Lake Havasu City is a popular destination for both the young and the senior crowd. With warm winters, beautiful desert springs and falls, people from all over the world come to enjoy the awesome weather. Because this is such a popular vacation spot, there is almost always from event in Lake Havasu City. Check out the Events Guide at 928Shopper.com to find out the local happenings: https://928shopper.com/lake-havasu-city-events/
Our laptops and computer camera connect us with friends and family that are far away. They are a great way to share with your loved ones, but they can also pose as a security risk. Check out this article by ZoneAlarm:
A few clicks of the mouse, and your webcam is activated and ready to be used. But have you considered the possibility that someone else could be watching you through your own webcam? The thought of this probably sends chills down your spine, and it should, as this is very real- and extremely creepy.
How Webcams Get Hacked Hackers utilize a type of software called remote access tool (RAT) that allows them to remotely access a computer as if they were physically there. Though RATs were designed for legal purposes, like allowing a technician to remotely access a user’s computer to troubleshoot problems without having to physically be there, hackers exploit this software for their own benefit.
Typically, a hacker lures an unsuspecting user into clicking on a link, opening a picture or email attachment, visiting a specific website, or downloading some software. After the user falls for one of these, the RAT software is secretly installed onto the user’s computer. The hacker now has remote access to the user’s computer.
Preventing Your Webcam from Being Hacked
Many articles recommend covering the lens of the webcam with a piece of paper to prevent hackers from spying on you. But doing that alone is brushing the real problem under a rug. Having your webcam hacked means your PC has been compromised by some malware, and you need to take immediate action to get rid of it.
Fortunately, here are some easy things you can do that can prevent your computer from being compromised in the first place.
Don’t be click-happy
Hackers lure victims into installing RAT software onto their PC by disguising links, pictures, or email attachments as something desirable, such as free music, movies, or desktop wallpapers. Be wary of suspicious websites that offer similar items. Also be cautious about clicking on shortened links you may find on social media sites.
Equip your computer with an antivirus and two-way firewall
Having an antivirus and two-way firewall is minimum security any PC should be equipped with. An up-to-date and active antivirus helps to detect and remove malware from infecting your computer. A two-way firewall monitors inbound and outbound traffic to-and-from your computer.
Be cautious of tech support offering remote assistance
Hackers may physically contact you by claiming there are problems with your computer. They’ll try to persuade you to install a program that allows them remote access to your computer, so that they can “fix” the problem. Simply ignore calls from those who claim they are tech support.
Secure your wireless connection
A hacker can easily hack into unsecure Wi-Fi networks with a laptop, antenna, and widely available software. Don’t make it easy for them. Secure your wireless connection with a strong and complex password.
Disable Windows Remote Access
Though most RATs deployed by malware are custom tools, disabling Windows Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop is one thing you can do to prevent hackers from remotely accessing your computer.
To disable Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop for Windows 7, follow these steps:
1. Click on Start and find Computer
2. Right-click on Computer and select Properties
3. Click on Remote settings on the left-hand side
4a. Under the Remote tab, uncheck “Allow Remote Assistance connections to this computer.”
4b. Under Remote tab, click on “Don’t allow connections to this computer”
5. Click OK
Do you think you may have a virus? Don’t wait to fix it, it only get’s worse! Call us today 928-230-4922
“Google Search Will Pull Info From Your Email for Smarter Results
Google is ramping up its search functionality to make it easier to pull up what you’re looking for, from details about your flight’s status and upcoming dinner reservations to tracking information on packages.
For example, by typing “What’s my flight status?” into Google search, the site will sift through the data in your email, Google Calender and Google+, and then match it against real-time information about your flight. You can also ask it to show you pictures you’ve taken of anything from sunsets to locations and will then search all of your Google-related accounts to present them to you.
The updates will roll out in the next few days to all U.S. and English-speaking users. It will come to desktop Google search, as well as tablet and smartphones and will be compatible with Google Voice so you can ask your mobile device the same question.
The move is an extension of what Google has offered via Google Now for more than a year.
“This information is just for you—secure, via encrypted connection, and visible only to you when you’re signed in to Google,” the company wrote in a blog post. “Likewise, you can also control whether you want the service on or off.”
An icon at the top of the search results page can be turned off and to block the feature permanently, the “private results” section in settings will do the trick.”
Image: Google
Contact us if you need IT consulting, inbound marketing, or a smart-looking website. Until next time, stay intelligent!
