Adventures of a New Business Owner Blog

Small business security – Working with vendors

ISO 27001 Data Security, Small Business Tips No Responses »

Feb 072012

In a previous blog post, I linked to an article where I was quoted discussing some security considerations of working with service providers. In this blog post, I am going to cover this topic in more detail. Many small businesses rely heavily on vendors and service providers for a variety of reasons such as cost reductions and enhanced resources so it is important that you take the time to evaluate third parties for a variety of security and business reasons.

Vendor security considerations

Here is a general list of considerations for evaluating vendors and follow-up questions once you are working with them.

Is the vendor available when needed, and do they provide timely and correct results (check references)?
If the vendor is hosting your data (eg. cloud hosting vendor), what type of security/physical and environmental protections do they offer? Also what responsiblities do they have per their service agreement to protect your data? For example do they provide encryption?
What is their support and escalation policy as well as the hours available?
Do they have a Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery Plan(BCP/DR)?
How is service interruption defined, and what is the vendor responsibility to follow-up?
Can the vendor meet your demand if you experience rapid growth?
Do they have performance guarantees?
Is there a confidentiality agreement?
If there is a contract, what does it say about early termination, pricing changes, renewals, etc.?

Review these questions with your vendor as part of your evaluation and as an ongoing evaluation even after you are doing business. It is also important to keep a list of your service providers in addition to key contact information. Consider this as part of your own BCP/DR plan. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post below.

Starting or updating an SEO campaign – Ask yourself these questions

Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Small Business Tips No Responses »

Jan 122012

In my article, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – How to Improve Your Rankings, I covered several different areas you should focus on to improve your search engine ranking results, but one of the areas I do not touch on is the planning stages. In this blog post I am going to cover several questions you should ask yourself before you either start or change your search engine optimization (SEO) program for your small business.

1. What is your goal and strategy? Obviously you would like to increase your rankings, but in what areas specifically? Who is your target market? Do you want to target highly competitive keyword phrases? If so what other search phrases could you possibly target? How are people finding your website and your competitor’s websites currently? What are people searching for, and how are they navigating once they are on your website? How do you match-up with your competitor’s websites, and what are they currently doing from an SEO perspective? Do you want to increase sales, sign-up people to your newsletter and/or blog, provide product and service information to potential clients, etc?

All of these questions are very important to consider in developing your goals and strategy. But let’s just take a look at the questions I listed targeting keyword phrases. You are going to want to target keywords you already know apply to your business, but the keywords you are targeting might not be the same ones your potential customer base is using. So your first step will be to determine your targeted keyword phrases and then perform a keyword analysis to determine what other keywords your potential customers are searching for as well.

2. What has your SEO strategy been up until this point? Maybe you have done nothing. But in many cases small businesses have tried some type of SEO plan such as purchasing keyword phrases (pay per clicks), swapping links with other websites, “optimizing” your website, etc. If you have tried some type of SEO, then what have been the results? Have you followed your search engine rankings? Have you used any analytics tools like WebTrends, Quantcast, or Google Analytics to monitor your website and rankings? Have you done anything to drastically lower your website rankings or get your website banned from a search engine? Do you own other websites where you might be swapping links, redirecting urls, or have duplicate content?

It is important to understand what you have already done and what worked and did not work. Of course SEO is always changing because search engines are always changing their algorithms, but there are sound strategies you can always pursue like offering strong content.

3. Do you have a social marketing presence and/or strategy? What social networking websites are you currently using? Are they linked from/to your website? Do you have a blog? Do you offer content on your website along with a method to allow your website users to share with their social networks (see the social share buttons below this post)?

If you do not already have a social marketing presence for your small business, it is important you begin to dip your toes in the water. Besides the fact that many potential customers are already online discussing and researching products and/or services you offer, social marketing is playing a larger and larger role in search engine optimization and rankings. A simple strategy to consider is to think of your website as your marketing brochure, and your social marketing network as your way to interact directly with potential and existing customers.

Review these questions before starting or changing your SEO campaign, and you will be well on your way to developing a successful SEO campaign. And as always if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to comment below.

