News

We all know that email spam is a problem. Unwanted emails in our inbox are just a big nuisance. Starting July 1st, 2014 new Anti-Spam Legislation is being introduced in Canada. What does this mean for the email marketer? Or for the community group or volunteer organization?

Basically the legislation deals with Commercial Electronic Messages or “CRM” which means e-mails, texts, social media messages or any other form of electronic communication to third parties, whether they are businesses, consumers, members, volunteers or donors. CASL’s definition of “commercial” includes activities carried on without the prospect of gain.

There are 3 simple rules to follow when sending CEMs:

• Consent – You must have expressed or implied consent to send a message.
• Identification – You must clearly and simply identify yourselves and anyone else on whose behalf the message is sent.
• Unsubscribe Mechanism – In every message you send, you must provide a way for recipients to unsubscribe from receiving messages in the future.

New consents are required

Consent under CASL can be express or implied.  Unlike Canadian privacy laws which permit “opt out” consent for less sensitive types of information, such as receipt of marketing information, this form of consent is not sufficient under CASL for the receipt of marketing information by electronic means.

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This is a great online application for organizing sign ups for events, volunteers, and group activities. It is FREE with an option for the advanced paid version.

Sign Up Genius makes it easy to build a sign up form and share with social media, Google Calendar, etc. There is a choice of templates to choose from. You can also coordinate sign ups with a payment via PayPal and it is easy to email groups/attendees with updated information and reminders. Also has built in RSVP functionality. This is a great app for any type of group event – highly recommended!!

List of Features:

Google Rules!  General thinking is that Google search engine results favour websites that use Google products like Adwords, Analytics, Google+, Google Places and the list goes on. And this means that Google + which has integrated Google Places (formerly Google Maps) and Google Reviews is an absolute must for businesses wanting to be found on the web.

Google+ is a social media site similar to Facebook and Twitter including following, posting and commenting but with more features like Google Reviews, directions and maps etc. You also have control over who you share content with by creating circles. And of course people you share content with can share with their circles as well. It is easy to share text, pictures, and video.

You can also get a Google+ page for your business. The big advantage here is that Google search results show the Google Map results at the top of the page which also links to your website and Google Reviews providing great exposure. Specific searches for a business show your address, directions, contact information and hours. This is better exposure than the Google ads that one pays for.

Why not take the advantage of the social media sites to grow your business?

There were two ads shared through YouTube that stood out for me this year. In short there are some advantages to advertising on the web:

• Don’t have to be big budget
• Can edit and shoot with non-commercial equipment and post to YouTube
• Can use your social networking to share
• It can be entertaining and you can have fun

The other interesting feature of an ad that doesn’t come across blatantly as an ad is that it becomes more entertainment and less advertisement. The message is more subliminal.

When the ad is shared on the web it comes generally through known sources on Facebook or Twitter or another social platform and it feels more personal – more targeted to you. Just a great way to market your business on the internet.

WestJet Christmas Miracle: Real-time Giving

34,130,980 hits in less than 3 weeks

This program is an online interface that allows you to manage multiple social media accounts. In one browser window, one can do it all. The functionality this programs provides is extensive. I highly recommend this program. www.hootsuite.com

HootSuite’s free plan allows you to enjoy and grow your social networks. Use the basic features of the easy-to-use dashboard to track mentions, messages and keywords on social media.

• Manage up to 5 social profiles
• Post to several different social media at one time
• Scheduling your messages for the whole week and save time
• Access basic analytics and reporting tools
• Access Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Linkedin, Foursquare, Mixi and WordPress.com

Using Streams:
Twitter streams will show you your latest tweets, favourite tweets, my mentions, hashtag search, sent messages, lists and direct messages and scheduled tweets. Facebook streams will show wall posts, news feed, status updates, photos, videos, events, search and schedule posts. Other social media have similar available streams.

Using Apps:
Dozens of additional apps are available for programs from Constant Contact, You Tube, SurveyMonkey, Tumblr, Flickr, Blogger and many, many more. You can even manage your gmail from within HootSuite. I brought into HootSuite my Constant Contact accounts and can get detailed feedback about each newsletter sent out. The only social media that is missing as far as I can tell is Pinterest. But like I’ve said – really impressive!