Welcome to part II of our blog featuring the article, Marketing on Craigslist. Last week we covered what sells best on Craigslist, identifying your market, and building ads. Today we will cover tracking results (you want to know how awesome you’re doing, right?), community commitment, and selling safely (majorly important one). Keep reading and start boosting, yo.
“Marketing Your Business on Craigslist
…continued…
Tracking Results If you plan to post in multiple cities and offer specific promotions, tracking which ads produce the best results is important. You can track a Craigslist ad by e-mail, phone number or website referral. Each tracking mechanism should feature a unique component like a custom e-mail address, telephone extension or website referral code. How you choose to track should depend on your industry and the typical methods customer use to communicate with you. Unlike eBay, Craigslist does not provide you with any demographic or tracking data.
Regardless of whether you sell a product or service, it’s important to understand the competitive landscape on a daily or weekly basis. Supply and demand for certain products or services will fluctuate. Take the time to get to know the other players in your cities or categories. If you see a rush on a certain product, focus on something complimentary. For instance, if you’re a mattress wholesaler and see that a large number of a specific brand and/or size mattresses are flooding your market, either price match or focus your energy on a different size or bed frame until the market stabilizes. Also, take into consideration the season and the demographic (both income and recreational) of the cities in which you post. In the winter, a snowmobile will not sell nearly as well in California as it will in Vermont.
Community Commitment As an open market, Craigslist welcomes sellers from all walks of life. Keep in mind that as a business owner, you’re just as likely to compete with everyday people selling the contents of their attic as you are a national brand retailer with sights on breaking into your market. The community element sets Craigslist apart from its competitors. Harness the power of your community by doing more than just posting. The most trafficked area of Craigslist is the forums. Use the forums to communicate with fellow sellers and potential buyers or to establish an active, ethical voice for your business.
Selling Safely Fraud exists in every corner of the business world, both online and offline. The anonymous nature of Craigslist–the very thing that makes it so popular–is also the reason you should take measures to protect yourself against fraud. With no member or seller ratings system, Craigslist can fall prey to scam artists. Make an effort to talk to each new customer via phone, only ship items once payment is received, and always use your best judgment when it comes to business transactions.
Craigslist continues to experience rapid growth–additional cities have come online in recent months and more are expected to launch throughout the next year. The buzz about this great resource is sweeping the nation, and every day people from all over the world are visiting the site, looking to buy from trusted sellers and service providers. Get in on the action by harnessing the marketing power of Craigslist.
Shanon Lewis is a web-marketing expert who specializes in marketing on Craigslist. She’s also the author of The Unofficial Craigslist Book and regularly shares her wisdom on Craigslist and online marketing at her popular blog.”
So get out there and Craigslist it up! Contact us if you’re in need of some inbound marketing, IT consulting, or a super sweet site that will make you and your product look as legit as you are. Until next time, stay chill NSquared readers.
Craigslist. We here at NSquared are almost positive you have heard of this website. But, did you know that this website can be an extremely beneficial tool for marketing your business and boosting profits? Check out, Marketing on Craiglist, below:
“Marketing Your Business on Craigslist
Learn how to showcase your products and services on this popular online marketplace.
From e-commerce websites to furniture wholesalers, small businesses both online and off are realizing the marketing power of Craigslist.org. Founded in 1996 by Craig Newmark, Craigslist.org gets an estimated 10 million unique visitors per day. With an online classified ads format organized by either region or city, Craigslist connects buyers and sellers in more than 300 communities; for the most part, posting on the site is free.
If you’ve never heard of Craigslist or never considered using the site to market your business, the following tips will help you determine whether it might be a good fit for you and offer another outlet for marketing your products and services.
What Sells Best on Craigslist
From services like tutoring, car repair and real estate to products such as wholesale furniture, consignment goods and retail e-commerce, Craigslist is the ultimate destination for online marketers. If you manufacture goods, provide services directly or sell products regionally, Craigslist is a marketing tool you should consider. You can also easily promote an eBay store, a franchise operation or a referral partner. And it’s a bourgeoning business opportunity for affiliates and webmasters looking for new ways to find customers.