Recent data security article where I was quoted

ISO 27001 Data Security, Small Business News, Small Business Tips No Responses »

Jan 052012

This data security article appeared in the December 2011 issue of Counselor magazine. The article, Strengthen Data Security, offers several tips on how businesses can improve their data security. Several data security experts are quoted, and since I happen to be one of them, and it is an excellent article offering good advice, I wanted to post it for my blog readers.

Just click on the following image to read the article in PDF format, and as always if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to comment below.

Social media networks add some enhancements: LinkedIn and YouTube

Small Business Tips, Social Marketing (Web 2.0) No Responses »

Dec 162011

Recently LinkedIn and YouTube have made some enhancements that will be beneficial to your small business social marketing program.

LinkedIn Events

LinkedIn has recently revamped their Events tool, and you can use the tool to search for events to attend or to post events your company will be hosting. You can search for events via subject, location, industry, etc. If you are posting an event you are hosting, remember to be specific and add all the details. In addition you should promote via LinkedIn, other social marketing networks, and your traditional marketing avenues.

LinkedIn Improve Your Profile

LinkedIn has always been strong about encouraging you to update and add to your profile, and I covered Creating Your LinkedIn profile in depth in my LinkedIn Tutorial article. LinkedIn now provides a link to Improve Your Profile, and you will be prompted to do such items like Update your education, Add your skills, and Appear in keyword searches. In addition check out the beta Skills section under More in the top navigation bar on LinkedIn. You can search all content on LinkedIn for specific skills.

YouTube Adds Analytics

YouTube has added analytics, and there are several features available.

A Quick Overview: A new overview provides all of the information that you care about quickly, while also enabling you to easily access more detailed information.
More Detailed Reports: Analytics now includes more detailed statistics so that you can have a more precise understanding of your content and audiences.
Audience Builders: Discover which videos are driving the most views and subscriptions.
Audience Retention: See how far viewers are watching through your video in the new audience retention report.

Check out the YouTube Analytics page for in-depth details.

And if you are using some new social networking tools that are benefiting your small business, please feel free to post in the comments below.

Small business data security – Network Admin

ISO 27001 Data Security, Small Business Tips No Responses »

Dec 062011

Even the smallest of small businesses will generally have some type of network so it is imperative you take steps to secure your network. I covered network administration data security procedures in my 5 Step Data Security Plan for Small Businesses article, but in this blog post I am going to dive a little deeper. Depending on the size of your small business, you may find all or just a few of these tips helpful, and even if you use a third party to administer your network, you can review these security procedures with them.

Network Design – In order to ensure you are properly securing your network, the first step you should take is to create a network design. There are an abundant amount of software programs on the market that will automatically crawl your LAN or WAN and generate a network map. Just do a search for network mapping software, and find a package that fits your budget. Some key things to look for are mapping of Layer 2 and 3 topology data, automatic detection of network changes, and the ability to inventory and manage your hardware and software assets.
Network firewall and vulnerability scanning – You should ensure your network connection points are protected via a firewall, and you should routinely scan your firewall for vulnerabilities. OpenVAS is a free scanning software. In addition you should make sure your firewall is updated with security patches and upgrades.
Network Access Rights and Controls – I covered network access rights and controls in this blog post.
Monitoring of Logs – Your network admin (either internal or third party) should monitor your network logs at least on a monthly basis to look for any unusual events such as intrustion attempts or abnormal employee usage.
Network Backup – One of the most important steps you take to secure your small business network is to back it up on a regular basis (at least weekly and depending on the volume of data you generate possibly daily). Depending on the size of your data backup, there are several backup options available to you such as flash drives, hard drive, cloud backup, redundant server, tape, etc. The most important things to remember are to setup a regular backup schedule, move your backup offsite to a safe location, and periodically check your backups to ensure you can restore the data.
Remote access and mobile computing – Do you have employees that access your network remotely? If so you should ensure they connect to your network via a secure connection such as VPN. The connection should also have a time-out period if there is any inactivity. Devices used to connect remotely to your network should have firewalls, up-to-date anti-virus software, are password protected, and offer you the ability to remotely disable data devices, like mobile phones, if they are lost or stolen.
Antivirus – All devices used to connect to the network should have up-to-date antivirus software installed.
Disposal of IT equipment – Whenever you replace IT equipment that holds data, you should ensure the devices are forensically wiped. There are several data wiping options available on the market, and you can also physically destroy the device if you are not recycling it.

