Don’t get us wrong, social media is important and it is vital that your company embrace it.  But at the end of the day, it’s just another form of communication (and one that not everyone embraces).

Multiple Channels

Proper communication is crucial to providing good customer service.  There have been many examples where openly communicating has kept a bad situation from getting worse, or even turned it into a positive.

This post lists 5 other ways to reach your customers outside of social media.  If you are offering products or services to the general public (even if your “public” is other businesses) you should be using at least 3 of them, if not all.

1. E- Mail
   Hello captain obvious!  You already send and receive emails every day, but did you ever realize it can be passively used to spread any marketing message?  Your email signature is the perfect place to let everyone you correspond with know about your upcoming sale, new product or whatever else you have to announce.
2. Telephone
   It still surprises me how many web sites think it is best to leave a phone number off their site.  The most common argument is “I don’t want all the phone calls.”  WHAT?!?!!  Thinking that you can do business with no way for people to talk to a human is just crazy.  Humans like to connect.  Put your telephone number out there.
3. Instant Messaging and Audio/Video Chat
   While not the solution for every kind of business, Instant Messaging is widely popular and very convenient way to stay connected.  Here at MosierData we use IM’s all day and every day to  communicate with not only our team, but our clients too. If you have a camera and microphone, many IM’s (such as Skype) even offer video chat – which can be even more personal than a phone call.
4. Live chat on your website
   If your business is large enough to have at least one full time person dedicated to customer service, you should really think about adding live chat as a sales and support tool.  As a bonus, most live chat companies let you actually watch the path visitors take through your site, letting you see in realtime what they find interesting.  When they decide to talk to you, you get a nifty little popup on your screen.
5. Online meetings / Webinars
   For times when you would like to present something to multiple people at once (and it doesn’t have to just be customers, you can present to employees, a board of directors, or anyone) online meetings are one of the coolest ways to get it done.  No need for a room and a projector, just your computer and a microphone.  Most companies such as ClickMeeting even offer a free trial.

What other ways does your business communicate with customers?  Leave us a message in the comments and let us know.

Under the guise of “making Google better”, they will now now send you gift cards for installing a browser extension (only on Chrome, of course) and using it to surf the web. How much?  Up to $25 in amazon gift cards.  $5 when you sign up and $5 for every three months you participate.

Or, if you really like having no privacy you can opt for – get this – a “Screenwise data collector” that you install on your home network that monitors all of your internet usage.  Yes, a little black box that phones home with reports on your internet activity.  If you are accepted into this program the send you the device, pay you $100 to get started and $20 per month.

If this doesn’t make you cringe already, keep in mind that this new program is launching the same day as their new privacy policy.  If you weren’t paying attention, this new policy lets Google look into a lot more than what you are searching for.

For instance, they can now share data between all of their services.  These include Youtube, Chrome, calendars, docs, gmail and blogger, not to mention everything you do on your android phone.  All of that data can be associated into a single profile of you, kept by Google, to provide them even more information to target you with ads.

If you opt in to Screenwise, they can now get their hands on everything else you do on the Internet.  Things they couldn’t track before, like your use of services like Facebook or Bing.  Not to mention how much you use the services and the Internet in general.  This will give them insights that they can use later to enter new markets or provide to “partners” that are authorized by the aforementioned privacy policy.

What do you think?   Am I just a privacy nut or do you think this program goes too far?

I’m not on the council anymore, but I do keep up with them on Facebook and like some of the new ways they are using social media. Of course if you visit their fan page, you see the usual press releases and photos.  There for a while, they were posting a “Criminal of the day” thread.  I don’t know how effective that was for them, but with over 11,000 facebook fans, I think it would be a good practice to continue.

When I did my ride-along with a Polk County deputy, I was amazed at the number of stories where they bust people running drugs over a simple headlight or tail light out.  The night I was with the deputy, we arrested 2 different people for failure to appear in court just because of the same thing.  You would think that if you were a fugitive, you would make sure your vehicle is in order before driving.

Apparently, stupid criminals have now learned to use social media.  And they like to brag about things.  Couple that with a law enforcement agency that “gets” technology and you have a whole new way of proactive policing.

Here are a couple of examples:

• A man in Evansville, IN was arrested after posting a photo of himself with a sawed-off shotgun.  Aside from the fact the gun itself was illegal, the guy was a convicted felon to boot.  How the the cops find this?  Investigating complaints of noise and drugs in his apartment, they looked him up online.
• In Alabama, police were tipped off about a man’s Facebook post saying he wanted to blow up a police station.  While he later claimed that post was a joke, the cops did a simple background check & learned he was on probation.  His probation officer paid him a little surprise visit and found a stash of child porn.  I doubt he will be out again for a while.

Criminals, law enforcement and social trends

In an article in The Washington Post, some in law enforcement believe that even career criminals follow the same trends we all do.  Fortunately, many of them post to social media before firing up their brain and they make their own cases against themselves.

In fact, most progressive law enforcement agencies now have a dedicated staff that monitors various social media platforms for criminal activity – or clues that lead to it.  Things like photos showing child neglect, underage drinking, illegal weapons and association with known criminals are the most common, but it could be just a monitor on a wanted fugitive that alerts them when he updates his “current city”.

So if you’re a criminal, here’s some advice:  Become more Anti-Social.  Even if your local police haven’t found the right social media tools to discover you yet, if you keep posting updates to Facebook, MySpace or Twitter, it’s just a matter of time.

And to the law enforcement agencies that are using the Internet as a tool: Thank you for embracing technology and finding new ways to protect us.

Obviously, these sites aren’t free to operate.  Even a simple web site needs a web hosting plan or server.  The more popular your site, the more servers you need.  Then you need people to run those servers.  Then you need staff to fix software bugs.  The list grows from there.  Bottom line:  Someone, somewhere always pays for “free.”

There is a big stink at the moment about Pinterest, since it was discovered that they quietly add affiliate links to outbound e-commerce traffic.  But, before I get to that, let’s take a look at how some of the other big “free” sites drive revenue.  I think you’re going to find a pattern here:

Google

Google has a very successful ad program.  They found a way to position their ads everywhere the user shows interest.  Their ads are contextual, meaning if you are searching for how to clean a stain out of your carpet, you’re likely to see local carpet cleaning companies.  (What I don’t like is how they even extend this to Gmail and show ads targeted to the content of your email, but that’s a whole different blog post for another time.)

