Perils of Online Social Media – - Great Article

This is such a great article on the perils of social online media I wanted to take a moment and provide it for those who may be reading this blog.  Remember your past and present can come back to haunt you!

Sorry, this post is a bit long.

Thank you Donna for providing this information:

Chris Nastav, KC Web Specialists, Experts in how business gets done on the Internet. http://www.kcwebspecialists.com 913.908.5642

Here’s the Article…..

9 Hidden Dangers of Social Networking

How Facebook & Twitter Can Be Hazardous to Your Wealth

By Ken and Daria Dolan, Dolans.com

posted: 1 DAY 19 HOURS AGO  (10-23-09)

When President Obama was asked by a student what advice he had for kids who wanted to grow up to be President, he warned them to be careful what you post on Facebook. That’s good advice even if you don’t want to be President.

 As the popularity of social media sites (such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace to name some biggies) continues to explode, stories about the dark side of social networking are piling up.

 Personal finance experts Ken and Daria Dolan of Dolans.com warn you about nine ways using social media can be hazardous to your wealth.

 Lawyers Love Facebook

Are you about to be involved in a messy divorce or taken to court? You may want clean up your Facebook page.

 Lawyers and private investigators routinely troll social media sites as part of their research for any case. Such sites are a treasure trove of evidence, especially when they are looking to:

 Prove adultery. Perhaps the woman you suspect of being your husbands’ mistress tweets about the fancy new jewelry she got, or about an expensive vacation she just took.

 Hunt down alimony. An ex-husband says he can’t afford alimony but tweets about his new job or raise or his brand new car.

 Collect evidence for a custody case. A women fighting for full custody of her children claims she doesn’t drink or smoke, yet posts a picture of her smoking at a bar on her Facebook page.

 Prove harassment or fraud. Copies of nasty or threatening messages left on an ex-boyfriend’s Facebook page make great evidence.

 Your Resume Isn’t the Only Thing Employers Scrutinize

More From the Dolans:

• Rules to Protect Yourself on Social Media Sites
• Simple Ways to Prevent ID Theft
• 10 Steps to Erasing Your Debt

A recent study by Harris Interactive found that 45% of the employers they questioned are using social networks to check out job candidates before hiring them. That’s a pretty significant percentage. But here’s an even more surprising number: 35% of those employers decided not to offer a candidate a job because of what they found on an applicant’s social networking page.

 Bad-mouthing your last boss online? Posting questionable pictures? If you are on the job hunt, be sure to review your pages and profiles and make sure there isn’t anything there that can cost you a job.

 Burglars Are Fond of Your Constant Updates

Would you stand up in the middle of a crowd of strangers and announce that you’re leaving on vacation for three days and then tell everyone your address? Of course not, but that’s exactly what you are doing if you share such information online.

 Burglars are now using Twitter to find victims. One Arizona man tweeted to 2,000 followers that he was heading out of town and came home to find someone had broken in and stolen thousands of dollars worth of video equipment he used for his business.

 Even saying you are running to the mall, going out to dinner, etc. is too much information.

 Prepare for Bigger Insurance Premiums

A leading insurer in England warns that social media users could face higher insurance premiums because of the added risk they face from burglary.

 Legal & General insurance believes that burglars use social media sites to “shop” for victims. Posting photos of your home enables burglars to know whether you have any security features or what you own that’s worth stealing. Plus, your posts reveal other details, such as whether or not you have a dog to fend off intruders or if you constantly let people know when you’re out of town, that can affect the chances of you filing a claim.

 Teenagers are especially likely to reveal personal information, leading the insurer to warn parents that they could face higher homeowner’s insurance premiums if their children are online.

 Tweets Can Get You Fired

A waiter in Beverly Hills was fired recently for one of his Twitter updates (called Tweets). In his tweets, he complained about actress, Jane Adams, who he says skipped out on her bill and didn’t leave him a tip. He said her agent later paid her bill.

 The waiter was fired two weeks later.

 That may seem like an extreme case, but people have been fired for blogging about work, blogging while at work, even for calling in sick and then posting on Facebook. One woman was fired for badmouthing the boss on Facebook because she forgot she had “friended” her boss and he could see everything she was saying. Oops.

If you are using any social network, assume your boss is watching everything you say and do!

 Social Networkers Are an Identity Thief’s Dream

Social networking is a dream come true for identity thieves — millions of people sharing endless amounts of personal information right out in the open. According to PC World, 33% of social network users have at least three pieces of information posted that could lead to identity theft.

 Think about the types of things people share on social media sites…their birthday, address, kid’s names, pet’s names, mother’s maiden name, previous address, where you went to school. Besides being used to steal your identity, this information can also give thieves the answers to some of the most common security or password questions used on your personal accounts.