Follow these steps that apply to your small business, and you will be well on your way to protecting your network. And if you have any questions, please fell free to post in the comments below.

Google gives a little peak under the hood as they disclose some search algorithms

Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Small Business Tips No Responses »

Nov 172011

Google recently released a blog post and video detailing ten recent search algorithms. Now just to be clear, Google is not doing this to be nice and help you understand their system better. They are facing an antitrust investigation among other things. Of course this disclosure is just a small sampling (10 of 500+ changes) so it is not going to allow you to jump to the top of the search engine results, but it will give a better idea of what Google is looking for when crawling and reviewing websites.

Here is a quick review of some of the more relevant items.

Google is more likely to choose text from the page content, and less likely to use text that is part of a header or menu. Honestly this is nothing new.
They are putting more relevance on titles specific to the page content instead of boilerplate links with duplicate anchor text. Anchor text in links has slowly been losing relevancy over the years as people abused anchor text links. Ideally you should still concentrate on both as they make for a better user experience.
Providing fresher more recent results. A lot of this has to do with the loss of the agreement with Twitter in addition to trying to compete with the fresh news and content provided by social networks like Twitter, Facebook, etc. Either way this is a win-win for businesses who provide fresh content and news on a regular basis.

And to learn more follow the link in my opening paragraph.

Small business social marketing strategy

Small Business Tips, Social Marketing (Web 2.0) No Responses »

Nov 112011

In my last blog post, I provided some tips to help you manage your small business social marketing campaign. In today’s blog post, I would like to take a step back and discuss some tips for putting a small business social marketing strategy in place. Small businesses who have not started a social marketing program or who are just starting out with social marketing will find this post to be informative.

The first thing you will want to do is to determine your objectives for your social marketing strategy.

Who are you going to target?
What are you going to market and talk about on social networking websites?
Where and how are you going to market to your target audience?
Do you want to increase your sales? Do you want to increase your leads? Do you want to increase your website traffic?

Clarification: If you have read any of my previous blog posts, you will know that when I use the term “market” above, I am actually referring to engaging your targeting audience with tips and advice. I always advise that you use your website for marketing your products and services, and use your social networking to offer tips, advice, etc. Of course you can and should link back to your products and services on your website, but I generally advise you to keep the hard marketing to 10 – 20% of your overall social marketing strategy.

Research

When you are working on your objectives, you of course want to do a little research.

Review some social networking sites to see what your target audience is discussing.
Perform a keyword analysis to see what your target audience is searching for online. Review search engines as well as social networking websites.
See what your competitors are doing.

Implementing your Social Marketing Strategy

Once you have completed your research and objectives, you will want to begin implementing your social marketing strategy.

Keep it simple – I always advise clients to keep it simple initially. Pick one or two social networking websites, and become an expert on these sites. For example if your target audience is B2B, consider starting a blog (tips here and here) and using LinkedIn.
How often will you engage your target audience? Determine an engagement schedule that allows you to consistently provide social marketing content. For example 1 – 2 blog posts each week. And 1 – 2 updates on any other social networking websites you have chosen.
Set aside some time to monitor social networking websites to see if your target market is discussing your business, your competitors, or just general topics in your market.
Determine how you are going to convert your marketing efforts into actual sales results. For example are you going to allow your customers to sign up to your blog for ongoing marketing? Are you going to offer freebies? How will your social marketing strategy fit into your existing sales channel? Who will follow-up with leads?
Measure your social marketing analytics, and track your progress to see what is working and what is not. You can find more analytics tips here and here.

Follow these steps, and you can develop a social marketing strategy that will deliver results. And if you have any tips to share, please feel free to do so in the comments below.

Some tips for managing a small business social marketing campaign

Small Business Tips, Social Marketing (Web 2.0) No Responses »

Nov 022011

Disclaimer: I have not been practicing what I preach. Work has been steadily growing for me, which is a great thing, but it also leaves me little time for working on other business necessities like my social marketing campaigns. For example when I first started my business, I was doing 4 – 5 blog posts each week. I eventually decreased this to twice each week, but in the last month, I have only created one blog post. In addition I have linked my blog to LinkedIn and Twitter so as a result I am producing very little activity on these social networking websites.

