Month: September 2012

Security Risks Social Networking Sites Pose To Businesses

Facebook, Google+ et al could further increase the risk factor associated with businesses, owing to their imprudence on the security front

Social networking sites are sort of like the hanging out hubs of hackers. For what seems like ages now, at least as far as the timeframe of the tech realm is concerned, hackers have penetrated social networks and while they have a nice chitchat with their chums who also belong to the hacking creed, they also stealthily wreaked havoc with the privacy and security of the users on these social networks. Computer and Internet monitoring have spread like fire over the past decade or so, with a regular barrage of spam messages ensuring that not only individuals, but also businesses succumb to the hackers; maneuvers.

Socializing With Spam

All of us have, at some point in time, come across spam messages on our news feed and even on our wall posts. And while you might not have been hacked by these spam messages, and it might seem like only a slight inconvenience, but as far as hackers are concerned it is something a lot bigger and a lot more brutal. For, you see, hackers have made a business out of these spam messages and extracting confidential business data through them. And it;s not as if they remotely install keylogger to extract invaluable business info, it;s something a lot more simplistic, and as far as social networking sites are concerned, something that illuminated their imprudence on the security front.

Okay, But How…?

The menace might be highlighted time and again, but one goes beg the question, how does a fake Facebook message lead to the capitulation of businesses? It all starts with a staff member liking a controversial page or video, which directs them to another phony login page, and when they enter their user names and passwords, the hackers steal them. After one staff member has been hacked, it is child;s play for hackers to hack into the whole network of the firm, especially with the prevailing BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) exercise. So yes, no keylogger involved but the effect can be conjured up, and with multiple times the menace.

Extinguishing Trust

A successful spam maneuver can lead to around 200,000 people being trapped and when victims of different such hacking acts are added up it could add up to a massive database of infected users. This database can be used by the hacking groups to sell confidential business information or trade secrets to rival companies and get a hefty payday. This is precisely how hackers have been able to make a successful market out of their ;skills;; by exploiting user naivety, security lapses and the diminishing user-social network trust. Trust is one of the foremost factors that helps any social networking site muster users, and when that goes out of the window – thanks largely to the variably dangerous arrays of computer and Internet monitoring – the credibility and indeed the user-friendliness of the social networks comes into question.

Spamming Businesses

Granted individual privacy is also extremely significant, but when social networking follies lead to the destruction of businesses, the shortcomings of the securities of social networking sites become all the more fatal. Operations like ;stranded spam message; have resulted in many a business biting the dust. And even though tech savvy users are smart enough to ward off such operations, every office has its fair share of buffoons who are idiotic enough to let their accounts being hacked and in turn open up an inlet for the hackers to make their firms the practice playground of their hacking activities.

About the Author: This article is written by Natalia David. You can follow her on twitter @NataliaDavid4

Four Items to Keep Your Small Business Legal and Safe

Always be prepared for the worst

small business safety

With taxes, payroll, inventory and so many other things for a small business owner to juggle, worker safety may not always be at the forefront of your mind. But even if you have just one employee, both the federal government and your state have requirements that it’s important to adhere to.

Whether you manage a staff of several dozen people or strictly utilize contract workers, it’s wise to emphasize safety at your workplace. Not only will promoting safe conditions and practices give you an added layer of protection in the event of an accident (and remember, anything can happen), it also demonstrates to your employees, coworkers and clients that you’re a conscientious business that cares about the people it works with.

Perhaps you’ve never thought about business safety at all, apart from meeting the legal requirements your lawyer alerted you too when you opened your business. Even if you’re in a low-risk office environment, consider adding or updating the following items that are wise for any small business to keep on hand:

Disaster Plan and Supplies

What’s up with the weather lately? Areas of the country that once seemed relatively immune to natural disasters have been caught off guard in recent years, from tornadoes sweeping across the Southeast to a hurricane slamming into New England.

At your next meeting with employees, discuss a plan in the event of a tornado, earthquake or even a power outage. Make sure that your building has at least two ways out — windows that are stuck shut could prevent escape if a primary exit is blocked.

Keep gallons of water, some energy bars, batteries, flashlights, and a radio on hand (cell reception can go out during a major disaster), and make sure that everyone who spends time in your building knows where this is located.

