Category Archives: Websites

Consultancy, E-Commerce, Websites, work

An Easy Personal Backup Plan

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How Is Everybodies Backup Procedure?

Having just brought my second USB storage device. I have decided that it is about time that I update my own personal backup procedure. In the past I have always had great annoyance with backups on to DVD/CD media as you have to spend quite a lot of time setting it up each time and than checking it. Ultimately more time than the backup is really worth.

Project justification:

Ok we know that the question is not will you have a hardware failure but when will you have a hardware failure. If destiny has anything to do it. It will be right when you not made a backup and you need an email address to get in touch with somebody.

What ever it is a backup plan is modern business necessity and probably home computing too.

Hardware needed:

2 portable storage devices or other media. (dvd/server)

Software:

Any software that can provide an incremental backup recognise different medias, and be scheduled. I have chosen Backup4all but there are lots of others just do a search for: incremental backup software.

Files:

It is important in backing up files to insure that you are backing up the right files. One backup strategy is just to make a backup of everything on your computer including the OS. The problem with that in my view is that operating system over time slowly starts to get corrupt. Hence why we do so many clean fresh installs to insure optimum performance of the operating system. I used to make a backup off Windows XP just after I had installed it. This has served me well of over the years enabling me to restore my laptop at a moments notice and be up and running literally in 40 mins. With the advent of Vista one big change has happen in relation to backups: it got big. A basic install now takes up 6 +GB. So I have opted just to backup the first clean install and afterwards the files that I use. Microsoft provides the tools to transfer all the important bits of data and settings from one pc to another if you are looking at installing on several different machines, like a laptop for example.

Frequency:

How often should you back up? This is a tricky one, ultimately every time a file is created or changed. I am sure in reality this does not happen. You can set up a backup so that it will only backup recent file changes. Effectively creating a small job that only does what is necessary. For my home PC I have choose to do a backup once a week. As I am only editing documents and than emailing them I feel this is a risk I am comfortable with. I think that really is the answer to the question. What are you comfortable having backed up after analysing your own situation.

An important point to remember here is that if your hard disk fails in operation is very likely that the data is still on the disk. So if you take the disk to a professional data recovery service. They will be able to recovery data for a price depending on the amount of data. The down side to this is that it will take time. If it contains mission critical data you may well have a problem.

Method:

I have chosen to use two usb storage devices for my backups I will use each one alternate weeks with one device going off site in case of fire. My main reason for using storage devices is that data management is much easier. In the past I have used CD/DVD but the amount time spent cataloguing and organising the date has proven not to be time effective. Fundamentally with usb storage devices the data is accessible up to date and online at time that you require it.

Result

If I was to have a major hardware failure and a hurricane destroyed my house the most date I would lose would be the last 2 weeks of work. Now having reached this point a couple of parting thoughts. Folder share allows you to mirror files on two machines over a network and it is free. If one is concerned about the integrity ands security of their data a good online service such as Idrive will provide a great service in data backup all for a couple of dollars a month and much less of a hastle.

I hope this give you a few ideas for your own backup plan.

Guest Bloggers, Websites

Manager Tips

Tips To Train Toastmasters And The Reason Why How do you train someone to be a leader, or better yet, why should you? Here’s four tips to help you train them, and the imperative reason to do it. What is a toastmaster you ask? Well it’s exactly what it sounds like, the person making the toasts at a banquet and introduces the speakers. The first person everyone looks to when the room falls silent: the alpha dog, the leader.

Manager Tips: 4 Tips To Train Toastmasters And The Reason Why

The author of this article, Carl Moeller , is a project manager and electrical engineer that is dedicated to the study and advancement of entrepreneurship and management practices. Please visit his blog for more insight in the world of entrepreneurship and management.

What is a toastmaster you ask? Well it’s exactly what it sounds like, the person making the toasts at a banquet and introduces the speakers. The first person everyone looks to when the room falls silent: the alpha dog, the leader.

How do you train someone to be a leader, or better yet, why should you? Here’s four tips to help you train them, and the imperative reason to do it.

1. Are they running on empty?

First you must gauge whether you think someone will make a good leader. You, as the manager or team leader have the sole discretion of the advancement of a team member. Do you realize how powerful that is? You could hold someone’s career back for years if you do the wrong thing, either pushing too fast or never giving them a chance. This is a very difficult task for you as the manager or team leader. So how do you gauge the leadership potential of someone? Great leaders have at least a few of several characteristics: the ability to create and or follow a vision, the love of a challenge, someone who isn’t locked in the status quo, willingness to take responsibility, mental toughness, peer respect, command of peoples attention, and high completion factor. There are others, but I fear I could write an entire book on the qualities of leadership to look for in potential candidates.

2. Everyone Starts With Training Wheels

Especially if the capacity in which someone is placed is far beyond that which they have ever been, start them off slow. Sure, you may think throwing them into the fire to test them right away is a great idea, and if proper selection based on potential leadership is adhered to the results may be surprisingly positive, but the odds of that happening are incredibly low even for the best potential leaders. I shouldn’t have to mention the possible negative effects of this action should there be a negative outcome. Not just for the company mind you, but think of the broken psyche of the individual should they fail. Start them off slow. Don’t put someone on a bike that has never been, and start them at the top of a hill, it’s asking for a bad experience.

