Several years ago I stopped using Internet Explorer as my main browser. If you have experienced the crashes and stops and starts in IE, then you are probably as frustrated as I was.

Mozilla’s Firefox was a great alternative, and has served me well for quite a few years, but lately I have found myself using Google’s Chrome more and more as my Firefox seems to be loading more slowly with more clutter and has not been as stable as I would like.

The good people at Mashable put together a list of 14 Alternative Browsers That Are Not IE6.  Click here for their great article and view the entire list.  You will also be able to see comments and reviews of each browser.

At the top of the list are the old standards Firefox, Chrome, Safari, but there are other options.

Have you ever heard of K-Meleon or iCab?  They’re on the list too.

If your web surfing experiences have not gone as smoothly as you would like, try experimenting with some different browsers and see what might work for you.

Speaking of passwords, I thought it would be fun to share this little bit of trivia: last year TechCrunch amused everyone by publishing the list of 370 words banned by Twitter for use as a password.

You can actually find them yourself by checking the source code on Twitter’s sign up page if you are so adventurous.  (Go to Twitter’s sign up page here and do a search in their source code for ‘twttr.BANNED_PASSWORDS’).

We found them all on Business Insider’s website and you can view the entire list here.

Some are obvious: repetitive numbers “111111″ or “123456″, or names like “amanda” or “einstein” all of which violate the rules laid out in the prior post, Finding the Right Password.

Others are fairly amusing, for example you can’t use “twitter” as your Twitter password. Nor can you use “computer” or varying progressions of “password”, “password1″, “password12″, well….you get the point.

Other banned words are curious: you can’t use “turtle” as a password, but apparently “whale” would be acceptable (if it was available).

So have fun with the list and happy Twittering….

If you are like most of us, you find yourself doing more and more activities online, from buying to banking to chatting, you know already that you have to protect yourself and your information. Strong passwords are important protections to help you have safer online transactions.

For the strongest password, you need to find the right complex combination of characters that is individual to you alone. Most sites recommend using at least 8 and up to 14 characters or more in the greatest variety you can.

Here is a great chart that offers several key ideas that you might not have thought of to create your best password:

(source microsoft.com)

Do use different passwords for your different accounts and websites, but be sure your passwords are easy to remember. If you have a secure work station, do write them down somewhere where only you have access to them. DO not carry any passwords in your wallet, purse, PDA, or appointment book. Please do not store them on your computer! Never share your password or email a password to anyone (and beware if someone asks you to email your password to them!) and never use your password on a public computer, as in a library or at a Wifi station.

Never use:

• Your birthdate
• Any relative’s birthdate
• Your social security number
• Any relative’s social security number
• Any actual words from the dictionary (any language)
• Words spelled backwards, misspelled or abbreviated
• Relative’s names
• Pet’s names
• Address, phone number, zip code, drivers license number
• Something that would be easily identifiable to you such as your favorite color, movie, song, etc
• Sequences or repeated characters or numbers
• Adjacent characters on a keyboard

It is recommended you change your passwords regularly. Change passwords to very sensitive access sites every 3 to 6 months.

Several sites offer ways to check the strength of your password. You can check yours with Microsoft’s password checker by clicking here.

Have you seen this great Add-On service for writers offered by Firefox?

Zemanta helps you enhance your blogs and emails with relevant images, videos, links or tags.

It works with WordPress, Blogger, TypePad and many others.

Some of the main features of Zemanta 0.7.1 (just released February 10):

• on the fly contextual suggestions of related articles, images, links and tags;
• affiliate linking support;
• re-blogging – cross-platform quoting for blogs;
• spam-free database of 10000 news sources and blogs;
• copyright filtering of suggested images.

Click here to view Zemanta’s main download page and see all the benefits of this great service.

You probably already know to check the WordPress main site at http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/. You can search there for new themes or check for themes using any criteria you want, such as color, number of columns, width or almost anything you want.

But you may want to do more than that. Here are a few sites I always check when a client calls wanting a new website.

Most of these should be free (check the fine print) and some may work better or smoother than others, but if nothing else they can give you some ideas of what is out there and what we can do to create your smashing new website!

