Do Social Media, But Safely

Everybody is on the bandwagon about social media. As usual, I'm skeptical.

Yes, you need to have a Facebook page for your business or brand. And a LinkedIn page for your career, and Twitter for exposure and fun.

But social media is also the latest Trojan horse for malware, viruses and scammers, who hide their malicious packages in fake social media invites and weird "look at this YouTube video" emails.

Here are some best practices from Don DeBolt, director of Threat Research (what a title!) at Total Defense:

1. Share wisely
Most users, especially younger ones, don’t put much thought into the repercussions of sharing too much information, even though they should. Last year, a woman posted on Facebook that she was leaving town for a week. While out, her house was burglarized by a Facebook ‘friend’. Now that’s a real hack!

2. Don’t forget to log out
Most online users opt-in to automatically log-in to at least one Web site. Many are logged in to e-mail, Facebook and Twitter accounts all the time, at the same time, in multiple locations. It’s easy for someone to get a hold of your personal information in any one of these online locations at any time, if you simply forget to log-out.

3. Don’t click on funky links
If social networking had a constitution, this would be the first amendment. It’s clear as glass that it’s a bad idea to click on a link without prior information, that doesn’t appear to be appropriate based on the URL, that previews questionable content, etc., but a recent report found that 73% of users are still clicking on malicious links in news feeds.

4. Update your AV, ASAP
This is no sales pitch. It’s pretty simple. The only way to stay as protected as possible is to update your AV software. With new bugs hitting the Web by the minute, it’s important that you have the latest technology to protect yourself from possible hacks.

I have seen some funny-slash-embarrassing repercussions for people who forget about tip number two, above. Have you?

Reality Makeover Show

Just passing this along: An L.A. production company, A. Smith & Co. Productions, is looking for local small businesses to participate in a makeover reality show.

If you're interested, email Helpmybiztvshow@gmail.com. Include your name, location, phone number and a brief description about your company, along with a picture of you and your biz.

You get an expert "makeover" of your company if you are chosen to participate.

I can't vouch for them personally, so caveat emptor on this one!

To Cold Call - Or Not

Quick heads up on my recent contribution to the Future Simple blog.

Should you use cold-calling as part of your sales strategy? Maybe.

It's nearly always better to have a personal contact or solid sales lead. But for some companies, in some circumstances, cold-calling is almost inevitable.

The good news: There are ways to make it less painful and more productive. Check out the blog for some advice and let me know whether it helped.

'Lope Springs Eternal

I have had a fruit-and-vegetable garden since my father showed me his tomato plants when I was about six. I don't know what made a bigger impression: The fact that he was producing something I thought only came from the grocery store, or the fat, ugly horn worms that he picked off and tossed over the fence.

Either way, that afternoon put me on the path to lifelong gardener. I've had mixed results, but managed over the years to produce bushels of tomatoes, squash of all kinds, peppers, beans, cucumbers, corn, eggplant, lettuce, kale, chard and others.

I also had a holy grail: Melons.

Oh, I tried, believe me I tried. Watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupes. They died out fast, never germinated, started off swell and then petered out.

One year, my cantaloupe vines actually set fruit. I was elated. Then, just as the baby melons started to swell up, the plant shriveled and died within days. Heartbroken, I pulled up the gnarled roots and took them to the expert Japanese-American gardeners at my local nursery. The discouraging diagnosis: Nematodes.

Another year, my watermelon plants seemed to thrive. The baby melons set, the fruit grew. It looked like I'd finally achieved the impossible: Beautiful, green stripers sat in the garden patch ... and they sat ... and they sat. The vine gradually died back, the fall rolled around and when there was nothing else to do, I picked them. Inside, the fruit was yellow tinged with pink. The melons had never ripened.

That was pretty much the end of it. I'd given up. Until this year:



There are about half a dozen more in various stages of ripening on the vine. The irony is that I didn't do a thing. I didn't even plant this cantaloupe, it showed up as a volunteer, probably originating from a melon I tossed into my compost pile sometime last winter.

What I love about gardening: Nature constantly surprises. Life will out. Things want to grow and produce and thrive. I post this not to brag, but to encourage. Even when you think you're beaten, and your plants have died and your career is over, a small shoot will push its head out of the soil.

With a little TLC, you may even wind up with a cantaloupe.

More and More Solutions

Tradeshift, a cloud-based company that allows businesses to exchange invoices for free, is on the lookout for ways that small businesses can cut costs by implementing cloud-based solutions like their own.

Tradeshift's CEO, Christian Lanng, sent me this list of online resources. Check a few of them out:

TalentWise – A cloud HR solution, TalentWise makes the hiring process more affordable and manageable by offering hundreds of custom employment screening packages including background checks, drug testing, credit checks, verifications, and more. Its flexibility makes it suitable for businesses of all sizes.

SkedgeMe – SkedgeMe is an online scheduling tool that makes business scheduling a breeze by making it possible for SMBs to accept appointments through their websites 24/7. Customers can see when the services are available and book them right online.

NewVoiceMedia – NewVoiceMedia delivers a cloud-based contact center solution. It provides access to contact center technology (call routing, queueing, CRM, etc.) in an easier and more affordable way without the need for a big investment in hardware, software or professional services.

Peer Software – Peer Software specializes in data protection and consistency, allowing businesses to better manage their digital assets. By protecting against data loss and facilitating software distribution, Peer Software helps sustain seamless business communications.

Dropbox – An online syncing service, Dropbox is the simplest way to store and share your files. It syncs directly over local networks without having to go through online servers first, and also has the best third-party support.

DIY Bookkeeping

Dun & Bradstreet statistics say that nine out of ten business failures in the United States are caused by a lack of general business management skills and planning.

Keeping track of a business’s financial health is a huge step toward having a successful business.

So begins the pitch for Lily E. Chambers new book, "How To Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping."

Lily is absolutely right. I wrote about the need for small business financial literacy recently in my Bloomberg BusinessWeek column.

But what if you can't afford to outsource your financials or hire an in-house financial person? That's where Lily's book comes in, teaching you how you can do your own bookkeeping in QuickBooks. It is available at Amazon.com or on Lily's website, Virtual Office Goddess.

Check it out, and let me know what you think!

Expensive Words

What are the most expensive keyword categories online? That's a question Larry Kim, the founder of WordStream, asked in order to determine where Google makes their ad revenues.

His findings are contained in this infographic. Probably about what I would have expected, although a couple of strange ones cropped up there: cord blood? really?

So, how do small businesses compete on Google AdWords if they are operating in one of the most expensive keyword categories?

Here are Larry's suggestions:

1) Be Picky: One of the neat things in Google AdWords is they let you be very specific in choosing what keywords to show your ads for. Think about your what makes your products or services unique – and figure out exactly what is your keyword niche is, then bid on those specific 3+ word keyword phrases that are more specific to your business.

2) Be Relevant: Once you’ve identified your keyword list, break it up into smaller, more targeted lists, so that you can run different, more specific ads that call out your key differentiators for the different types of keyword searches that you’ve picked.

3) Landing Pages: The average conversion rate (the ratio of clicks to your site vs. number of leads generated) for a typical small businesses is around 2%, yet I often see companies with 20-30% conversion rates. Experimenting with different offers is super-important, for example, free estimates, free consultations, $50 off, download a free resource guide (etc.).