Facebook

Facebook also has an ad program, however they don’t quite have the contextual part down.  When is the last time you went to Facebook to research a product or service?  I’m not talking about checking out a company’s fan page, I am talking about general research.  Maybe I am strange, but I have never done it.  Yet, I always see ads on Facebook.  Rarely are they relevant, and for the most part I see them as a distraction and ignore them – but they make Facebook a lot of money.

Back to Pinterest..

Instead of using ads to drive Revenue, Pinterest recently came up with a different strategy:  Affiliate links.  What this means that is if you follow a link off of Pinterest and that link goes to an e-commerce site (or other site they have an affiliate relationship with) they quietly replace the original link with one that gives them a commission if you end up purchasing something while you’re there.

Let me go on record stating that I think this is incredibly smart on their part.  Instead of seeing annoying ads or popups that cheapen your experience, they found a way to monetize what is becoming a vary popular (and need I say again, free to use) service.  They make money while maintaining the integrity of the site, keeping it clean and simple (which is what we all like about it to begin with).

Affiliate links are a legitimate way to monetize your site and if you aren’t doing it yourself, you are missing out on revenue.

What I find interesting in the case of Pinterest, is that there is no disclosure of the practice, which is required of most sites by the FTC.  I don’t know if it is because Pinterest is considered “User submitted content” which gives them certain protection under the law.  I’m not a lawyer, but my understanding is once you modify “user submitted content” you lose that protection.  Does replacing an outbound link count as modification?

Bottom line is, I think it is smart what they are doing, but if anyone from Pinterest is reading this, I also think it would be smart to disclose it.. Somewhere, anywhere..  I read their terms of service, privacy policy, copyright notice and found nothing.  I don’t think most of their visitors will care in the least about the affiliate links, but there are some that feel NOT disclosing it is somehow a violation of their trust.  If the folks running Pinterest is as smart as I think they are, don’t be surprised if you see a disclosure soon.

What do you think about Pinterest using Affiliate marketing as a tool for monetization?  I look forward to your comments..

To get yours, just click on the activate offer link to the right and you will automatically be taken to the special offer on GoDaddy.com.

Special Note: When you visit the page, the certificates show the regular price ($69.99) but once you add them to your cart, the discount will be automatically applied.

Why would you want an SSL Certificate, even if your site is not an e-commerce site?
When soemone goes to the secure-version (using https:// instead of http://) depending on their internet browser, they will not only see the address bar change colors indicating that the connection is secure, but might also see a “key” or “padlock” icon as well.  You can add this extra assurance to your site by installing an SSL Certificate, so even if they are only submitting basic contact information, they know it is protected.

This is what Google has been pondering about Facebook for some time now.  On June 28th, they put months of speculation to rest and made it official by launching Google+.

Now that I have seen it firsthand, I can agree with other reports that it is a lot like Facebook.  It allows you to update your status, post pictures and share links like you are already used to.  Supposedly they are also some features that make it attractive to enterprise users as well.

So the question is this:  Can Google paint a picture pretty enough to lure people away from Facebook? In my experience, most people are simply creatures of habit and tend to shy away from things that require a lot of change or relearning.

With that said, I am willing to bet that as impressive as the service is, it’s definitely going to be an uphill climb for Google to pull this one off.  To their credit, however, they have built an empire on giving users exactly what they want.  The difference here though is that they are starting from scratch in an industry they have little experience in.  Needless to say, they have a ways to go.

If you remember it was just last summer when Facebook announced that the site had amassed 500 million members.  This officially gave them the bragging rights of being the  largest social media site in the world. While they haven’t released a more recent count, it is speculated that they are close to three-quarters of a billion users by now.

Social media has come a long way.  In the past year we’ve seen stories of the FBI using Facebook to catch wanted fugitives.  We’ve seen victims of tsunamis, tornadoes, and various other disasters reach out and use the likes of Twitter and Facebook as lifelines to their loved ones.. and that hardly scratches the surface.

In fact, every single day people log into Facebook and share intimate details of their latest beach trip, post videos of their silly pets, or upload pictures of their children in costumes.  People love Facebook.  It’s addicting.  It keeps families in touch.  It keeps friends in the loop.  It’s the king of social media.

With that said, it’s obvious why it’s going to be tough for Google to persuade people to add yet another website to their list of things to check each day.  I doubt, in the short term anyway, that people are going to want to do away with Facebook altogether for Google+.  It just doesn’t have enough critical mass yet.

That lack of critical mass is (if I had to name anything) the biggest handicap for Google.  As of now, the site is still in Beta and is invite-only.  I had to ask around to get invited and now that I am there, I am pretty much alone.  Who is going to sign up for Google+ when the site is practically empty? Social sites aren’t any fun without your friends and family.

With that being said, there is some hope for Google.. Remember not too long ago, MySpace was the best and most popular social networking site. For the record, yours truly was never a MySpace member, I thought is was for kids, but the fact remains they were the reining king.  Then along came Facebook and knocked it down, leaving behind only a shell.

I guess time will tell if people are going to have time or patience for yet another social network. But I will say this: If I had to name one company that has the talent (and money) to take Facebook head on, I’d put my money on Google.

There is one more thing about this too..  It is still early yet, but will Google Plus have an impact on SEO for businesses?  Some say yes, some say no, Google says little.  Time to start testing…

You have your audience. Now, it’s time to seize the moment and give them the information that they want.

Whether you’re going to post news and info about your company, request feedback, show off your industry knowledge, or just blog because it’s the new trend, one thing remains true:  Getting started is half the battle.

Here are some of the top questions clients ask us about how to run a blog for their business:

1. How long is it going to take me to blog?
You’re busy.  We get that.  We all are.  We’re constantly multitasking, and our time is in high demand. If you’re like me, everything you take part in comes at the cost of forfeiting something else.  My advice?  Whatever you do, don’t over-commit and take on more than you can handle.  Heck, start with even one post a month.  Mark it on the calendar to make it a real goal. If you realize that you’re able to blog more than that, then great. It’s better to amplify it and over-deliver.