First Aid Kit

If your office is large or has multiple levels, consider this one to be plural. Keep your kits stocked with antibiotic ointment, hot and cold packs, burn cream, bandages, tweezers, alcohol and over-the-counter pain relievers. Even if 99 out of 100 times, your first aid kit is utilized for headaches and paper cuts, you’ll be glad you have it in the event of a real emergency. The ability to stabilize a burn or cut victim until professional help arrives can mean the difference between life and death.

Put it on your calendar to check and restock your first aid kits every three months.

Proper Signage

If there’s ever a fire or a major emergency at your office, it’s possible that first-time customers or visitors could be present. Even if your employees are all well-versed in emergency exits and a disaster plan, those less familiar with your business will instinctively panic.

Are your exit signs well-placed and lit? Check those bulbs.

If your business utilizes machinery, you’re likely well-versed in safety signage that warns people of possible dangers. Office workers, however, get few reminders about the hazards of their job. Consider placing friendly signs in bathrooms and communal areas, reminding employees to stretch and take breaks to prevent repetitive motion injuries to their wrists and back.

Safety Manuals and Training

Most businesses have a safety manual that’s distributed to employees when they begin their jobs. Few ever open and read this. Although the manuals are often designed to meet legal requirements, it’s worth following up with employees during meetings and workshops. An annual safety training refresher course can double as a team-building exercise, and it’s a chance for a business owner to say ‘thank you’ to employees by providing a tasty lunch while they discuss safety protocol at the business.

Even though the chances are (hopefully) slim of an emergency occurring, it’s always best to prepare for the worst. Employees who feel like their safety and health is genuinely considered and cared about by their superiors will be happier and more productive in their jobs.

About the Author: Jay Acker leads a group of producers who create OSHA safety manuals and other training materials for business customers. They make training kits, courseware and safety posters at www.safetyservicescompany.com.

Sometimes You Gotta Make it Alone? The Benefits of Mentoring

It’s a thrill being an entrepreneur – it is a fantastic achievement to be striking out and working for yourself. You want to prove your strength and capability, but often this can mean taking on more than you are equipped to deal with. Maybe you might struggle having so much to do, get bogged down not knowing which ideas to choose, or you simply might not be able to focus on the most important things you need to grow your business.

Newsflash! You don’t have to go it alone – in fact it is better if you don’t!

mentoring
Image by U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Northeast Region

Help is at hand for small businesses in the form of Mentoring, and it can be HUGELY beneficial. Mentoring is a low cost, high quality solution – YOU are the most valuable asset to your business, so strategically enhancing your talents will translate into real results.

Let’s take a look at some of the benefits:

  • A proven method to share ideas, try new skills and take risks
  • Transfer of knowledge and know-how
  • Learning from the experience and mistakes of experts
  • Coaching on achieving the objectives of your business, both short and long term.
  • Enhanced capacity to translate values and strategies into productive actions
  • Expanding your personal network to help open new doors for your business
  • Increased self-awareness, self-discipline and areas for improvement
  • Increased technical and professional expertise

Mentoring can take many forms. One on one is great for building a very in depth relationship with a mentor. Masterminds and group mentoring have the added benefits of not only making the most of the experience of your mentor, but also promoting diversity of thinking, practice and understanding by sharing ideas and expertise with your peers – the diversity of perspectives that emerges from group mentoring interaction is a powerful motivator!

So let someone else take some of the strain. Find a mentorship program or Mastermind that is right for you and take advantage of the wealth of knowledge and experience of a seasoned professional to achieve big results!

About James T Noble

James makes small businesses bigger. He’s worked with some of the world’s largest brands and companies to market their products and services online – including Disney, Microsoft, 20th Century Fox, Virgin, Coca Cola, MTV and many others. Find out more and read business growth tips at http://www.JamesTNoble.com

Tips to Survive When Your Small Business Is In Financial Crisis

The current economic situation has in one way or another impacted every business in the world. Business owners are struggling to survive the economic downtime. Small business will easily fall prey to the economic down time. To avoid the crippling effects of the financial crisis you need to find some tips and tricks that will help your business to survive.

helping hands

Image by GrowWear

Here are some well-researched tips will help your company to withstand these hardships:

Cut the costs

Cost cutting is the best way to save some money. However, be careful when doing this as an improper decision can be just as damaging as the recession itself. Some small business owners start cutting their labour cost when they encounter crisis. However you have to be practical this may not be advisable as when the sales pick up you don’t have staff to cover it. So cut down on factors that are not essential or have little impact on other functions.

