I hope you find my writing and business tips and observations useful. My business and blog are dedicated to helping businesses communicate clearly and reach their potential.
Read, subscribe to my newsletter, enjoy!Tash
Website hosting security
After getting hacked earlier this week, I thought it might be timely to cover some things to look at for security through your web host – and as I am not a technical expert, I’d love to hear your tips too so we can all have the best chance of avoiding these time wasters.
So here are some tips from me…
- who are you sharing a server with? Dedicated server hosting is the most secure option but also a lot more expensive. My host has servers just for their clients which I see as the next best thing as at least I am not sharing with just anybody and my host has put some precautions in place (such as minimum 70 strength passwords)
- does your host/server have a SSL certificate? This may be shared with everyone on the sever but it certainly beats no certificate at all!
- where are the servers located? The recent flooding in Victoria shows the value of storing servers somewhere high (on top of a mountain isn’t quite what I mean though! Off the floor and preferably in a room protected against flooding to some extent). Are they protected from other physical dangers too?
- what physical security applies to the servers? Are they in locked cupboards in secure buildings? Is there 24 hour security (guards, cameras, sensors) turned on?
- what routines and programs does your host use to monitor the servers for attacks and errors? For example, my host now constantly runs a security scan and a program that detects prohibited activity
- does your host offer suitable privacy protection? Your information and your payment details should be kept private and safe
- who can access the server shells? This is the core of the operation and is where real damage can be done to websites – ideally very few people even within the host company can access this
- what back ups does the host do? where do they store these back ups (on site or remotely)? I’m glad to say my host does daily and weekly back ups so were able to reinstall everything from a back up after Tuesday’s attack – and they did a more recent back up of the databases, too. I would not have wanted to replace all that work and data myself or have lost it completely.
I have discovered that not many hosts cover this information on their website so I suggest you ask them questions. It is easy to just trust them and even to take the cheapest option but think about the consequences of loosing your website (for an hour, a day, a week…) or of having your website damaged and perhaps clients’ information breached. Makes asking a few questions a small but critical task doesn’t it?
According to WAtoday, the threat of an attack on a medium sized business has grown by 54% in the last year. That makes it a pretty big risk and something to be aware of in business budgeting, planning and contingency. I hope it never happens to you.
What steps have you taken to secure your website hosting?
Not fun being hacked…
Yesterday, my site was one of many attacked by a well known hacker (called the Turkish Hacker or Iskorpitx according to the messages left behind). Over a period of about 5 days he apparently hacked over 30,000 sites, mostly by getting into host servers (as happened in my case).
So my first message today is sorry if you tried to visit my site or send me emails yesterday. Although I did rectify my site reasonably quickly once I knew, my host later took down all their sites and reinstalled their servers so my site was offline.
I won’t make my second message what I think of people who have nothing better to do with their time than annoy people around the world just because they can.
Here are my top tips to minimise the hassles of being hacked…
- have a great password – your surname, business name or kids’ initials really aren’t good enough
- back up your site regularly so it’s easier to replace it as needed – or even move to another host
- choose your host carefully – look for their security, how they will deal with issues and how much they will help you
- if you need to give a password to someone else (eg a web designer) be careful how you tell them – certainly don’t put it in an email with the subject “website password”
- remove anything from your site that isn’t needed if it is sensitive in any way
- use the most recent version of any software on your site (e.g. the software to run a blog) as it will have recent security developments included and probably has fewer successful hacks set up
Do you have any additional tips?
Top 10 business saving tips
Lately I’ve heard a few business owners talk about ways to save money in their business so here are my top 10 tips for saving money without scrimping on product/service quality.
- review your recurring costs (such as website hosting, bank fees, phone rental and internet service) – it amazes me the difference in prices for the same service so it can be extremely worthwhile to compare what’s available
- look for energy efficient options – even if you don’t think the environment is an issue, low energy light bulbs, efficient heaters and the like can save you money especially if you have big premises and/or a lot of staff. This includes things like adding curtains or blinds rather than have temperature gains/losses through windows
- compare suppliers periodically – they don’t all adjust prices the same way at the same time and some will offer you great ‘honeymoon’ rates but not be as competitive later. Even if you don’t change suppliers, it will keep you in touch with reasonable industry rates as a reference and negotiating tool
- consider who you outsource to – the cheapest price is not always the most cost effective option (putting aside cheapest isn’t always best!) If Sally charges $100 an hour and Mary charges $80 but Sally is twice as fast, paying Sally will probably be the cheaper option. If Sally can also do another task it may be cheaper to use her for both as she knows your business and is already working for you.