Open 24/7
The HootSuite dashboard refreshes all of the streams regularly and one can leave the dashboard open 24/7. Really convenient and friendly and you don’t have to login to different account each time you want to post or check your social media.

I thought this was a good tutorial.

Another tutorial HootSuite For Business – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz4vbeQQE0Y

According to Google,  mobile internet use will surpass desktop use this year (2013).

Consumer behavior mandates that your business is accessible anytime/anywhere your customers need you and therefore you need a mobile version of your website is a necessity.

If you already have a website likely it is accessible on a mobile device, that is good news. However unless you have a mobile version of your website,  it probably looks pretty crappy. If it looks crappy then that is bad for your business.

Mobile Statistics:

• 46% of all cell phones in the US are smartphones.
• Research predicts that by 2013, more people will be accessing the Internet on their mobile phones than those who will be using their desktop computer.
• 87% of the world’s population is now using a mobile device.
• Research indicates that 49% of mobile web users have bought at least 1 item via their mobile device within the last 6 months

Mobile sites should have:

• Simple navigation.
• Larger font size
• Optimize the site for a mobile – no bells a whistles
• Make the file sizes smaller to increase the speed the site loads on a mobile device
• Fast loading websites that don’t require a lot of data to be loaded – customers will appreciate it.
• Scaling images and fonts that adapt to screen size
• No flash elements that many smart phones can’t render

Why do you need a mobile ready website for your small business?

• Mobile-friendly sites turn users into customers
• Not having a mobile-friendly site helps your competitors
• Non-mobile friendly sites can hurt a company’s reputation
• Not having a mobile site is a reflection on your business
• Your regular website won’t load properly on a mobile device and you will lose potential customers as a result.

There are several options to make your website mobile friendly and optimized. Contact Us to find how to get a mobile version of your website and get more business.

Facecrooks.com

This is a great article with step by step instructions on how to protect your Facebook account. Part of being a responsible member of any  online community is educating yourself and your loved ones on how to properly configure the privacy and security settings offered by the platform.

Article covers:

• Account Settings
• Security Settings
• Privacy Settings
• Timeline and Tagging
• Blocking
• App Settings

Additional Info

• Public Pictures – Your profile picture and cover photo are public by default, and this setting can’t be changed. If this concerns you, then don’t use a personal photograph. Also, be sure to use sharing controls for your photos and albums.
• Be careful what you post – once you post something online it can potentially come back to haunt you. Use the built in sharing controls for status updates and other posts to limit access to the intended audience.
•  Be careful what you click – Even if all of your controls are set properly, clicking malicious links and installing malware can not only wreck your computer system, but it can affect your privacy and online safety as well.
• Logout of Facebook – Facebook has been known to track user activity on other websites, so logout when you are not using Facebook. Also, staying logged in can make it easier for your account to be hacked if you login from shared computers.
• Anti-virus software – install a reputable security software application and keep it updated.

View Full Article

There are a few options for accepting credit card payments via your mobile device in Canada. Perfect for small business. No merchant account needed. Typical charges are %2.75 and .20 cents per transaction and the Mobile Card Reader  is free. It is simple and affordable. The swipe device is an encrypted credit card reader that plugs into the audio jack of your smart phone or tablet. It’s really that simple.

We have been using Kudos – www.takekudos.com for a while now and really this is so easy and economical to use. Works on iPhone and iPad.

Another popular service is with similar charges and works on iPhone and android devices. www.squareup.com/ca

• 2.75% per swipe for Visa and MasterCard.
• Free app, free card reader and free shipping.
• No merchant account, monthly fees or set-up costs.
• Manually-entered cards cost 3.5% + 15¢ per transaction.

An e-mail signature, is a block of text appended to the end of an e-mail message often containing the sender’s name, address, phone number, disclaimer, Skype info, IM details or other contact information. This is a great way to drive traffic to your website, include your company branding and link to your latest twitter feed.

