing junk. You can also set up rules and filters to copy and move messages around. For example, for most of my subscriptions, I have rules that move the incoming message into a specified subfolder instead of living in my inbox. For example, I belong to several Microsoft newsletters. When one of these newsletters arrives, Outlook looks at it and says “Oh, this is from Microsoft” and moves it my Microsoft folder. Then when I am ready to focus my attention on Microsoft newsletters, I can go and look in that folder.

You can set up rules or filters in any email client worth it’s weight. I’ve got about 20 different rules set up so that I can focus my attention on the unfiltered messages in my inbox when that’s the task I’m focusing on and then focus on the filtered messages when that’s what I’m focusing on.

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Unwanted Email

According to Postini (http://www.postini.com/news_events/pr/pr011007.php), the amount of spam we get in our inboxes is continuing to rise and is in fact rising dramatically. The question I often get is “Why”? Why would anyone want to do this and who, if anyone benefits?

The question has several answers. One is the “Technology anarchists” who delight in causing mayhem on the Internet. For the sheer pleasure of it, they go out and create viruses and spam to fill up the internet pipelines. I know that I have spent more time than I care to think of simply eliminating junk from my inbox.

Then there are the spammers that actually make money. Even if they only get a .001 response rate from their spam, if they send out 10,000,000 messages, they can make a lot of money. And they obviously don’t care who they inconvenience in the process.

Next there’s folks like you and me. If we don’t have our computers and networks sufficiently protected, the bad guys will use our systems for their launching grounds. They hack into our computers and use their network of 100’s or 1000’s of compromised computers to launch new spam and virus attacks.

There may not be a lot we can do about the first two answers but we can do an awful lot about the third one. First, you need to have a functioning firewall in place that blocks unwanted incoming traffic and monitors outgoing traffic (to alert you if there is unusual outgoing traffic). Next you need to make sure you keep your computer up-to-date with security updates. That used to just mean from Microsoft but now you need to check just about every program you have including Adobe Acrobat Reader and Java to make sure that they are all securely up-to-date.

Then we need to make sure that our computers and network devices have valid, up-to-date antivirus software on them. I am amazed at the number of small businesses that we work with that just don’t “get” the importance of protecting their data, their employees, and their customers by keeping antivirus software up to date.

And in 2007 an anti-spyware package is also essential. Many manufacturer’s now bundle anti-spyware with their anti-virus products but whether they’re bundled or not, you need this protection. Microsoft has a free anti-spyware program that you can download from their web site. It is called Defender.

Finally, we can all exercise a little caution when our surfing. If a web site is trying to download and install a program onto your computer, make sure you understand what it is and what you’re getting yourself into. Many sites have “handy” toolbars that you can use. Many of these are valid like the major search engine toolbars that actually improve your surfing experience. But others are designed to track what pages you visit and then “serve” you ads based on what sites you visit. Also take time to read the license agreement. Often buried deep is the key information saying that by downloading said program, you also agree to download and install another program that will, in effect spy on you.

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Weather and Technology

Ain’t technology great? We were pretty much snowed in for the better part of two days and yet we were never more than a couple of clicks from most of our network clients. Via technologies like Remote Desktop Connection and GoToMyPc, as long as both ends have an Internet connection, we are connected.

The Remote Desktop Connection isn’t as fully featured as gotomypc but it is fairly easy to set up. The essentials are:

  1. Running windows xp professional or higher
    The computer want to be the host (the one you will access), needs to be running Windows XP Pro (not home), Vista or Windows 2003 Server.
  2. Having a strong, secure password
    If you’re going to access your computer from the Internet, then others (such as hackers) could too. Make your password AT LEAST 8 characters long. Use letters, numbers and special characters.
  3. Knowing your IP address
    If your computer is hooked directly to the Internet via a cable modem, this is easy but hopefully you have a firewall or router between you and the Internet. In any case, the first step is to visit www.whatsmyipaddress.com. If you have a router or firewall you’ll need to open port 3389.
  4. Turning on Remote Desktop access
    This is an easy step. Just open the System Properties in the Control Panel and click on the Remote tab. Under Remote Desktop, check the box to Allow User to connect remotely.