3. Practice Practice Practice

Practice doesn’t make perfect, but it does make better. After successful completion of the smaller leadership activities, work it up a bit. The same task does not always yield the same obstacles…any project manager can tell you that. You must let and indeed coerce if necessary, the practice they require to gain confidence in their leadership ability. I stress THEIR leadership ability, for at this point you most likely already have confidence in them. They have successfully accomplished several small leadership tasks, and you can most likely trust them with more complicated and critical endeavors, however at this stage they must continue to practice what repertoire you have already given them. And when they are done practicing, drill them again.

4. Let Them Lead!!!

It’s graduation day parents. I’ve written an article not to long ago about adult supervision that is management, and unfortunately it’s time to let your little ones fly. It’s hard to let go, hard to promote, hard to see them move on and up to better things. Let them lead. It’s what you’ve trained them so hard for; it’d be a shame to hold them back any further. When do you know they are ready to move on? That is a subjective question, but I plead with you to ask your peers, others at your level who have seen your pupil work as to the capacity they can aspire to. Some of their answers may startle you. If you find your peers having much higher judgments than you, you know it’s time to let them loose. Let them lead. Truly lead. Fifteen minutes of leadership is better than fifteen hours of leadership training.

Reason: Growth, and a thriving company

Ever notice most companies try to promote from within? Ever wonder why? Top companies that have leadership programs far outperform those that do not. But why not just go out and hire those with the leadership know-how already? Easy, they’re hard to find because the company that helped train them already owns their allegiance. There’s a lot more to job satisfaction these days than money; they want the training to be the toastmaster. I’m living proof of that.

development, Traffic, Websites, work connexions

A Great New Competition

There is a great  new competition over at Wcx where bloggers can win a hundred dollars and a month of free advertising. All they have to do is to post there best blog on www.workconnexions.com to enter. Work connexions focuses on business development and has become a resource community center of information to grow your business. With high page rank and quality information just posting on the website will increase your Internet presence. Success!

Personal, Websites

Link love

Here is an interesting collection of blog posts from out and about on the internet. Some of my favourites.

Steve Pavalina who has some really good ideas about the Value of Ideas

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2008/05/the-value-of-ideas

Recriminations from Yahoo by David Synder

http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2008/05/a-game-of-he-said-yang-said.html

Skinner reports about Landing pages on websites

http://www.blog.marketmou.com/how-to-create-landing-pages-that-perform

Will Social Networking Ever = Money? From Jordan McCollum

http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2008/02/will-social-networking-ever-money.html

And four words from Seth about over delivering

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/05/four-words.html

 

 

 

 

 

Guest Bloggers, Marketing, Traffic, Websites

How Much Time Should You Spend On Marketing?

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As a solo-professional or small business owner, you have many responsibilities. Not only do you have to run your business and manage all the tasks associated with that, you also have to market that business. But just how should you divvy up your day? How much time should you spend on marketing? I believe you need to spend at least half of your time on marketing. In fact, as a business owner, I believe you really only have two main responsibilities:

1) Spending your time on revenue-producing activities

2) Marketing your business

Your time is valuable, so you shouldn’t waste it on mundane tasks that someone else could easily do.

You should be spending half your time generating income for your business. This might include things like servicing your clients and creating products.

The other half of your time should be spent on marketing to grow your business. That might include activities like writing articles and press releases, doing speaking engagements, writing and publishing an ezine or newsletter, advertising, relationship marketing, networking or Internet marketing. Any activity that is designed to bring you more clients or more sales.

But what about “all those other things” that have to get done?

All those administrative business tasks like paying bills, invoicing clients, going to the bank, picking up office supplies, fulfilling orders, monthly bookkeeping and clerical tasks like filing?

Or all of those household tasks like grocery shopping, cleaning your house, and doing laundry?

Find a way to delegate “all those other things”

…so you can focus your time on your top two priorities. If your time is worth $50 an hour or $150 an hour and you are spending it on $10 an hour tasks, it just doesn’t make sense.

What if you can’t afford to hire help?

I was in this boat for a long time myself. My mentors kept telling me to create a team and delegate. But I thought I couldn’t afford to. When I finally took the leap of faith and began assembling a team, my entire business and life changed.

I went from being a lone ranger doing everything in my businesses (yes, it was very tiring!) to a team that includes a bookkeeper, CPA, attorney, virtual assistant, writer, art director and production artist, media buyer, web developer, product manufacturer, fulfillment house, computer technician, real estate partners, property management company and others I’m sure I’m forgetting about right now.

No, I don’t have an office with all these people on staff.

I am still a “company of one.” These people are partners that I pay for specific services when I need them.

And I’ve enlisted the help of my family with the household tasks and hired housekeepers so I don’t have to spend my valuable work hours or my precious free time on these activities.