Identifying Your Market
Like any other advertising medium, Craigslist requires some strategy, though paramount to its usefulness is simplicity. To start, you need to determine which city or cities you’re going to post an ad. If you’re a service provider, you can identify available cities on Craigslist that encompass your service region. Keep in mind that some regions overlap. For instance, if you’re a mobile groomer working in Orange County, California, but service from Los Angeles to San Diego, Craigslist reaches your service area across four cities. So you’d want to develop your messaging and a posting schedule in each of these regions to increase your exposure. If you sell a product or offer a service nationwide, the opportunity to reach new customers is even greater.
Posting on Craigslist, either nationally or locally, requires an understanding of the rules. Craigslist has in place–a set of rules that prohibits advertisers from over-posting or spamming users. You can follow these rules and still get excellent exposure. To start, develop unique ads for each city you post in, focus on specific products and rotate them on a promotional schedule. Never post the exact same ad within 48 hours, and be careful to delete your old ad. Craigslist users are quick to spot businesses that misuse the system and can be quite unforgiving. The Craigslist flagging system puts the power of spam control into the hands of the users.
Building Ads
Building an ad on Craigslist can be as simple as typing in some text, or you can incorporate html and images. Typically, what works best is the direct approach. For instance, if you’re a real estate agent using Craigslist to promote properties for sale, build a text ad that incorporates images of the properties for sale–you don’t need to know html to do this. Simply define what property specifications best sell the property and keep the sales pitch to a minimum. Be sure to include important search words, such as “three bedroom” or “condominium,” as well as regional identifiers including a ZIP code, city or community name. You do this so that people who search for specific items find you in the search results.
Craigslist’s search function isn’t based on a search algorithm; instead, search results are displayed first by date, then by keyword. This makes the text content of your ad extremely important. Ads with images only increase ad effectiveness. And adding images to your ad isn’t difficult. If you’re not web savvy, use the “upload image” function available during the posting process. (If you want to feature a large image or more than one, you’ll need to upload your images to your own web server and reference them inside your ad using basic html.) Images, however, are not required. Often the best performing ads on Craigslist are simple text ads that get straight to the point.”
…to be continued…
Contact us if you need inbound marketing, IT consulting, or an awesome website. Stay tuned for Part II on Monday. Until next time, stay groovy!
You may have heard or seen the hype regarding Google+. But, if you’re anything close to an average American, you already have multiple profiles on multiple social media websites. Is it really that important to have one more password to keep track of? In regards to Google+, the answer is yes.
If you aren’t using a Google+ profile to boost your business, then you are missing out. Keep reading the article below to see why one more password is totally worth it. You won’t regret it!
“Why Google Plus Can be so Important for your Business
Google plus is indexed by Google so it can help customers find your business faster and easier also by creating a business page you can increase your visibility.Google+ has more than 90 million members and 60% of them log in every day.How to reach all those users?
Provide original information but more importantly share other people’s ideas. Also make sure that you post few times a day to reach people in different times zones.
Build up trust
If someone you trust shares a link, you are more likely to check it out. Therefore, comment on your shares, respond to other people’s comments.
Educate your followers
Let your circles know more about your brand as the more they know the easier it is to them to make informed decision about your product or service.
Customer service
Make sure that your customers are kept happy and respond rapidly to their questions and complains. Offer videos or other media to help resolve their problems or issues.
Build a community
Give fans a place to talk and share their experiences but tailor your community to your location and business.
Share media
Do not forget to add media and provide value. Always look for user-created content like e-book, video, reports or photos.
Few ideas how to get it done:
Build a relevant audience by looking for people who are appropriate to your business. You can do that by defining your audience by demographic or location or topic.
Look for a content that your circles would like outside of Google+
Engage in conversation on a post
Read posts by others and comment but at the same time you need to comment on your own posts.
Share a new post since the purpose of a social network is to connect and share.
Finally, do not forget to be consistent and keep your offline and online business presence the same. Moreover, provide a continuity so your clients always know what to expect.”
Contact us if you want to start promoting your business through inbound marketing. Until next time, stay social media savvy!
Are you using your website to its full capacity? If you aren’t taking complete advantage of your website’s ability to boost sales, you should be! Check out, 10 Quick Tips to Increase Online Sales, below:
“10 Quick Tips to Increase Online Sales
Your online shop is up and running and everything is ready for doing business. Now it’s time to get some action! Your shop needs to be beautiful and user-friendly, but if you want to boost sales and establish a loyal customer base, we have a few expert marketing tips that can help you get there.
1. Use a clear call to action button. There needs to be a sense urgency to encourage shoppers to seal the deal, like “Shop Now”, “Get Yours” or “Buy in 1-Click”.