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/01/08/100-excellent-free-high-quality-wordpress-themes/

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/41-great-looking-free-wordpress-themes/

http://www.area1.info/resources/60-great-wordpress-themes/

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/02/09/83-beautiful-wordpress-themes-you-probably-havent-seen/

Contact me and we will get you going with a brand new website!

This video and accompanying statistics are all from Socialnomics.

I have not found a better way to describe the power of the Social Media phenomenon and so I have included it here.  Please visit their site with any feedback, questions or additions as they say they want to:

Keep your feedback/questions/challenges coming as it will collectively make video #2 that much better – you know leverage this whole “social” thing.

Statistics from the Video are following: (sources listed below by corresponding #) (continued in post…)

1. By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers….96% of them have joined a social network
2. Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
3. 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media
4. Years to Reach 50 millions Users:  Radio (38 Years), TV (13 Years), Internet (4 Years), iPod (3 Years)…Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months…iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months.
5. If Facebook were a country it would be the world’s 4th largest between the United States and Indonesia (note that Facebook is now creeping up – recently announced 300 million users)
6. Yet, some sources say China’s QZone is larger with over 300 million using their services (Facebook’s ban in China plays into this)
7. comScore indicates that Russia has the most engage social media audience with visitors spending 6.6 hours and viewing 1,307 pages per visitor per month – Vkontakte.ru is the #1 social network
8. 2009 US Department of Education study revealed that on average, online students out performed those receiving face-to-face instruction
9. 1 in 6 higher education students are enrolled in online curriculum
10. % of companies using LinkedIn as a primary tool to find employees….80%
11. The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females
12. Ashton Kutcher and Ellen Degeneres (combined) have more Twitter followers than the  population of Ireland, Norway, or Panama.  Note I have adjusted the language here after someone pointed out the way it is phrased in the video was difficult to determine if it was combined.
13. 80% of Twitter usage is outside of Twitter…people update anywhere, anytime…imagine what that means for bad customer experiences?
14. Generation Y and Z consider e-mail passé…In 2009 Boston College stopped distributing e-mail addresses to incoming freshmen
15. What happens in Vegas stays on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook…
16. The #2 largest search engine in the world is YouTube
17. Wikipedia has over 13 million articles…some studies show it’s more accurate than Encyclopedia Britannica…78% of these articles are non-English
18. There are over 200,000,000 Blogs
19. 54% = Number of bloggers who post content or tweet daily
20. Because of the speed in which social media enables communication, word of mouth now becomes world of mouth
21. If you were paid a $1 for every time an article was posted on Wikipedia you would earn $156.23 per hour
22. Facebook USERS translated the site from English to Spanish via a Wiki in less than 4 weeks and cost Facebook $0
23. 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content
24. 34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands
25. People care more about how their social graph ranks products and services  than how Google ranks them
26. 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations
27. Only 14% trust advertisements
28. Only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI
29. 90% of people that can TiVo ads do
30. Hulu has grown from 63 million total streams in April 2008 to 373 million in April 2009
31. 25% of Americans in the past month said they watched a short video…on their phone
32. According to Jeff Bezos 35% of book sales on Amazon are for the Kindle when available
33. 24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation because we no longer search for the news, the news finds us.
34. In the near future we will no longer search for  products and services they will find us via social media
35. More than 1.5 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared on Facebook…daily.
36. Successful companies in social media act more like Dale Carnegie and less like David Ogilvy Listening first, selling second
37. Successful companies in social media act more like party planners, aggregators, and content providers than traditional advertiser