2. How long am I signing up for this?
Blogging, just like anything else, is something you try.  It will either work for you or not.  Starting a blog doesn’t tie you to it forever.  I see a lot of folks simply never start because they are afraid of the burden it will cause.  Begin with an open mind, and keep doing it only as long as it works for you.  My bet is you will start to enjoy it.  However, if it ever gets to be a burden, all you have to do is just slow down, don’t post as often (or even take a little break).  With that being said, you should realize that blogs aren’t one of those ‘build it and they will come’ type of things. It takes a lot of time, dedication, and interesting content to form an audience. So, don’t give up on it too soon.

3. How long should I make my posts?
Blog posts don’t have to be long at all to be effective. Some of the most intriguing, influencing, and conversational posts don’t display everything to the people reading. In fact, the writer leaves some things open for a discussion and deliberation. I generally try to keep my  posts are between 500 to 1000 words — just long enough to get the readers interested, but not so long that it feels like you’ve picked up a copy of “Atlas Shrugged”.

4. Should I allow comments on my blog?
By all means, yes! Blogging is all about creating conversations. Just realize up front, you’re going to get a lot of spam and inappropriate comments mixed in with the real, valid stuff.  You will definitely want to moderate comments. After a little while, you will be able to tell the legit comments from the spam, and answer them appropriately.  If readers find a lot of questions but no answers, they will take it as a sign you don’t really care and lose interest in your blog.

5. Can’t I just have someone else write my posts?
In the beginning, Absolutely not!  Blogging is about communication.  People won’t connect with the business because of the blog, they connect with the person writing the blog.  Ghostwriting, unless done by someone who knows your business as well as you do, will almost always end you up having to explain something.  For instance, when a question comes in, the answer may be complicated. Who’s replying?  If it is a ghost writer, you can bet they won’t respond like you would.  What’s worse, they could just rely on info they find on the web that is incorrect, and if writing in your name could make you look incompetent.  If you decide to have someone else write for you, make sure that they write under their own name and really know the subject matter they are writing about.

The long and the short of it is this: Mozilla has shifting into a rapid release development cycle, which allows them to release top of the line features, enhanced performance, and security updates to Firefox users quicker than before.

This latest installment of Firefox contains over 1,000 improvements that makes it much more easier to locate and use all of the cutting edge features in the browser. The release also includes the support for more up to date Internet technologies, which will make it much easier for developers to create awesome add-ons for Firefox, as well as web applications and sites. (Shameless plug: MosierData can create Firefox extensions..)

The Firefox for Android app also has the Do Not Track privacy feature, which makes Mozilla Firefox the first web browser to a private browsing feature on multiple OS platforms. Mozilla made this privacy feature so they could be able to give their users more control over how their web browsing is tracked and used. Do Not Track, which allows Firefox users to opt-out of online tracking from websites, is now much easier to find in the browser’s preferences list.

Mozilla Firefox gives its users full reign over the way their browsers look and function with a gallery that contains hundreds of thousands of different add-ons. Around 85% of people who use Firefox 4 have at least one add-on that customizes their personal Firefox application.

Mozilla has an abundant collection of resources that makes it much simpler for the Web developers to make irresistible add-ons for Firefox using CSS, HTML, and JavaScript. Developers can now create add-ons for Firefox for all of the platforms that will install and update without restarting or delaying your browsing session.

Make sure you get the latest version! All you need to do is head over to Mozilla.com. Once there, just click on the link that says ‘check for update’ under the “About Firefox” section.

A study done by Forrester, an independent research company, shows that most online shoppers use the reviews made by other customers to help them decide whether or not to buy a product. When Forrester surveyed over 4,000 reviews on Amazon.com, they found that only 20% of the reviews were negative, but were actually the most useful and helpful to buyers. Even though this information came from one of the biggest online shopping sites around, some of these patterns may be the same smaller sites, in nearly any industry.

Online, reviews can develop a life of their own, whether they’re negative or positive. Because search engines index them, the reviews can show up when potential customers look up your services or products. In addition, many product review sites like Yelp have search abilities which make it easier to find both good and bad feedback on products.  Add in social networks like Twitter and Facebook, where users freely give their friends and followers a positive or negative review and it will affect your business.

As a responsible business owner, you need to be on top of dealing with your feedback. But how do you handle negative—and even irate—customers online? Here are five points that every entrepreneur needs to know.

The truth is, just like any other form of marketing, in order to get the most out of it you will want to invest plenty of time and employ a good strategy.

I cant tell you how many times I have seen small business owners jump right in and join all the social networks they can, start “friending” or “following” everyone they know (and a lot of others they don’t) then start sending out a rash of sales pitches, only to find themselves being ignored or blocked altogether from those same people they went out of their way to connect with.

We’ll start to post some more suggestions for social media going forward, but here is a great starting tip:  Figure out where your people are and which networks really can help you grow your business.  Then contribute.  Don’t try to sell.  Just try to help.

Also, make sure you set aside enough time for the networks that you sign up for.  I would say at least 15 minutes in both the morning and the afternoon to answer any questions or concerns across all of your networks.  Even as you answer questions – keep it on topic and keep the sales pitch to a minimum.  Of course you can pitch your service or product from time to time, but make sure it is on topic.  Remember – the trick to social media is to build relationships.

Until you can hire someone to manage your social networks for you, focus on whatever works best for you and manage your time wisely.  You will be surprised at how well the practice of “not selling” can actually help you increase sales.

During this week, business owners can view a free credit report at SmartBusinessReports.com/SmallBusinessWeek.  This is actually a pretty good deal since normally a business credit report will set you back about $99 bucks.  Also, until the end of May, business owners can also download a free ebook that offers tips on the importance of managing a healthy business credit profile.

The ebook is appropriately titled “What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You.”

Never to miss a marketing opportunity, Experian also announced a new program called “Pay it Forward.”  How it works is this:  Small business owners can recommend one another to this program, and each business referred will receive $250 in Experian small-business marketing services discounts. Some of the products you might use the credit for include purchasing consumer and business lists to help grow your business like new homeowner lists, new parents or new movers that could need your services or Experian’s direct mail and email campaign builders.

