Online Networking, New Media, and Social Networking may seem like a real hassle but there are some simple steps to get you started.
If you’re a small business owner and want to do something to make your business stand out you can get started by checking the following list of sites. Not everything will suit your style, your message, or your market…but there is something for almost any business.
When you set up a profile on any of these sites and directories, when someone searches for your name or your business name there will be more listings that appear- this is called “Search Results”. The more they see, the more chances they might track you down. In an effort to be practical, this list does not include every single site and directory for setting up a business listing.
Start by Googling your own name or business and see where you show up. Or you can Google a competitor’s name, or someone you know who uses these web tools to promote themselves. See what they do, and mirror what suits your business.
Tips before you start:
1- Prepare a short and long description of your business to have on hand, that way you just copy/paste whatever the site allows (from a few sentences to a paragraph).
2- Have a small jpg picture of yourself to upload, or your business logo, and web URLs to include in your profile.
Rule your business, manage your information, and let us help you make the tools work for you, not against you. Need to get your Windows 7 still? People like it. Give us a call.
1- Insurance Rider: Have a rider on your business insurance policy to cover Emergency Data Recovery. If something happens to your computer equipment and you lose your critical files what will you do?
Add up the cost of recovering computer data or other electronic information if your company relies heavily on such data storage. Many policies do not explicitly cover data recovery, and you may want to ask specifically for insurance against data loss (a rider).
Consider coverage for the replacement cost of your equipment rather than the actual cash value (ACV).
Determine which equipment you should insure and the total sum to replace it if it is damaged or destroyed. This may include computers, printers, and cell phones. Continued…
Sales Lady Linda had a problem with her laptop on a Thursday morning. Linda couldn’t get online, no internet, no email, no customer info, no devices showing.
She told her boss. The laptop is only about 1 year old, still under warranty. They ran a virus scan and didn’t see anything, the laptop has McAfee*. She got a quote from the manufacturer who would take care of it remotely. The issue was not equipment, the quote was $129.
They determined that the laptop needed to be reloaded and devices re-installed. The boss wanted to take it on. During the course of the day the boss gave it a shot, but then got busy. Continued…
Someone asked me about file backup this week. There are many, many stories we’ve heard. From not having the most up-to-date backup, to not having anything at all. Like someone told me last week, whatever could happen…just might happen. So be prepared.
For about $1.60 per day, most businesses can have reliable backup. It all depends on the size of your backup. File recovery is never guaranteed, it can be expensive, and you’ll have downtime while you wait to see which files can be recovered.
So why should businesses have backup, how they should do it, and what they should backup? Continued…
Hmm…. some people don’t say much. Some businesses don’t have any support, some say they have random success. Others aren’t sure who does their support.
I was part of a conversation this week between a pair of co-workers. One guy has an issue with his laptop at home and thinks it’s something related to his wireless. He’s been searching for solutions in forums but is still at a dead end.
His co-worker said she used an independent guy to troubleshoot her old laptop. For her new laptop she used the in-house service (geeky) at one of the big stores. I asked how that went. She said there was a big difference using the independent computer guy. The laptop repair went better, she was more satisfied, and felt he did a better job. The geeky guys fixed the problem, but she was more confident with the independent computer guy. Continued…
Theses are not very exciting topics- but these are a few of the leaders that will keep your computer network working super-fine or these can take you down.
- Make sure your anti-virus software is updated.
We like Trend Micro, call or email and we can come out and install or send it to you. Yes, we all need it.
- Backup your files; there are good ways and other ways. How much is your data worth to you, how long will it take you (or someone) to rebuild a database, accounting info, or all your marketing materials?
The good way to do it is automated, safe, secure, and offsite. Yes, we all need it.
- Patch Management; keeping your software and apps updated can help you avoid all sorts of issues.
This can be done remotely, without interruptions, or you can call an IT guy to make a site visit to get it done. It’s just part of doing business, create a budget for these things and you can avoid unnecessary expenses. Yes, we all need it.
Eleven Easy Ways to Destroy Your Company – New York Times article…
This is a good column and I love the way they start this article!
1. The lowly extension cord. People get cold feet. They get a space heater. They plug it into a two-pronged extension cord. They forget to unplug it when they leave work. That night, while you are sleeping, your entire business burns down. Your brilliant marketing plan, your three-year projections, all of your records, your new product samples …You get the idea. This is not something that most business owners think about, but insurance companies know that extension cords and space heaters are major fire hazards. It is good practice not to allow any extension cords in your business that aren’t three-pronged. read the whole article here
Overall, it’s a good reminder article about the basics. Which reminds me, it is so important to control costs. Businesses can save money with basic computer support and the right tech people on your side. Planning your IT budget will help save you from emergencies, employee downtime, data loss, server failure.
In the long run, it makes sense to manage your network for a monthly fee factored into your budget. Or you can run into a minor server issue, troubleshooting, repairs, and a site visit for about $1,000 plus employee downtime, all because no one was watching.
It’s a useful article, not too long of a read. Check the pages of comments and notice the repetition about extension cords, and backing up your data! Also reminders about Anti-Virus software and updates.
Interesting post from David Pogue at The New York Times. He talked about using the UL shorteners in posts and most commonly used at Twitter. If you aren’t sure where the link is going to take you then are you putting yourself at risk? Here is the first part of the article -
Hi David, Why do people (including yourself) use URL shorteners in anything other than Twitter? I think it’s an unnecessary and unpleasant layer of opacity between you and your readers. I don’t know where the link goes to and I don’t like getting in the habit of clicking these things. Why not just do it the regular way of a link with text? I can see at the bottom of my browser window where it really goes.
There are usually some useful comments at Pogue’s column.
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support@bigdogit.com for Bellevue-Seattle businesses.When you have a problem with computers – how do you know where to find the right answer? Send us your questions. Big Dog IT fixes the junk that gets in your way, then we set you up to avoid problems – it’s what we do.
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