Sources

1. Source: Grunwald Associates National Study – Info highlighted on Trendsspotting Blog
2. Source: Huffington Post
3. Source: McKinsey Study also posted by David Dalka
4. Source: First Stats: United Nations Cyberschoolbus Document
   Facebook Stat: Mashable
   iPhone Stat: Apple
5. Source: Facebook
6. Source: TechCrunch
7. Source: comScore
8. Source: U.S. Department of Education Study
9. Source:  Attempting to relocate
10. Source: Jobvite Social Recruitment Survey Note: 80% will use social networks in their assessment.  95% will use LinkedIn in their assessment.  When we revise the Video needs to be updated changing “their” to “a” primary tool need to see if we bump 80% to 95%
11. Source: Inside Facebook Blog
12. Source: Twitter & World Population Data
13. Source: Attempting to relocate
14. Source: Metro Newspaper
15. Opinion, not a statistic
16. Source: TGDaily
17. Source: www.wikipedia.org - calculated based on # articles per language category; Colorado State University Wikipedia Accuracy Study; open debate and of course very biased information is also found on this Wikipedia Accuracy page.  If I had to do it again I would have made this say as accurate rather than more – obviously some articles will be more accurate (think of the realtime update of Michael Jackson’s death, but also some will be less accurate.
18. Source: China Internet Information Center, Technorati, Wikipedia
19. Source: ClickZ Stats SES Magazine June 8 page 24-25 Chris Aarons, Andru Edwards, Xavier Lanier Turning Blogs and user-Generated Content Into Search Engine Results
20. Opinion, not a statistic
21. Calculated based of Wikipedia article data found at www.wikipedia.org
22. Source:  TechCrunchThis says 4 weeks so I may have been a little off here as my source at Facebook had said 2 weeks adjusted above
23. Source: Marketing Vox and Nielsen BuzzMetrics SES Magazine June 8 page 24-25 Chris Aarons, Andru Edwards, Xavier Lanier Turning Blogs and user-Generated Content Into Search Engine Results
24. Source: Universal McCann’s Social Media Research Wave 3
25. Opinion, not a statistic
26. Source: July 2009 Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey (actually 90% now – updated above but video still shows 78%)
27. Source: “Marketing to the Social Web,” Larry Weber, Wiley Publishing  2007
28. Source: “Marketing to the Social Web,” Larry Weber, Wiley Publishing  2007
29. Source: Starcom USA-TiVo
30. Source: Nielsen
31. Source: Solutions Research Group
32. Source: Henry Blodget Silicon Alley Insider http://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-kindle-sales-now-a-shocking-35-of-book-sales-when-kindle-version-available-2009-5
33. Source: Yahoo Finance
34. Opinion from Socialnomics
35. Source: Facebook
36. Music in video provided by Fatboy Slim “Right Here, Right Now” (1999) – if you like it buy the single

All above from Socialnomics

The influence and power of today’s Social Media cannot be overestimated.  The Social Media phenomenon is indeed here to stay.  It will grow and change and morph with popular trending topics and media campaigns, but that is why it has such staying power: precisely because it will adapt to the ever-changing market currents.

Consumers now have more freedom than ever to pursue their interests online.  They surf the web, shop and compare the value and cost of products.  They connect with each other through Social Media outlets to make important business decisions as well as casual recreational pursuits.  In current economic times, why wouldn’t you want to use these free marketing tools to your best advantage?

Blogs, viral videos, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube are now part of any effective Social Media marketing campaign.  Realizing the potential of these web tools, we now devote nearly a third of our consulting time helping clients in their Social Media efforts.

They may not all be for you or your business or organization, so we will look at the various formats of Social Media over the next several posts to help you navigate your way through the great variety of choices and sites. We want to show you a wide range of solutions to help you leverage your Social Media presence and grab hold of your targeted audience.

Of all the progress made in the last 5o or maybe even 100 years, one of the most important advances has of course been the Internet.  For any small business, it is doubly important because the Internet levels the playing field between small business and big business.  It’s not just that everyone else is doing it.  A website is THE best way to promote, advertise, connect, interact and sell to your customer base.  It is probably the most important communication vehicle developed since the telephone.

Do you remember the part in the movie “Miracle on 34th Street” when the judge decides to recognize Kris Kringle as the one and only Santa Claus?  It is when the Post Office delivers mail to him that is addressed to Santa Claus while he sitting in the courtroom.  This is what the Internet does for you.  Your business becomes real when someone can find you on the Internet.

For your business stability and growth, a website that catches and holds your customer’s attention, that promotes you across social media sites, that flows and changes with your own business, will be one of the most valuable tools you can have.