Some of the biggest “strengthening discoveries” (for lack of a better term) I encountered were during our first 4 years in business.  I could go into detail, but each of them basically amount to not setting proper expectations with customers.  If you’re a small business in today’s business climate, do yourself a favor and take a look at the expectations you set.  You may just find that the reason clients sometimes get upset with you is your own doing.

Here are a few examples from our own experience:

• Not enforcing change orders until it was too late.
  When we first started out in business, we inadvertently did more work for free than we we were paid for.  How did this happen?  Simple little changes.  It would always start with something seemingly minimal.  The big problem is that once you let the first one through, a precedent is set.  Sometimes, these “minimal” requests would cause us hours of retooling business logic because something was added as a “must have” criteria that was not part of the original scope of work.  We felt that we couldn’t charge the customer.. after all, we did the last one for free.  Trust me on this one, that is a load of crap.  If you do work based on specifications, and they suddenly change, even in the slightest, bring the change to your client’s attention along with a cost estimate.  One of two things will happen:  They will either approve the change or decide it wasn’t as important as they thought.  Either way, you don’t do extra work without getting paid for it.
• Not educating clients on all of the services we do.
  These were quite possibly some of the biggest “DUH!” moments we ever encountered.  Nothing makes you want to kick yourself than to have a client call you up and say something along the lines of “Hey, I am having {insert competitor name} work up an {insert product} for me and they need something from you.  Can you assist?”  In our first few years, we did a lot of “private label” work with a local graphic designer and I witnessed his clients do this time after time – for almost every service he offered.  For us however, we have in the past year stopped offering some services (more on this below) so it has been just as important for us to educate clients on what we DON’T do.

So, for our typical client, here are a couple of ideas you can use to make sure your customers are educated about what you do:

• If you are a service business, make sure you detail every aspect of the  service you provide.
  You live in your industry day in and day out, so you understand that certain things are “just part of the job” – but I’m willing to bet if you asked a random sample of 10 clients, at the most 3 of them will know what goes into doing your job.  This means that up to 70% may be taking your service for granted.  One easy way to accomplish this is by providing clients with a simple checklist that details every service you perform, no matter how minimal it may seem.
• If you sell a product, make a bold statement about its quality and stand by it.
  Letting your customers know how confident you are about your products is one of the easiest ways to build customer confidence.  Here are a few ways you can communicate the quality and value of your product: 
  • Explain care and cleaning instructions in detail along with why they are important
  • Make an easy return policy and make it prominent in the literature you deliver with your product
  • Make sure you highlight any special features or benefits your product has that competitors don’t

Our #1 piece of advice (and this is one we practice ourselves every day) is to put yourself on what we would call a continuous improvement cycle. We’re going to write a more detailed post on this later, but in a nutshell it amounts to this:

Challenge yourself daily.

That’s it.  It is beautiful in its simplicity, but it can create such a huge difference in your success.  It has for us.  2010 was our best year ever and 2011 is already on track to beat it.  What exactly did we do and what were the results?  That’s the detail that will come in the next post, so stay tuned.

The truth is (and I don’t mean to be ambiguous here) is: Maybe.

It really depends on how the URL shortener “forwards” your link.  There are two common ways, the “302: Found” method, and the “301: Moved” method.  The 301 and 302 are referring to the actual status code sent to your browser from the server.  Not trying to get too technical here, but there really isn’t no other way to explain it.

If the URL shortening service uses what is known as a “301″ redirect, (which most, including bit.ly and goo.gl do) then you have nothing to worry about.  The popularity of the link (known as the “link juice”) passes along to your page without issue. A 301 redirect is basically the same as filling a USPS change-of-address form when you move.  When someone clicks on the link, in the background, the server says “This page is now located somewhere else, please go there next time” and the “credit” for that link (much like your US Mail) gets forwarded to the new location.

A 302 redirect, however, is like simply putting a note on the door saying “Went to the store, be back later.”  The visitor still gets redirected to “the store” to find you, but the authority of that link stops at the door they knocked on and is where they will come back to find you next time.  I can’t tell you specifically what services still use a 302 but my advice would be stick with the ones above that are known to use 301′s.

So, in short – using a URL shortener will not affect SEO as long as the service uses a 301, or permanent, redirect.  One important thing to remember, however is that thanks to spammers, malware and sneaky marketers, some folks won’t click on a URL they recognize from a shortening service.  This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them, but in the spirit that is MosierData, it is worthwhile to test the response to your post/tweet/etc both ways and find out what works best for your business in your market.

Basically what RSS does is take your content, whether it be blog posts, property listings, vacation packages or {insert your niche here}, and make it accessible to both individuals with RSS readers as well as services that aggregate your content with others.  If you are wanting to syndicate anything other than blog content, it might take some custom development, but <shamelessplug>it just so happens we are experts at this and can have you up and running in no time.</shamelessplug>

Since we are on the subject, here are some interesting uses for RSS feeds we have created for our clients:

1. Delivering Documents To Customers
   With everyone worrying about phishing scams or viruses, placing company documents such as PDFs into an RSS feed is one way to deliver them to your clients while eliminating their fears.  RSS feeds are much more difficult to spoof than an e-mail address, and most of the time their browser or feed reader will downlaod and scan the document automatically.
2. Share your video and Media
   This method, usually referred to as “podcasting”, is still underutilized.  For practically nothing, you can record, edit and publish your audio and video content.  Couple that with the power of RSS and you can find yourself with an almost instant fan base.  Gone are the days of sending out emails to people inviting them to watch your latest video – announce it to them automatically.  Plus, if you happen to have your feed submitted to the iTunes store, subscribers will automatically download your latest content onto their iPods, iPhones and iPads.
3. Publishing and Promoting Specials or Promotions
   Most businesses at some point offer specials or promotions to their clients.  What’s an easier way to offer them than in an automated feed?  Truth be known, many sites simply take an RSS feed and republish it to create new content on their own sites.  If yours happens to be in the list, then your promotion gets syndicated all over the internet.
4. Posting Job Opportunities
   With everyone concerned about the economy, the job market has gotten smart. Gone are the days when folks depend on the local paper.. In fact, even the larger job sites are losing steam against folks googling a phrase such as “administrative assistant jobs in Florida”.  Again, thanks to the folks that download and aggregate that content, your chances of that job posting being found go up endlessly.
5. Publishing Status Updates
   This may not apply to you unless you run a software-as-a-service type company, but it works really well.  Basically if others depend on your product or service, an RSS feed is a great way to alert folks when you have problems.  (and trust me, EVERY company has problems from time to time – don’t kid yourself).   It doesn’t have to be anything fancy – in fact, I like and recommend the simple approach taken by 37Signals (makers of Basecamp, the program we use to manage projects) which you can see here.