Some Signature Tips

1. Keep it as short (four lines is the accepted standard).

2. Condense information into fewer lines by using pipes (|) or colons (::) to separate the text.

3. Remember that simple plain text is best; skip colors, special fonts and graphics.

4. Be careful with HTML formatting because it may not appear how you want it to for everyone.

5. Test your signature with as many email clients as you can, especially if you use HTML.

6. Optimize your logo or other graphics, upload the files to your server, and use an absolute URL.

7. Provide written out URLs instead of using hyperlinks in your email to ensure the link will go through in the sent message.

8. Avoid including multiple phone numbers and email addresses. Pick your contact preference and get rid of the rest.

9. Only include IM details and Skype account information if you want to be contacted that way by anyone who sees your message.

10. Skip your mailing address — not every recipient wants or should have access to that information.

11. Include links to your most important social media profiles, only if they are appropriate.

12. Include your email address. You can’t rely on various email clients to include header information in replies and forwards.

Credit for above tips – Sitepoint

Wisestamp

Wisestamp is a program that can easily customize your signature with your Logo, IM & Social profiles. You can also enrich your signature with your latest tweet, Quotes, Facebook status and much more! Email signatures that have special formatting, colours, images require HTML code that is just problematic when used in an email. Different browsers will translate the formatting differently. Using a program like Wisestamp can make this transformation easy . Check out http://www.wisestamp.com

Being a visual person Pinterest is quickly becoming a favourite. Pinterest is a social bookmarking site where users collect and share photos of their favorite events, interests and hobbies. One of the fastest growing social networks online, Pinterest is the third-largest such network behind only Facebook and Twitter.

Pinning

A pin starts with an image or video you add to Pinterest. You can add a pin from a website using the Pin It bookmarklet or upload an image right from your computer. Any pin on Pinterest can be repinned, and all pins link back to their source.

Boards

Basically one can catalogue content on the web into categories (called boards) that show an image and then link back to the original content.  You could pin ideas for remodeling your bathroom to books you have read, movies you would like to see, for example. Boards can be secret or public, and you can invite other people to pin with you on any of your boards.

Follow

When you follow someone, their pins show up in your Pinterest home feed. You can follow all of someone’s boards or just the ones you like best. To manage who you’re following, go to your profile and click Following.

Pin It Bookmarklet

The Pin It bookmarklet lets you easily pin things you see on websites and blogs. To get the bookmarklet or learn more, check out our Goodies page.

Pinterest for Business

Pinterest can also work for business. You can convert your current personal Pinterest account to a business account or open a new account just for business. One can incorporate the company branding, create a community, highlight specials and attract business. Brand studies have continued to show Pinterest is more effective at driving sales than other forms of social media.

Pinterest is a tool for collecting & organizing things you love.

The Only Secure Password Is the One You Can’t Remember

Top Bad Passwords
123456, password, 12345678, qwerty, abc123, 12345, monkey, 111111, consumer, letmein, 1234, dragon, trustno1, baseball, gizmodo, whatever, superman, 1234567, sunshine, iloveyou, starwars, shadow, princess, cheese

Examples of Weak Passwords

• Default passwords (as supplied by the system vendor and meant to be changed at installation time): password, default, admin, guest, etc. Lists of default passwords are widely available on the internet.
• Dictionary words: chameleon, RedSox, sandbags, bunnyhop!, IntenseCrabtree, etc., including words in non-English dictionaries.
• Words with numbers appended: password1, deer2000, john1234, etc., can be easily tested automatically with little lost time.
• Words with simple obfuscation: p@ssw0rd, l33th4x0r, g0ldf1sh, etc., can be tested automatically with little additional effort. For example a domain administrator password compromised in the DigiNotar attack was reportedly Pr0d@dm1n.[25]
• Doubled words: crabcrab, stopstop, treetree, passpass, etc.
• Common sequences from a keyboard row: qwerty, 12345, asdfgh, fred, etc.
• Numeric sequences based on well known numbers such as 911 (9-1-1, 9/11), 314159… (pi), or 27182… (e), etc.
• Identifiers: jsmith123, 555–1234, your username, etc.
• Anything personally related to an individual: license plate number, Social Security number, current or past telephone numbers, student ID, current address, previous addresses, birthday, sports team, relative’s or pet’s names/nicknames/birthdays/initials, etc., can easily be tested automatically after a simple investigation of person’s details.