Once those are done, on the computer you are trying to connect from, Click on Start, Accessories, Communications and Remote Desktop. In the Computer blank, type in the IP address you got from step 3 and click Connect. Type in your user name and password and you’re off and running.

 

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Online Marketing

We’ve been getting a lot of calls lately about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and CPC (Cost Per Click) campaigns. Just today I had a gentleman ask about our rates for a CPC campaign. After I told him he said “I see that you also provide training, how much would it cost to train me to do the click campaign?” I told him and he changed the subject. A lot of businesses are spending big bucks are their web sites and then not going the extra mile to make the site successful. It doesn’t have to break the bank. THE single most important thing you can do on your web site is make sure that you actually use the terms you want to be ranked for.

I can’t tell you how often I have evaluated someone’s web site, we’ve discussed their key words and phrases and then I’ve asked, “Where did you incorporate these terms on your site?” and been met with a blank stare. I’m not talking about just posting a list of the key words. I’m talking about weaving the phrases into the content of your web site. I’m talking about wordsmithing your content so that it both reflects what goods and or services you offer AND uses your key phrases in such a way that visitors to your site can see that you do indeed offer what they were searching for.

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Technology Budget

Do you have a technology budget? You ought to. Technology is and should be separate from your office supplies budget. If you don’t plan for how and when to spend your technology dollars, you’ll likely end up spending too much on things you don’t really need on not enough on the things you really do need.

You should plan on spending about 2/3 of your technology budget on infrastructure, hardware and software. That ranges, depending on your needs from computers and printers to firewalls and MS Office to switches and cabling.

So what about the other 1/3? Training. If you take the time to learn how to  use your technology, you’d be surprised about how much more effective you can be. For example, Microsoft Office 2007 is coming out soon. With an hour or two of training on how it works and what the new features are, you could increase your productivity considerably.

Or even in your operating system. Take some time to learn how your files are organized so you can find them quicker. The internet is a big learning tool and a creature that needs some training to help you understand how to use. Invest in some time (and not necessarily paying for training) and you might be surprised. Most new software products  have introductory tutorials and advanced tutorials. Take some time to poke around and see what you can learn.

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5 Tips for Businesses this holiday season

  1. Employees will likely want to shop online – let them know it’s OK (if it is) to use work computers as long they use them outside of their normal work hours.
  2. Spam has an incredibly huge upsurge at this time. Just be aware of this as there is little that your email provider can do.
  3. If your business traditionally slows at this time of year, this might be a good time to do some extra computer training. Keep you and your staff abreast of your technology.
  4. Try not to succumb to the urge to get the cheap computers available this shopping season. The big makers are trying to get rid of excess inventory which means the clunkers that no one wanted to pay full price for are now cheap.
  5. Budget now for your technology for next year. If you’ve got computers purchased before 2003, they will likely need to be upgraded or traded out for newer models. Do you need to upgrade your Operating Systems (is you’re not using Windows XP SP2, you do [sorry Mac users, Microsoft still rules in business])? Are you getting the most of the tools you already own or do you need to invest in more training?
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Plan for Success

Web sites don’t grow on trees. But they are organic. You are putting real money into your web site and you should expect real results. What kind of results you can expect depends to a large degree on why you created your site.

Do you have an e-commerce web site? That is a great start for setting expectations. Beyond “selling stuff” though, you should set numerical targets. Depending on your product it might make more sense to set percentages (increase sales by 30%) or number of sales (5 more sales a week) or a dollar figure (increase sales $2000 / month). With clearly defined numerical targets, you can begin to track whether the site is effective or not.

But there are other plans you should set for your site. Are you planning to develop long term relationships with visitors? Create ways for your visitors to interact with each other or with you. Blogs, discussion forums, and voting are great ways to provide interaction with your clients.

Is your site strictly informational? Determine, on each and every page, what you want the visitor to do. Do you want them to call you? Email you? Fill out an online form? Download something? No commercial web site is “strictly” informational. You want your visitors to become your customers. Plan how that can happen and then measure the results.