These are just few ways that you can expand your business by using RSS feeds..  And this is just the tip of the iceberg.  If you can think of any ideas for promoting your business using this time-tested technology, please contact us.  No idea is too crazy or far fetched.  (Actually the crazy and far-fetched ideas are usually the most effective!

Stay up to date with savings on Network Solutions products and services. We keep this page updated with the latest and greatest network solutions offers, like these:

Verified Network Solutions Coupons and Network Solutions Offer Codes

We are happy to provide Offer Codes for saving money on your purchases with a Network Solutions Offer Code.  Once you activate an offer, it’s easy to use a Network Solutions Offer Code at checkout for instant savings.  To use them, simply add items to your cart, and click the “Redeem Offer Code” link at the lower right side of your total.  All of our codes are for Network Solutions Offer Code 2012.  Learn more about Network Solutions Offer Codes now..

Network Solutions has been providing solutions to the IT industry since 1979 – way before the Internet was opened to the public and made popular. In the corporate world, I used to hear the phrase “nobody ever got fired for buying IBM.” Well, in the context of domain names this same truth could be said about Network Solutions Coupons – they are the original registrar and remain the one of choice for most major businesses.

Their core business began with domain registration.  In 1993, they, won a contract from the National Science Foundation to manage the Internet Network Information Center (InterNIC).  At this time, the only way you could register a domain name was through Network Solutions. This is a position they enjoyed until 1998, when the ICANN was formed and domain registration was opened up to competition.  To this day, Network Solutions still remains one of the world’s largest registrars and still enjoys their position as the registrar of choice for most of the Fortune 1000.

Best Customer Service

They don’t remain a leader in the industry just because they were there first.  In fact, for 4 years in a row Network Solutions has been awarded the coveted J.D. Power and Associates award for providing outstanding customer service experience and in 2007, they received the American Business Award for their dedication to clients.

Much more than just domain names
Network Solutions is no longer just a domain registration company.  Although our Network Solutions Offer Code can save you 70% right away on domain name registrations, they also offer best-of-class services such as web hosting, email hosting, website design, security and e-commerce that are suitable for companies both large and small.

A Company That Cares
When it comes to corporate social responsibility and philanthropy, the company is known for its dedication to improve the conditions of the American communities through local charities where they have established a presence (in Missouri, Virginia, Pennsylvania). The company’s office in Argentina has also helped the local community by collecting and donating school supplies.

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Welcome to 2011!

I am excited to hit the ground running in this fresh new year and get to work with all of our clients and partners to take advantage of all the exciting opportunities coming our way.  Thanks to you, 2010 was MosierData’s best year ever, and we plan to make 2011 yours!

In fact, over here at MosierData we’ve adopted a fresh, new motto for this year, “Pushing Forward”.  I know, as far as motto’s go, it’s not as trendy or “sexy” as some, but in it’s simplicity it completely tells the story of what we are committed to doing.  Whether we are talking about increasing your competitive edge, improving your website conversion rates or just implementing that idea you’ve had in the back of your head, we’re dedicated to helping you get there sooner rather than later.

To kick off the new year and show our commitment to you, I am excited announce that MosierData now accepts American Express! In 2010 we asked many of you what would make doing business with MosierData easier for you.  Your answers came back clear and almost unanimous – and we listened.

While we have always accepted Visa, MasterCard and Discover – you told us you wanted your reward points from AmEx – so we made it happen:

Effective immediately, you can now use your American Express for your recurring hosting accounts as well as service invoices.  For hosting accounts, you can update your card information directly from our billing portal.  For clients who would like to charge their service invoices to AmEx, contact us for a new, updated credit card authorization form that can be used as a one-time payment or to instruct us to keep your card on file for future invoices, simply make your choice on the form and fax it to us.

In closing, I just want to thank you for doing business with us and I can’t wait to help you push YOUR business forward in the coming year!

MosierData is a unique web design, web development and internet marketing company.  We are located in beautiful Lakeland, FL and specialize in developing custom systems for businesses to achieve maximum results from their web sites.  We accomplish this using a proprietary mix of custom development, open-source customization and some proprietary strategies for capturing leads, systematically delivering quotes/sales material and automated marketing follow ups to your clients.  We aren’t the solution for everyone. Working with us generally requires a serious investment and delivers an impressive return.  When time permits, we do take on smaller projects.  For these, we have a web design pricing guide available, but you should always contact us to inquire about our availibility.

The web site features a completely new and completely customized CMS (Content management system), giving the staff of Southeastern complete control over the content of the site, while keeping it consistent with Barrett Creative’s innovative custom design.

Some of the NEW features of the site for 2011 include;

• New! See complete lineup of speakers from the past years
• New! Online sponsorship program.  Learn more about sponsoring the forum and register online
• New! Ability to pick your exact seat for certain ticket types, through seamless integration with a ticketing vendor
• New!  Seamless integration with WordPress, a popular blogging software, which powers the “News” section

We’re excited to show off our work on this amazing site, and proud to be affiliated with such a fine event!

See the site for yourself now:  http://www.seuleadershipforum.com

Get ready.. This is going to be one of my famous rants..

I took some time this weekend to thumb through the paper and take a look at the local companies who advertise there. I ran across a couple of companies (names withheld to protect the guilty) that run sizable ads – like quarter page or larger – that had previously contacted me saying they weren’t seeing the results they wanted from the web and wanted to know how we could improve their site.