So here are some tips to help you manage your social marketing campaigns, and hopefully I will take my own advice.

I basically have to say the first tip, even though it is a no-brainer. You have to dedicate some time to your social marketing campaign. Well like I said, no duh, but at least I can share some ways that help me get it done. Calendar reminders. I find some calendar reminders to be annoying, but I will let them keep dinging on my computer until I finally complete the task. Or I just dedicate some time each day or week and stick to it. And finally I will put together a list of topics in advance, and try to write some starting content around each topic.
Link your social marketing accounts so when you update one, it automatically updates other social marketing network. Disclaimer: If your small business has a dedicated marketing person, then I do not always recommend this method just because a certain amount of personalization is required on social networking sites. But if you are a small business owner doing it yourself like I am, then you can link your blog to Twitter via a program like Google Feedburner. I also link my blog and Twitter accounts to my LinkedIn account so when I make an entry on my blog or Twitter, it shows up in my Update activity on LinkedIn.
Use social media dashboards to manage your social media accounts. Dashboards like HootSuite, OnlyWire, and TweetDeck, allow you to manage your social marketing accounts and sometimes multiple accounts. For example with OnlyWire, you can create a blog post and submit it to multiple social networking websites with the click of a button.
Do not overdo it. Stick to only 1 or 2 social marketing networks until you have mastered them, and then move to other networks. For example if you are business to business, then consider a blog and LinkedIn.
Engagement – Create a small network and engage with them on their social networks and vice versa. The key to remember here is to provide meaningful content engagement and avoid spam. If you are not providing value, then do not do it.
See what your clients are doing in their social works so you can determine the most effective ways to interact with them. Gist is a good tool for putting all your social networking contacts in one place so you can monitor them more effectively.
Analytics – Review your social networking analytics to see what is working and where you need to maximize your efforts. Twitter is releasing a web analytics tool, or use Google Analytics to montior your blog traffic. Argyle Social is another good tool.

So quite honestly even though I have provided you with some good tips to help you manage your small business social marketing campaign, even the tips can be overwhelming. Once again pick one or two items, and master them first before expanding into other areas. If you have any tips to offer for managing your social marketing campaign, please feel free to share in the comments below.

SharePoint security

ISO 27001 Data Security, Small Business Tips No Responses »

Oct 202011

Many small businesses are beginning to use Microsoft SharePoint for document management, and just like any other enterprise application, security should be a major consideration. In this blog post I will be providing some basic security concepts you should consider if you are using SharePoint.

If you are hosting SharePoint on an internal server/PC, you should manage it just as you would any other internally hosted application. Test it before putting it in use, keep it behind the firewall, set it for security updates, use antivirus on the server, use host based intrustion prevention (HIPS), and server traffic encryption (HTTPS).
User access and privileges – Just as you setup user access privileges on your network, since SharePoint is generally used as a document repository, you need to setup access privileges using the Active Directory. For example you would not want salespeople to be able to access financial documents stored on SharePoint. The same would apply for SharePoint database access. Note: Within the SharePoint framework, you give users the authority to grant privileges as well so this should be monitored and audited to make sure access granted access privileges adhere to your internal policy.
Just as you would monitor and audit any other applications, you need to add SharePoint to your Access Control Audit rotation so if an employee is no longer with the company, you verify they have been removed from the system. In addition you check to make sure everyone has the correct access priviliges within SharePoint.
Internal hosting – All the info within SharePoint is stored on a separate SQL Server database. In order to minimize threats, it is a good idea to host SharePoint and the SQL database on separate servers. Although this can be more costly, small businesses will generally not require a robust server for internal hosting so you are able to keep costs lower. The small added cost is worth it to minimize the threat potential of hosting both applications on the same server.

My blog post only covers some basic security considerations. Microsoft provides an excellent online security resource so make sure whomever is performing the installation (internal network admin or 3rd party) familiarizes themselves with all the security requirements within SharePoint.

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Adventures of a New Business Owner

Small business security – Working with vendors

Starting or updating an SEO campaign – Ask yourself these questions

Recent data security article where I was quoted

Small business data security – Network Admin

Google gives a little peak under the hood as they disclose some search algorithms

SharePoint security

Wilkins Consulting

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