Pay your bills on time

This is the best way to save some money as the late payment charges and other penalties can prove to be crippling. Your credit rating will also be improved thus enabling you to receive financial support from the institutions in the future without difficulty. If you don’t have money on your due date to pay off your bills you can opt for payday loans. These loans provide you with instant cash and are easily repayable on your next payday.

Spend some money on marketing

You may be under the misconception that spending money during an economic down turn is a bad idea but in reality it is a good idea. You need to be more aggressive with your marketing during down turns. Marketing may cost you but it gives you a good return on your investment. If you lack funds to invest on marketing you can get the help from the payday loans.

Review all the costs

You need to review all the costs. This will help you to find where your money is going. Check the costs of fuel, water and energy overheads. You can set some fixed-price contracts on these areas to reduce the costs.

Motivate yourself

It is advisable to motivate yourself in such a way that you can face any kind of problems in bad times. Also motivate your employees to face the challenges. Reading motivational books and magazines will develop a positive attitude which will help you to overcome any type of problem.

If you follow the above tips with a strong desire and a little financial discipline then you can easily survive the financial crisis.

Author Bio: My name is Michelle. I am a tech writer from UK. I am into Finance. Catch me @financeport

Five More Apps Every Small Business Owner Should Have

Small business owners are some of the most hard-working people in the world. Not only do they have to market their products and keep customers happy, but they are often in charge of managing all the little details behind the scenes. The good news for my fellow entrepreneurs is that there are numerous tools available on the internet that can help get things done and keep a business running smoothly.

We put up a blog post back in March that listed five of the best apps for small business owners. Today, I’d like to add to that post with a list of five more apps every small business owner should have. These apps are all cheap and effective.

Box.com

Box.com is an online storage, file syncing and collaboration tool that I consider a must-have for every small business. The most useful feature of Box is its ability to sync your most important files across multiple computers and mobile devices. This eliminates the need to e-mail documents to yourself whenever you want to take them with you on your laptop or smartphone.

Additionally, Box.com can be used to back up important files. Every document that you save in your local Box folder is automatically backed up to the cloud for safekeeping. You can also invite collaborators to your shared folders for easy online collaboration.

Box.com offers a free plan with 2 GB of storage space. You do not need to give them your payment information; just sign up and download the software. Many people are able to get by with the free plan for a long time. If you decide to upgrade, paid plans are all reasonably priced.

Aweber

Aweber is an online newsletter management system. In short, Aweber.com helps you create a database of customer e-mails and send regular newsletters to your subscribers. This tool is useful for both web-based and brick-and-mortar businesses. Newsletters help you keep in touch with customers, build trust and upsell new services.

A subscription to Aweber costs $19 a month for up to 500 subscribers. After that, you can upgrade for an extra $10 a month for larger e-mail lists. Although small business owners may be reluctant to take on additional payments, I am fully convinced that Aweber pays for itself if used to its full potential.

A Virtual Office

A virtual office allows you to take advantage of a legitimate office space without spending money on expensive real estate. Virtual offices provide working space, conference rooms, internet access, a business mailing address, phone assistants and the opportunity to work alongside other small business owners.

The prices for virtual offices vary greatly depending on your needs. You can get a virtual phone line for a few dollars a month or spend a couple hundred a month for your own office space. Just run a Google search for virtual offices in your city to learn more.

The greatest benefit of a virtual office is that it lends additional credibility to your business. You can set up a professional mailing address, meet with clients in an office setting and host conferences in large meeting rooms. This is a must-have for the small business on a budget.

LibreOffice

LibreOffice is similar to Microsoft Office except it is completely free. LibreOffice is 100% free to download and use. It supports Microsoft Office file extensions and comes with a word processor, spreadsheet tool, presentation tool, Photoshop-style image editor, database tool and an equation editor.

If you’re in dire need of an office suite similar to Microsoft Office but don’t have the funds to make the purchase, LibreOffice is the answer. You can learn more and download it at LibreOffice.org.

Monitter

Monitter is an awesome tool if your small business has a presence on Twitter. This free tool allows you to monitor specific keywords on Twitter related to your business. You can look for generic terms related to your business or for your business name specifically.

Best of all, Monitter.com can narrow down searches to a geographic location. This comes in handy if your business has a common name and you don’t want to see Twitter results from other companies located around the world. You can try it out at Monitter.com.

About the Author: Wes Burns is an internet marketer and online entrepreneur. He is currently working on an online file storage site that provides reviews, tech news and tips for the online storage industry.