What I think is funny is that in each case, the costs of everything I proposed to them (including an AdWords budget) would have cost less than $1,000 with me completely guaranteeing the results. In both cases, I was told no because of budgetary reasons, or that they didn’t feel the plan I proposed would work for “their business”.

It totally bewilders me how somebody who could spend hundreds, perhaps even thousands of dollars for an advertisement that runs one day, but won’t even give a second though to investing a few bucks into improving their website so that it targets their ideal client, weeds out unqualified or undesirable clients, and compels a direct response from the visitors, which generates leads and sales at virtually no cost.

Guess what, mystery companies Y & Z: You’re about to start hearing from me a lot more.. and here’s why: You are my perfect client. It isn’t because I think you have a bad website (actually, one of them is VERY nice).. It’s simply because you appear to have never seen success from your sites.

Experience is a great teacher, and it has taught me that even though many times I have to drag the customer kicking and screaming, once they actually start receiving results from their website their entire outlook changes. Not just their outlook, but their bottom line as well. We don’t get in there and try to recommend technology just for the sake of recommending technology. We focus on your goals and what it takes to get there.

We also teach you how to measure your results. Most of the time, this is the one thing that our competition leaves out. Sure you can have a great looking web site, but do people buy? Do they sign up for more info? If you are advertising online, what ads are they clicking on?

If you don’t know the answers to those questions. Don’t worry, you will. Don’t get caught up in the mindset where you think that your business is somehow different. We can work with every business and every industry and I guarantee you, we will find a way to make your website more profitable.

As for companies Y & Z.. I have a strange feeling you will see their success stories here soon.

Thanks for your time!

Now, let me ask you this:

Have you ever been rowdy and happy-go-lucky before?

Have you ever had a picture taken of you doing something that now you or anyone else would consider inappropriate ?

How about written something and wishing you wouldn’t have just after hitting the “send” or “post” button?

Don’t be ashamed.  I have done it too.

Now, have you ever turned white when you found out that your picture, email/post (or worse, your personal information) was shared with everyone in the world via the web? Whether done deliberately or inadvertently, by you or somebody you know, THEY DO. Things like these can find their way to the Web.

The part that sucks is that even things that aren’t true can creep up.  I know you think it’s far fetched to think that people might simply make up things that can harm your reputation.  You’re probably telling yourself it might not matter, the truth is the truth..  Well think again.

Now, you don’t have to click on that link just yet – bear with me a few more minutes.

But I don’t have anything like that out there..

Ok, so maybe you’re sure that you don’t have anything on the Web that can ruin your reputation. Here is another angle..  From the statistics mentioned in my last post, the chances of you applying for a new job or going out on an online date are quite high.

Let me put it this way.. When you want to find a job or when you want to know more about a person, what do you do? You’d probably Google away. Don’t you think a potential employer or date would do that on you as well?

If you’ve got nothing to hide, then maybe you shouldn’t be worried, but wouldn’t you like to be absolutely sure?  After all, we are in the midst of the Web 2.0 awakening, where information spreads so fast in all directions.

Times have changed, and new technologies pop up everyday to make searches more precise and locating information that much easier.  If you’re want to see what you or your family’s “Web footprint” looks like, then you might want to check out ReputationDefender.com. They’ve taken the task of working to defend, clean, or straighten your reputation online.

If you have a teenager, remember that all it takes is a little peer pressure, a click on a video-enabled phone, a quick upload to You Tube, and voila, instant video – viewable to all. The truth is, there are quite a number of video sharing sites out there, and there is no way you can track every one of them. Reputation Defender has a product that can take care of that problem for you.

Remember the film that catapulted Sandra Bullock to fame? (Yes, I’m talking about The Net, not Miss Congeniality..)  Well, what happened to her has been happening to many people all over the world, especially here in the US. Identity theft is no longer a product of Hollywood concoctions. Data brokers like Intelius, Yahoo!, People Search, and 411.com often list private information on public websites, and this has become a gold mine for identity thieves.

Reputation Defender’s solution to this is a product called MyReputation.  They comb the web for your personal information, collating these information along with the sites that display them, and providing you with an interface that allows you to remove whatever information you’d like to keep private.  Literally, it’s as if you have your own personal online reputation manager to ensure that your reputation on the Web closely approximates the image that you would like to project online.

Web 2.0 is one vibrant world to step in. It’s probably where we’re all headed, so it’s good to know that there’s hope to keep the one thing that we want to hold intact… our reputation.

One of the things that her and I talked about early on was my absolute need for privacy.   Being in the tech field, I have seen a lot of people get “screwed” by their own careless misuse of technology.  I am talking about people being fired over things they said in an online forum or sued over the content of a supposedly “private” email.  

I think that one of the main reasons I was initially reluctant to try out Tina’s Web 2.0 marketing strategies go back to some of the battles I had to go through with my stepdaughters over their use of MySpace.  Out of respect for their privacy, I won’t get into details here but let’s just say the old saying “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink” is definitely true when it comes to teenagers.  I wish I had a service back then like MyChild From ReputationDefender.  It all worked out though in the end – although they had some issues (and even got busted by us for some things they bragged about) they learned their lessons the hard way and are “responsible” myspace users now.

So, it seems that with all this attention to Web 2.0, we are slipping into a way of communicating that is making it more difficult to draw a clear line that separates your Web life from your real one.  

While this can be a good thing.. Allowing you to connect with new-found friends and re-connect with old ones.. Letting your own voice be heard by an audience that can go from a handful to a thousand in a few hours.. Even giving you the chance to promote yourself and share your life..  It could also be costly.

Before I elaborate, here are a few stats:

• 50 Million Americans change jobs each year
• 20 Million Americans are dating online
• 64% of teens say they do things online that they wouldn’t want their parents to know about. 
• 53% of American adults use search engines to find information about each other
• 77% of executive recruiters use search engines to research applicants
• 26% of college admissions officers use search engines to research candidates

Now add in some stats about the top sites on the ‘net.  As of Nov 18, 2008, among the top 10 sites at Alexa, are:

• Youtube.com # 3
• Facebook.com # 5
• Myspace.com # 7
• Wikipedia.org # 8
• Blogger.com # 9

That just covers some of the video sharing, social networking, wiki, and blogging sites. Also in the top 10 are the following four search engines:

• Yahoo.com #1
• Google.com #2
• Live.com #4
• Yahoo.co.jp #10

What you get when you combine all of these statistics together is that there is an unprecedented rise in the desire to inform and to be informed.  Not only that, but it can be done so easily now.  I’m even willing to bet that right now, you probably have an open tab on your browser that is running at least one of, or one that is closely related to, the sites I mentioned above.