Advertising:

A website offers significant advantages over traditional advertising media in that it is dynamic, interactive and inexpensive. The Internet is making it possible for small to medium sized businesses to compete with the big guys. Advertising is not the only way to make your business known via the Web. Search engines are another powerful and low cost way to increase awareness of your products and services.

Customer Service:

A website gives you the means to stay competitive in your field and offer a high level of customer service to your customers.  You can provide a wide variety of services and tools to your clients and communicate with your customers at their convenience.  You can send invoices, track shipping, and get feedback on a regular basis.  Your customers can place orders, schedule appointments, and update their account information any time of day.

Communication:

Through the emergence of the popular Social Media sites such as Twitter, Face Book, and MySpace you can interact with other small business owners in your field, establish a new (and growing) client base, learn and share market tips.  We recommend using these sites to help your business expand and stay current in today’s economy.

So, you need a website!  Contact us today to get you started.

Click above to register your new Domain Name and/or get started with a web hosting account.  Then Contact us and let us help you build your new website!

The Executive Summary is the most important section of your business plan. It provides a concise overview of the entire plan along with a history of your company. This section tells your reader where your company is and where you want to take it. It’s the first thing your readers see; therefore it is the thing that will either grab their interest and make them want to keep reading or make them want to put it down and forget about it. More than anything else, this section is important because it tells the reader why you think your business idea will be successful.

The executive summary should be the last section you write. After you’ve worked out all the details of your plan, you’ll be in a better position to summarize it – and it should be a summary (i.e., no more than 4 pages).

Contents of the Executive Summary

• The Mission Statement – The mission statement briefly explains the thrust of your business. It could be two words, two sentences, a paragraph, or even a single image. It should be as direct and focused as possible, and it should leave the reader with a clear picture of what your business is all about.
  
• Date business began
  
• Names of founders and the functions they perform
  
• Number of employees
  
• Location of business and any branches or subsidiaries
  
• Description of plant or facilities
  
• Products manufactured/services rendered
  
• Banking relationships and information regarding current investors
  
• Summary of company growth including financial or market highlights (e.g. your company doubled its worth in 12-month period; you became the first company in your industry to provide a certain service)
  
• Summary of management’s future plans – With the exception of the mission statement, all of the information in the Executive Summary should be highlighted in a brief, even bulleted, fashion. Remember, these facts are laid out in-depth further along in the plan.

If you’re just starting a business, you won’t have a lot of information to plug into the areas mentioned above. Instead, focus on your experience and background as well as the decisions that led you to start this particular enterprise. Include information about the problems your target market has and what solutions you provide. Show how the expertise you have will allow you to make significant inroads into the market.Tell your reader what you’re going to do differently or better. Convince the reader that there is a need for your service or product, then go ahead and address your (the company’s) future plans.

To assist the reader in locating specific sections in your business plan, include a table of contents directly following the executive summary. Make sure that the content titles are very broad; in other words, avoid detailed descriptions in your table of contents.

source: sba

If you are starting from scratch it’s a good idea to put together a simple business plan.  Your business plan will probably change as you and your business grow, but you need a good starting point.  We can help you draft a plan that suits your needs and help you fine-tune it as your business takes shape.

Essential Elements of a Good Business Plan for Growing Companies

A business plan should be a work-in-progress. Even successful, growing businesses should maintain a current business plan.

As any good salesperson knows, you have to know everything you can about your products or services in order to persuade someone to buy them. In this discussion, you are the salesperson and your products represent your business. Your customers are potential investors and employees. Since you want your customers to believe in you, you must be able to convince them that you know what you are talking about when it comes to your business.

To become an expert (or to fine-tune your knowledge if you already believe you are one), you must be willing to roll up your sleeves and begin digging through information. Since not all information that you gather will be relevant to the development of your business plan, it will help you to know what you are looking for before you get started. In order to help you with this process, we have developed an outline of the essential elements a good business plan.

Every successful business plan should include something about each of the following areas, since these are what make up the essentials of a good business plan:

•    Executive Summary
•    Market Analysis
•    Company Description
•    Organization & Management
•    Marketing & Sales Management
•    Service or Product Line
•    Funding Request
•    Financials
•    Appendix

We will explore each of these in greater detail in future articles.