 Yes, social networking is about sharing, but that doesn’t mean you can blindly violate basic rules that help protect you from ID theft.

 Let’s Go Phishing on Twitter

Just last week, Twitter users were the target of a huge phishing scam. Scammers sent direct messages (DMs) or Tweets that included a generic message such as “You’re on this video” or “I think I see you here” in order to get people to click on a link.

The link took those who clicked on it to a fake Twitter page that asked them to log in with their username and password …which the scammer then used to hijack the victim’s account.

 Twitter Can Be Infectious

Fake Twitter profiles have been used to spread malicious software (known as malware).

 To lure in victims, scammers use fake celebrity profiles or news about celebrities. The posts look legit, but infect your computer with malware that lets the scammer use your computer to send spam, install spyware, steal your identity or launch attacks on other computers.

The IRS Wants to “Friend” You

As state budget get increasingly pinched, internal revenue agents are getting more aggressive in their pursuit of tax revenue. In fact, some states are even using information posted on sites like Facebook and MySpace to track down tax dodgers and dig for unreported income.

 In Minnesota, tax agents reportedly levied back taxes on a long-time tax evader after he announced on his MySpace page that he was moving back into the state and would be working as a real estate broker.

 While the IRS refuses to say whether or not they are using social media to find tax evaders, it’s best to assume that they’re watching everything you post.

 Makes you want to be a little more careful the next time a stranger asks to “friend” you, doesn’t it?

 In Conclusion

You don’t need to quit Twitter or Facebook now that you know about the dark side of social media. But we do hope that you think about how your tweets and posts could come back to hurt you. We had our identity stolen last year, and it’s no fun. Use some good old common sense and follow our simple rules for protecting yourself on social media sites to keep trouble at bay.

Customer Service = Powerful PR

I’ve been feeling REALLY bad because over the last two weeks my computer crashed, I got a loaner (although I’m regretting the choice of company supposedly fixing my computer – I’m still on the loaner) and I’ve been having ongoing issues with my Internet service.  Oh yeah, the phone company for some reason because of all of my calls lately about the service up and disconnected me altogether and now tell me it’s going to be two days before they can get me up and running.  All of this is NOT MY FAULT and it’s thrown a real wrench in running my business and blogging.

Now I’m definitely stressed about all of this because it seems that no one at the phone company has the same information or can give me the correct information, until this morning.

This morning I spoke with the nicest gal (this is after being transferred three times.  Yesterday I spoke to 12 people and no one could help me).  This young lady knew I was upset as I told her my neverending story and she apologze profusely.  However, what got me was that right out of the gate this young woman was throwing one month free service, she subtracted the curreint month’s service from my bill and sent me a $75 Visa gift card.

Now, I don’t want to say that good customer service means giving stuff away to customers (although it does feel good on this end).  My point here is that out of all of the stuff I’ve been dealing with these last few weeks she is the only one who came right out of the gate to solve the issue and provide compensation for the trouble, agony, hair pulling frustration I’ve been dealing with.  Even the IT company fixing my computer has offered nothing for the inconvenience of having it for three weeks with “no real news”.

And, most importantly, let me tell you this: because this young woman left me feeling as if someone cared, someone at the phone company is “on it” and taking care of my problem and “understands” the pain and agony I’ve been going through, I’ve told EVERYONE my story – including you.  This is the best PR you can ever achieve for your business.

Certainly you don’t want someone to have a negative experience, but the reality is that not every customer is going to be happy and it’s how you deal with it (immediately with understanding and apologies) that will determine if you keep or lose that customer.  More importantly, it determines whether that person is going to refer other customers to you.

In business, today, I see a lot of bad customer service or little attention on attending to the customer.  People seem to believe that there is a large enough, neverending pool of customers that they don’t need to be concerned with keeping who they’ve got today.  It’s foolish and describes the reason why there is such a small amount of loyalty to companies.

If you want to keep a customer you’ve got to work to do it

Remember, people are willing to share their good experiences with family and friends.  If asked for a referral they want their referral to be used.  They want to know that they have done something to boost the business of a company or individual they find to be valuable.

This word-of-mouth endorsement is the most important and valuable you will ever receive for your business outside of a media story.

So the next time you’re dealing with an unhappy customer remember they power they have to bring good PR to your business, and make sure you’re quick to resolve the issue to the point the person feels they have been heard and understood.

Jennifer Fortney
Cascade Communication
Follow me on Twitter @SmallBizPRXpert and @MyStorySource

Digital Hoarder?: Online Backup can Capture Critical Business Information

Every time I move house I realise how much “stuff” I have.  You know, it’s the stuff that lives in boxes in the closet, and under the bed, and in the garage.  Stuff I just shift from one location to the next even though it has no immediate purpose.  Yet I don’t want to throw it out. 