2. Add images or videos as product demos. This will help customers to already visualize your product as part of their lives.
3. Include customer reviews and ratings of your products. This helps to establish your site’s credibility and creates an added sense of community.
4. Make the payment process super smooth. The most deterring thing ever is if the final click to purchase does not go through for some reason and you have to select product and fill in all the billing information again.
5. Make customer service and customer loyalty a priority. Make sure that you are easily accessible for any questions or returns. Always stand behind your products, guarantee satisfaction and reward customers for their purchases.
6. Highlight products by offering discounts or pointing out your shop’s “best-sellers” or most popular items.
7. Make sure the added value of your store is clear. Shoppers need to see the benefit of purchasing your products. What is unique about your business? The answer to this question needs to be clear not only to you, but also to your customers.
8. Create discount coupons and distribute them on social networks, on printed marketing material (flyers, newspaper ads) or to a mailing list of clients. Limit the amount of available coupons (“first 50 to use this coupon will get a 50% discount!”) or the duration (“a 48-hours sale starts now!”) to stir people up for a quick action.
9. Use more than one photo for each product. For instance, if you’re selling clothes you can upload an image of the clothing item on a white background but also a photo of a model wearing it.
10. Set up a mailing list and keep customers updated on the newest merch, the latest deals or any other news bit that might get them to revisit your online shop.”
Contact us if your website needs a face lift (or you need inbound marketing), so you can take full advantage of your website and have a successful business. Have a wonderful weekend!
“3 Reasons Real Estate Agents Need Their Own Website
Real estate is a field that is defined by you as the agent, but more specifically, by the way you conduct your business. It’s about individuality and making yourself both relevant and an important resource to your client base and the community as a whole.
With so many agents out there vying for a piece of the prospect pie, it’s easy to get overlooked by potential clients. In order to overcome this obstacle, you need to find a way to market yourself effectively. If your plan entails sending out mass mailers, or doing magazine ads, think again; the days of effective outbound marketing are fading fast.
Today, you need to turn your focus to inbound marketing and create an online presence with your website, social media marketing and blogging so you can naturally attract your target market.
1. Become A True Client Resource
The first step is to create your website, where your current, and prospective, clients can go to learn more about you and the services you offer. However, most agents make the mistake of doing only that and no more; in today’s competitive marketplace, you need to go beyond displaying your services. You need to use your website, blog and social media to become a valuable resource.
Your real estate website needs to embrace the technology available today and create a truly value-based experience for your visitors. They have to come away feeling that you are a true partner that can be counted on for the information they need to make the best decision. Adding online mortgage calculators, information about loan programs and access to all MLS listings (not only yours) will allow your website to become a valuable tool.
2. Solidify Your Personal Brand
You may argue that you do not need the added expense of a website since your broker or agency supplies you with one as part of employment, but nothing could be further from the truth. What happens if you leave that brokerage to branch out?
Personal branding in real estate is important. You need to set yourself apart from the competition. You don’t want to be lumped in with everyone else in the office on some generic website, otherwise what’s the benefit of the prospect choosing you over another agent in your office?
When you create your own website, you begin to brand yourself online. Your website is a direct reflection of you, your goals, and your services. No matter where you go, your name is your brand, and your clients will be able to find you.
Your real estate web design should include highlights of everything you personally bring to the table, in addition to other bits of information and services that directly tie in to your field of expertise. If you make your website a one-stop shop, why would your clients need to go anywhere else?
3. Become the Local “Go To” Agent
Having your own website also gives you an awesome advantage when it comes to targeting specific geographic areas. If there is a certain area of town that you are trying to focus on, you can easily integrate targeted keywords that represent that area of town into your website elements (url structure, page titles, content, etc.).
By integrating these specific keywords into your website, you are giving yourself a distinct advantage over your competition who is probably focusing on broader keyword targets. When a potential client begins to look at real estate in your target area of town, their is a greater chance that they will discover you. What’s even better is that your site will have information specifically about that area, so you will look like the “go to” agent.
In today’s real estate world, it’s all about becoming a resource for your clients, solidifying your personal brand, and staying relevant to your area of focus. Creating your own real estate site is the best way to secure all of these areas and maximize your potential to grow your business.”
Contact us if you would like a real estate website and start boosting your business. Until next time!
Bonjour readers!
Hey folks!
Howdy readers!
Howdy NSquared readers!
Hey there NSquared readers.
Good morning NSquared readers!