What Makes a Good Password
A strong password is one that is as long and as random (in terms of both character types and sequence), as possible. In short use a combination of upper and lowercase, numbers and symbols.

Common Guidelines
Guidelines for choosing good passwords are designed to make passwords less easily discovered by intelligent guessing. Common guidelines include:

• A minimum password length of 12 to 14 characters if permitted
• Generating passwords randomly where feasible
• Avoiding passwords based on repetition, dictionary words, letter or number sequences, usernames, relative or pet names, romantic links (current or past), or biographical information (e.g., ID numbers, ancestors’ names or dates).
• Including numbers, and symbols in passwords if allowed by the system
• If the system recognizes case as significant, using capital and lower-case letters
• Avoiding using the same password for multiple sites or purposes
• Avoid using something that the public or workmates know you strongly like or dislike

Some guidelines advise against writing passwords down, while others, noting the large numbers of password protected systems users must access, encourage writing down passwords as long as the written password lists are kept in a safe place, such as a wallet or safe, not attached to a monitor or in an unlocked desk drawer.

Having good passords doesn’t replace taking security precautions on your computer and internet connection.

Cracking Passwords
An eight character all lowercase password can be cracked by a single computer in one day.

Worst-case scenario with almost unlimited computing power for brute-forcing the decrypt: 6 alphanumeric characters takes 0.0000224 seconds to crack, 10 alpha/nums with a symbol takes 2.83 weeks.

Password Program

One Password is a handy tool to keep your passwords stored safely on your computer. This program generates a different strong password for each site you visit by mixing: a) your master key, which you create by yourself, and b) a site key, which is automatically extracted from site URL.

With One Password, you only need to remember your master key. The extension will give different passwords on different websites.

More info about One Password

You can access the mobile website version at
http://onepwd.appspot.com

Follow updates and security tips on our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/One-Password/243101302381935

This is a free and very handy online program where a group can schedule a meeting or an event easily, efficiently and hassle-free.

Steps:

1. Create an event

2. Add description, location and other details

3. Choose a date and a few time choices

4. You can poll people by email to figure out the best meeting time for the most people.

There are built-in setting you can use:

QR codes have many different applications but the most common is the ability to scan contact information into a smart phone. Using your smart phone and a QR reader (app) you can instantly add contact information into your phone.

Other applications:

• Business cards
• Brochures and other marketing materials
• Decal on trucks and trailers.
• Product packaging
• Convention and event nametags
• Restaurant menus
• Event ticket stubs
• Point-of-sale receipts
• Location on Google maps
• Play a Youtube video
• Add an entry to the user’s calendar
• Start an image gallery
• Ease installing an app from the App Store or Android Market
• Send a predefined short message (premium services)
• Send a Tweet with your content
• Visit Google+/Facebook profile
• Call a phone number
• Show contact data as a vCard/meCard
• Show your branding on textiles (T-shirts, bags) and other articles like mugs
• Show your profile on recommendation services like Qype

QR codes have the ability to:

• Link to digital content on the web
• Activate a number of phone functions including email, IM and SMS
• Connect the mobile device to a web browser
• Connect people with each other
• Connect to multimedia digital content

Sharing – There’s no limit to how, or even how much, you can share with QR codes.  While a video or landing page is easily shared, you could go further and share an entire eBook and even multiple pieces of content that share a common link.

QR codes can also be customized to include graphics. The QR code on the right links to my Facebook page.

When used effectively, they can be great marketing tools.
Read more at http://www.business2community.com/marketing/the-three-es-of-qr-codes-0385042#s2ASfmMyyt5AOWpW.99

QR codes can also be used to track your marketing campaign and each time someone scans the code it will be recorded provided added insights into how well your campaign is working.