But in this decade, more than ever before, the stuff we accumulate and carry around with us extends beyond physical possessions and in to the realms of the digital world.  From music and video to bills and tax records, the amount of digital data we store is growing exponentially.
 
This applies just us much in our work lives and our businesses.  Think about the last time you changed jobs, or even just bought a new computer.  Even though you may have a company server and tend to store most formal work related data there, I’m willing to bet you still had a bunch of other “stuff” on your computer that was copied off separately.  Stuff that you don’t use much, but can’t be without.

The issue with our digital hoarding habit is that digital data is much more at risk of loss or destruction than the physical gear we keep in boxes.  Yet there’s a surprisingly lax attitude to protecting our digital baggage.

Small business workers are often the worst of the hoarders due to a lack of enforced network policies:  Let’s assume most small businesses have a central server with an effective backup system in place and that most formal company documents, such as quotes and proposals, are stored on it.  Then think about all the other data – let’s call it informal data – that can live on PCs and notebooks.  Often there are spread sheets full of ad-hoc analysis, documents with plans and ideas, flow charts of possible process and procedure improvements and presentations about potential new product and services.

Much of this data I’ve listed, when grouped together, can be the most important information within the business.  It’s the business’s IP; its future, its competitive advantages.  Yet it can all be lost in the blink of an eye when your notebook is snatched from the front seat of your car.

Luckily, just as much as our life revolves around digital stuff, the digital world is evolving to accommodate.  Online backup services are proliferating as storage space and bandwidth becomes cheaper.  Such services can be thought of as online closets where our digital stuff is automatically archived.

I’d suggest most small businesses with computer based workers should consider adopting online backups of their key personnel’s PCs and notebooks.  Not doing so puts you at risk of not capturing some of the most valuable information in your business.  And the investment to backup invaluable data is minimal – most vendors charge only $1-$3/month for 1GB of storage.  So a small business with half a dozen computers to backup may only have to invest around $200-$300/year.

Checkout some of these popular services:
- Carbonite
- SOS Online Backup
- Data Deposit Box

Our digital “stuff” doesn’t always seem immediately important, but ask anyone who’s lost it all and they’ll tell you how devastating it is.

Clayton Moulynox – Evolve IT Australia
We fix business problems, not computer problems -  Develop, Solve, Evolve.
Follow me on Twitter: @claytonhm

Who’s Talking About You or Your Company on the Internet?

Last week I talked about www.summize.com, or now-a-days the search feature in Twitter. With that tool you can quickly search for who’s talking about you or your company on Twitter.

Well, there’s another equally important free tool out there that let’s you keep track of who’s writing about you or your company on the Internet in general.

Google provides a free tool call Google Alerts. With this tool you can put in as many terms as you like, and Google will send you an email when new information containing those terms is put on the Internet.

For example, I have two alert terms:

1. “KC Web Specialists”

2. “Chris Nastav”

Now, whenever someone puts those two terms out there on their Website or blog,  I get an email alert with a link to the location. Simple, inexpensive method for keeping track of who’s putting information about me or my company on the Internet.

Chris Nastav, KC Web Specialists, LLC.

http://www.kcwebspecialists.com Experts in how business gets done on the Internet (913) 908.5642 chris@kcwebspecialists.com

A Simple Plan for Small Businesses and Social Online Media

So many business owners are struggling with social online media for their business. Their struggle is not how to use the tools. Those are free and easy to work in. The struggle is how do they effectively use these tools to help their business. To add some clarity to your businesses online social media plan, I suggest you follow a simple three step process.  

Step 1.

 You must have a Website! The one constant that continues to be the main stay of the online business world is a company’s Website. What do you do? How do I get a hold of you? Where are you located? What are your CURRENT specials? What is NEW with your company? etc, etc, etc. YOUR WEBSITE MUST STAY CURRENT!

In the next three years there will probably be 30 or more new online social media break through’s that come and go. Your Website will still be there.

Step 2.

Start a “business” blog! You, or someone in your company needs to write in it once a week. As a business owner you know things about your industry that others do not. Write in your blog about your business or about current events in your industry. A blog is another constant out on there on the Internet that is not going away. What you write today on your blog will be categorized and available to people for months and years to come. A blog over time will establish you as an expert in your industry.

Step 3.

Start with one online social media tool and use it to drive awareness to your blog and Website!

Use this one social media tool just as you would any networking event where you have the opportunity to talk about your business. Use it like you would a Chamber of Commerce event, radio advertising, tv advertising, BNI membership, trade show, or any other type of live networking event. Use the online tool to advertise your company, your products, services and events by driving awareness to your Website and blog.

 

All that is going on with your company MUST be on your Website or blog.

 

Use social media to get people there!

 

Chris Nastav, KC Web Specialists, LLC. http://www.kcwebspecialists.com
Experts in how business gets done on the Internet (913) 908.5642