Yes, I still do some things I probably shouldn’t.

But the point is, over the past two years, I’ve learned to find experts and utilize their services to help me grow my business.

And even though I thought I couldn’t afford to hire a team…

Now I can’t imagine running my business (or my life) any other way. And paying for this help has never been an issue. Because the time they have freed up allows me to focus on my top two priorities, which has grown my businesses.

Your Marketing Step

Look around. Are you trying to do it all yourself? Are you running your business as a lone ranger? Are you spending time on activities that someone else could be doing?

If you are, I encourage you to step back and re-evaluate how your business is structured. And create a structure and a team that will allow you to spend your time on marketing and revenue-producing activities. And then watch your business grow!

Want to see how I spend my time? Visit my blog to find out!

Debbie LaChusa created The 10stepmarketing System to make marketing your own business as simple as answering 10 questions. Learn more about this unique, step-by-step system and get a free Marketing E-Course when you subscribe to the free, weekly 10stepmarketing Ezine at http://www.10stepmarketing.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Debbie_LaChusa

Biz News, Traffic, Websites

Writing Web Content

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The web has made all forms of communication more informal. People have forged relationships with others that they never see, through a constant stream of messages. The decreased formality of the language used was a natural progression, as more people gained access to e-mail and used it as a casual method of staying in contact with family far away.

With the rise of social media, blogs and online advertising campaigns, writing on the web has evolved into a specialised field. Vast amounts of literature have been published on the subject. It even features in university courses.

When it comes to reading on computers, most readers don’t read the full page. 79% of users scan the page for content only. Speed is another problem with reading on the web. Reading from a computer screen is 25% slower than reading from paper. As a result, writers should try to keep their web content to about 50% of the paper equivalent.

Experts can disagree on what constitutes a web writing style and what doesn’t. Most writers advocate a comfortable, conversational writing style. Your writing should be a reflection of who you are and should be similar to the way that you would speak to a friend. The use of humour is usually recommended, in tasteful amounts.

Headlines need to be instant attention grabbers. A reader skimming over a page is not likely to be attracted to a bland headline so it is important that you make yours stand out. Some experts say that you can do this be being playful or clever, while others say that you must not use clever or “cute” headings since these will pass beneath a reader’s skimming radar. Try to be as descriptive as possible while keeping it short and punchy. It always helps to use action verbs rather than flat ones. The first word is important so try not to waste it by using “The” or “In” or something equally mundane.

The body of your work should contain all of the information that you want to convey, or all the news that you want to share, using the fewest words possible. Try to keep your sentences short and concise, even if you are a natural word wanderer. Given a choice between a big, impressive sounding word that shows off your vocabulary and a short word that gets the message across, go with the short word. Paragraphs should contain one idea only. Don’t split an idea over two paragraphs either. This ensures that your paragraphs are neat and allows your writing to flow well.

Once you’ve caught the reader’s attention with your expertly written headline, you have to hold it with the content of your article or webpage. A good tactic to use is to approach the reader on a personal level. People are more likely to react to situations that they can relate to personally. This applies to all media, including web writing. People’s purchasing habits and their emotions are closely linked. It is important to try and tap into them on an emotional level so that they will be more inclined to relate to your site or product.

A strong start is important to attract attention, and a strong finish is equally important. People remember beginnings and endings, it’s the middle bits that often fade into oblivion. You need to create an ending that will leave them thinking for a long time after they’ve switched their computers off. It’s not always an easy thing to do, especially if your subject matter does not lend itself easily to exciting images and thought provoking ideas. In such instances it’s best not to yield to the temptation to write something extreme, and that appeals to your darker sense of humour, for the sake of sensationalism. No matter how well written it is, blood and gore do not make a good ending to a client’s article.

Recommended sites:
http://www.excessvoice.com/web-copywriting-tips.htm
http://www.sun.com/980713/webwriting/
http://www.webreference.com/content/writing/refer.html

Owen, Websites

The Joys of Scaremongering

According to a report I’ve just glanced over, 9 out of 10 websites are “sitting ducks”. The article lists a whole range of problems that websites ranging from Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) exploits to Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF). With such a range of issues most websites seem to have, it’s a wonder there’s any sites still around on the Internet!

Obviously, White Hat Security, the company who came up with the report recommends taking action as quickly as possible.

It’s reports like that that give security companies a bad name. It’s preposterous to claim that it’s only a matter of time before most websites will be run over by vermin and spontaneously combust. And if you don’t have alarm system monitoring you’d never even know about!

I agree with their assement, it would be good advice to follow:

.. finding and prioritizing all Web site properties by designating their importance to the business and a party responsible for their security; finding and fixing Web site vulnerabilities by assessing them for weaknesses with each code change; remediation of vulnerabilities done on a schedule based on severity; implementing a secure software development process using an organizational standard development framework; and implementing an in-depth Web site vulnerability management strategy.

But if I had to choose a company to supply my security services White Hat Security would be the last company I hire!