Am I right?

In my next article, I am going to go into some more specifics about my concerns with Web 2.0 and social networking.  I am also going to talk about how you can “do” social media while keeping your online “footprint” strictly in check.  We’ll also talk about how services like ReputationDefender can help.

As many of you know, I have been known to buy a house or two in my time for investment purposes. As such, I am a member of a Real Estate Investors Association. During our meetings, new investors who are trying to build up a list of contacts are always asking for cards or passing out email list sign-up forms. I have no problem at all with this practice as I think it is a great way to build a network.. However, where I am going with this is that there should be some certification required before people are allowed to send out a message with over just a few recipients. ESPECIALLY if it is a marketing message.

Let me phrase it differently: Putting a group of recipients that don’t know each other in the “TO:” box of a message instead of the “BCC:” box of a message should be a crime. This is one of my biggest pet peeves – ever – and it seems there is always a new batch of nitwits that don’t have the common sense to figure it out. I mean, really, it’s bad enough that every time I buy a product online I have to search the page for that conveniently pre-checked box that subscribes me to another newsletter that I don’t want.. Why should I have to be constantly replying to people and explaining to them that there are some simple rules you should follow, out of common courtesy, when sending an email.

SO:

I have come up with what I think could be a polite, but effective way to curb this. Instead of replying with my normal, canned response, I have come up with a new response. Here it is:

Dear Friend,

Thank you for your message, but I think you might have have broken one of the rules.

Please visit: http://www.pleaselearntherules.com/

Thank you and regards.

Yes, as you may have guessed, I also created the Please Learn The Rules web site. Now before you go on ranting about how much time I must have on my hands, consider that I have about a half hour in putting that site online (most of which was re-wording the text several times so people don’t get offended). Then think of how much time it takes to skim through 40 or 50 emails a day that you have no interest in, just to find out you have no interest in them. In that respect, you could say I did it for the benefit of everyone.

Feel free to send along any rule-breakers you come across to the site also. Let’s take back our inboxes and spread the word!

Thanks for your time.

I am sure you heard of the “bargain” companies that offer a “free domain name” with their hosting services. The catch is that when you try to leave, you find that you never really owned your domain at all and you can’t take it with you. This little trick has been around for a while now, and I would hope that anyone reading this would smell this scheme from a mile away and steer clear of it.

Well that’s not really what happened here, but the end result is the same, and in this case leaves me scratching my head. You see in this case, my friend/client is the legal registrant of the domain but still seems to be powerless to change the contacts and/or transfer it to another registrar.

Before I go too far, (and sorry for making an example out of you, {name removed for privacy}) I just want to make one statement to anyone who did not register their own domain name: GET YOUR DOMAIN NAME UNDER YOUR NAME AND CONTROL, NOW! I don’t care who registered it for you if it was a web developer, your “computer guy” or even uncle Fred.

Here is the story: This particular client purchased a highly customized version of my Premier Sites database system. At the time, a quick WHOIS showed me that his “computer guy” owned his domain. I mentioned to him that he should get it put in his name – and he did – or so he thought.

Here we are over a year later and we determine we need to make some changes to his nameserver records. No big deal, right? Well, as it turns out, even though he is the “registrant” of the domain, all of the “contacts” for the domain remained as his computer guy. 

It just so happens that at the same time there is some billing disagreement between them and the computer guy basically refuses to make any changes.. or.. get this.. even approve a transfer to another registrar.

Obviously your first thought is “Well, let’s just write a little letter and get it changed. After all, I *AM* the registrant, right?” Wrong.

Interestingly enough – guess who the registrar is? You guessed it. The computer guy. He is part of some domain reseller program, who, when calling the “parent” company listens quietly to your request then tells you contact your reseller.

Gee, thanks.

Will he get his domain back? Yes – but it will be a potentially nasty fight. You see ICANN has rules about people hijacking domains, but they are all geared towards someone who takes someone else’s trademark and tries to sell it back to them. In this case, the client is even the legal registrant – so none of the normal ICANN rules apply.

Fortunately, the client and I have identified a couple of options, although neither are particularly attractive, he WILL get his domain back.. eventually.

I will do my best to keep all of you that are interested updated on the outcome of this – but please, Please, PLEASE – I am BEGGING you – Check the ownership and Administrative contact for your domain names and make sure it is YOU.

Sorry for the rant, but I hope it saves you some money and frustration in the future.

Thanks for your time.

If you have been reading this for any length of time, you know that I always talk about how much better it is to hire an expert to help with your information systems strategy. My big argument is usually that many people don’t realize that the value in what I do. It definitely isn’t a commodity, and while raw talent has a little to do with it, my real strength is a combination of loving what I do, a lot practice and the embarrassment of a few failures along the way to give me solid experience.

One of my hobbies is playing the guitar. I am not very good at it, but I enjoy trying. I was in Guitar Center today to buy some strings and for some reason decided to wander into the little room where they have all the real expensive guitars. I saw a guy in there just whaling away on a guitar. I sat there for a few minutes and watched in awe as I was trying to think of what kind of guitar it had to be to sound that good.

When he finished I talked to him for a couple of minutes and found out a couple of things that shocked me. The guitar he was playing was a $149 Yamaha model and the song he was playing that had me so hooked was an original. 

Meaning it as a compliment, I told him I would give half my life to play like that. Without blinking he looked up at me and said “Yeah, well that’s pretty much what it took, dude.”

What an excellent way to put it. I hope I get a chance to use that line in the future with regard to my profession.

That’s it for today. Just wanted to share this. Thanks for your time.

The initial response I usually get to that question when I ask it in person is, “What do you mean ‘what it does for me’? It’s just a website.” Sometimes people will tell me that they’re getting however many hits a day or month and others still will tell me how proud they are of the job their brother/sister/cousin/uncle/etc did for free.