Once you’ve got a plan and have started measuring, evaluate on a regular basis. If the results are not what you’ve planned for, determine what your next steps are. Do you need to change what you’re measuring? Do you need to change the design or layout? Are visitors not able to do what you want them to do?

If you would like assistance in planning for success for your web site, call EduCyber at 720-275-4646 and we will help you determine what your next step is. (See – we planned this article out to help you realize the questions and then to call us for help.)

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Web Page Titles

Do you judge a book by its cover? What about its title? A good title can certainly help you get a feel for the content. In the same way, having good titles for your web pages is very beneficial for helping visitors get to the right content.

One of the biggest reasons to have good, meaningful titles, is it helps the search engines determine what your site is all about. If the titles describe the content of the page, it helps reinforce the key word / key phrase idea that is absolutely crucial to getting ranked well in the search engines.

One of the worst titles you could possibly have for a page on your site is “Welcome to <your business name here>”. A couple of reasons why this is bad. 1) it tells the search engines nothing about what content will be found on the page. 2) if the page title shows up in the search results it provides no context for the searcher to determine if your page has the right information. 3) OK, more than a couple of reasons – Should a visitor actually bookmark your page, their bookmarks or favorites are likely to read “Welcome to” and then run out of room. The likelihood of that bookmark ever enticing them to return to your site is very low.

So what kinds of titles are good? If you own a hair salon and have three pages on your site, the main page, a contact page and a list of services, you might determine that these titles both accurately represent your business and contain the key phrases your customers search for: Main Page –“Hair Styling, Hair Cuts, Hair Care Products”, Contact Page – “Contact Your Hair Stylist or Barber”, and Services Page – “Haircuts, Hair Styling, Hair Coloring: All Your Hair Needs” would be pretty good choices.

Did you notice what was missing? That’s right the name of the salon doesn’t appear at all in the titles. Why? If you’re trying to get more or new customers, they aren’t likely to search for your business name but for generic phrases related to hair.

Need more help with the titles for your web site? Call EduCyber at 720-275-4646.

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Is Search a Snap?

For many years we have been the biggest of Google fans as close competitors were not able to compete with the innovative technologies Google used. Now Snap.com is putting on the pressure with a whole new look. And it’s easy.

Snap lets you see not only the results but the actual pages that it finds right from the results screen. This saves you from having to click on the link only to find out that particular result is not relevant. This is about saving time and having an easy to navigate interface. I could spend a couple of paragraphs trying to describe how cool and easy it is but it’s faster to just go try it yourself. Go on. Try it.

Billing themselves as “The Other Way to Search” they really have implemented something different. When you start typing in your search phrase, don’t be surprised when Snap starts offering you suggestions (through a drop down box). If you’ve every used Google’s suggest a term function, it’s not too different but adds the twist of giving you the opportunity to search for news related to that phrase right from the drop down box.

With the dual pane view to show you both the results and the actual page of the highlighted result, you get easy navigation using either your mouse or the arrow keys on your keyboard. You can also determine the size of the preview window (small, medium or large just like your favorite fast food restaurant). One click of the mouse and you can open the results site in either the same window or a new window.

Type in a location and you can also pull up a map of that location. Yes, the other search engines provide the same kind of functionality but the beauty of Snap is that you can see it right in the results window instead of going to a different page or window.

We haven’t yet had time to examine the quality of the links or results you get (does your search get you the information you want quickly?) but the first impression is certainly a friendly one.

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Your Data Is Gone!

Do you lie awake at nights worrying about your data? What would happen if you sat down at your computer only to find that the hard drive had died? Would your data still be safe?

The problem with most backup procedures for small businesses is that it involves a manual process. Somebody has to change the tapes or even remember to start the backup program. And if it’s manual, it’s easy to forget. If you do forget, it undoubtedly happens at the worst time (right before the drive crashes).

EduCyber has teamed with DataPreserve to make such worries a thing of the past. For as little as $15 per month you can backup all of your data online. Simply leave your computer on and the data will be backed up. Think of the worst case scenario. If your building either burned down or was flooded, with an online restore you could be up and running in just an hour or two.

Call 720-275-4646 today for details.

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