What most people don’t know is why I ask the question the way I do. Many assume that my follow up to either of the above answers is some sort of sales pitch to sell them a website. That assumption is dead wrong. I sort of consider it a pre-qualification question. Experience has shown me that people who see a website as an online brochure or some other static existence where the success is measured in “hits” are not my target customer. When I receive one of these answers, I generally change the subject, and, if I’m lucky, the other party in the conversation never figures out what I do for a living.

So, with that being the case, what is the answer I look for? I am looking for the one person out of 30 that responds by telling me how much money their web site is making them. These are the people I can help. Their feet are already wet, they have gotten a taste of business on the web and are generally hungry for more. I am always excited to continue the conversation when it heads this direction. Even more so if they begin to tell me about what they have vs. what they want or list some of the things they wish their site did that they don’t think is possible.

Interestingly enough, the reason I love talking to folks about how to make their business more successful on the web isn’t because I own a web business and am trying to make a sale. I mean, yes, I have to make a living and all, but the real reason is simple: I love creating solutions. It’s a passion I first experienced in the 80′s when I wrote a management system for a Door and Window company on group of Commodore 128 computers sharing a central hard drive… That particular solution in and of itself is a testament to my creativity – and over the last 20 years I have only gotten better. 

Anyway, I need to run for now, but if you are one of those folks that are hungry for doing more with the web, give us a call and lets talk. I promise, no sales pitches and no pressure. Let’s just see if we can come up with some ideas that fit your business. Thanks for your time.

The topic: LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS!

Your customers will tell you what they want – but most of the time they won’t make you listen to them. One of the things that I always try to help my clients do is find ways to measure the wants and needs of their customers. Not just the customers you like and maybe have a chummy relationship with, but even those that you might feel are a little more of a pain to deal with. Have you ever given thought to why they might be a pain in the first place? Usually they will tell you.

In his book The Magic of Thinking Big, David Schwartz tells us that Big people monopolize the listening and small people monopolize the talking. In all of my reading, I have found listening to your customer to be one of the most common qualities that all marjor business success stories have in common.

In all this talk about listening, I keep talking about your customers. I’m not talking about just your current customers, although that’s a good start. You should also look into capturing the opinions of customers that decide not to do business with you. Even better, find out what happened to those customers who have done business with you before but don’t anymore. You might think you know the answer already, but ask anyway. I have found that many times people are surprised at what they find!

Another strategy is to talk to the folks that are on the front lines with the customer like your delivery driver, customer service rep or salesperson – find out what they think – get their opinion on how you’re doing as well. Make it anonymous if you want – you are looking for honesty not praise here. Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart once flew his aircraft to Mt. Pleasant, Texas and parked it with instructions to the copilot to meet him 100 or so miles down the road. He then flagged down a Wal-Mart semi-truck and rode the rest of the way to “chat with the driver.” When asked about it, he said that it “seemed like so much fun” and that he had learned much. 

In business today, you have the ability to collect and process an enormous amount of information. Perhaps I should rephrase that – you have always had the ability to collect the information – but through a strong systems strategy, you have the ability to store, organize, search and act upon the information you collect. Customer feedback is a crucial part of this cycle. Why do you think that just about any time you buy something online these days you get a questionairre in your email a few days later? 

Think about it.

What I mean by “balanced view” is that we always look at the problem or business need and build the solution, not just to fix the problem or address the need, but to seamlessly “flow” into the other activities of the business. I know, it sounds like a lot of marketing crap, so let me try to recite the story for you:

A man was walking past a building site when he saw a couple of workers breaking granite. He walked over to them and asked one worker, “What are you doing?” and the guy replied “I’m trying to break this granite.” So he goes to the other one and asks the same question. The second guy, however replied “I’m on a team of people and we’re building a cathedral.”

The point I am trying to make is that to the common development firm, technology solutions are a commodity. It’s a couple dozen lines of code spit out that accomplishes the task they are given. In other words, they’re just breaking the granite – without any regard to how the granite fits into the overall plan for the cathedral.

Is that they guy you want creating your solution? One that can’t see past the task at hand? Maybe you would – but personally, I like the idea of the second guy. He has the bigger picture in mind. He’s a team member – not a consultant, not a vendor – but a true partner. He’s an expert that looks at the overall plans of the cathedral and not only breaks the granite for you – but will also help you decide whether you need Biotite-granite, Hornblende-granite or Tourmaline-granite. He will explain to you the diffences in composition and color and match them up with the colors you’re putting on your walls, etc. You get the idea.

Just as hiring a granite expert gives you the perfect granite for your construction job, a good solution architect will look at your overall systems strategy (and if you don’t have one, will recommend you get one!) and develop the solution that is best for your business – over and above the task at hand. Besides, what good is a system that you have to go out of your way to use? How satisfied do you think you will be with a “solution” that automates one function but creates 3 more manual processes in it’s wake?

I know, a lot of people don’t think about that kind of stuff. Fortunately for you though, I do. Don’t get me wrong – I didn’t always – Believe me, I have learned plenty from that school of hard knocks – that’s why experience so important in this field.

As usual, thanks for your time.

If you haven’t checked out the web site today, you might want to take a quick peek. It’s changed. 

A lot.

I have been in need of cleaning some things up, removing services that I no longer offer, etc, and kept putting it off under the notion that client projects had to take priority.

As you know the old saying, carpe diem, I took the opportunity while most of my clients were off work and closed down through the holidays to go ahead and put the last few polishing touches needed to make the site live.

It’s still a work in progress. I want to completely update the Products area to put more information up about PowerHelm and Premier Sites, but it will have to wait for a couple more weeks.

Anyway, my personal goal was to have the site up on New Years Day, I managed to make it happen.. A day early none the less!

If this is an indication of how 2008 is going to be for Mosier Information Services, well, all I can say is “Watch Out, Here we come!”

I hope that everyone reading this is having a wonderful day! If you don’t celebrate Christmas then please replace the word Christmas with whatever your December holiday is called and I truly hope it is your happiest and most joyful one yet!

(PS – Stay tuned to this channel, I have a feeling you’re going to see some big changes toMosierData.com somewhere around the first!)