- send statements and reminder invoices soon after an invoice is due – you will generally get better results for less effort if you ask for money when the project is fresh. Debt chasing is a waste of your resources
- buy cheaper when it doesn’t impact on quality. For example, if store A and B sell the same product at different prices with the same level of service, buy from the cheaper store. Likewise, buying 100 pens is often cheaper per pen than buying 10 of them.
- recycle and reuse as much as possible. In bigger companies, a fortune can be saved if you use old letterhead or with compliment slips as staff note pads; use the back of envelopes for calculations and scribbles instead of paying for notepads; print drafts on the back of old papers; use incoming packaging to package your products.
- turn everything off! Make sure the last person out turns off the lights, get everyone to turn off their computer and monitor at the end of the day, turn off monitors when away from your desk for more than 10 minutes, turn off printers and scanners overnight, and so on – you may be amazed at how much this can save over a year
- be prepared and communicate clearly with suppliers and service providers – wasting their time will cost you money
- monitor your marketing – if an ad isn’t helping your business then it is a waste of money (and that could include free ads!) Even ads that are working may be made less expensive (smaller size, less frequent use, etc) so try and compare the results
What other ways have you used to save money in your business? How much did it save you?
Polite comments please!
“I visited your blog. Recipricate the visit {URL}”
“CD wants you to read the blog post {URL}”
Believe it or not, these rude requests have recently entered my blog comment and email box. Do they really think it will result in me clicking on their link? I certainly didn’t, and I deleted their comment/email as well.
It really annoys me when people are rude, but more so when people expect me to react because they have chosen to do something.
So what if you have read my blog post? That doesn’t mean I automatically have an interest in what you blog about, yet a number of people have this expectation; even worse are those associates/friends who expect me to read their blog regularly just because I know them, even if there is no sign they have EVER read any of my blog posts!
It’s like those people (not clients) who get annoyed because I don’t return their phone call straight away – it may suit them to call during the day but I have a business to run!
Not a very constructive blog post I admit, but there is some relief to vent about rudeness and expectations! Of course, we can all take the message that a polite request is much more likely to get someone to do what you want (in this case, read your blog post!)
2010-11 is almost here!
Do you think it is time to prepare for a new financial year – or are you going to wait until July to work on your tax and accounting obligations?
I always plan to be organised so I can submit a tax return in early July, but it is never quite that smooth in reality. My bookkeeper needs time to enter all the data from June, I need my super fund to send me a deduction letter and so on.
However, I really do look at my accounts now so I can maximise this financial year – thinking of deductions in July won’t help much!
Here are some of my tips on keeping accounting issues under control in June/July:
- have regular data entry for expenses throughout the year- or get a bookkeeper!
- keep a document going all year to note down anything that may go into your annual report (i.e. note down any significant changes or events so you don’t have to remember them when you starting writing the report) This will also help a lot if you outsource the report writing
- if website pages/attachments need to be updated for 1 July (e.g. for legislation or price changes), prepare them in advance – even if data is unavailable until late June, you can have everything else ready to go
- book your accountant/tax agent early so you can choose a date that suits you
- get someone to help you if you are stuck entering a lot of data (e.g. for new depreciable items or household accounts if you are home-based) – it’s much quicker if one person reads out the data while the other types it
- check your online bank access – many will show the year’s interest instead of adding up each month’s or waiting for a printed statement
- review your payroll records now so you have all the information when sending out PAYG statements
- automate any regular payments – this can be useful all year, but taking the time in April/May to schedule payment of memberships and subscriptions due in June can save time and the stress of forgetting
- prepare communications in advance (blog posts, newsletter information) so those tasks are out of the way for a month or so
- have a good account filing system as well as your actual accounts – I use a display folder with a plastic envelope per month plus some extras (‘to be entered’, ‘pending’, etc) – and avoid changing it at this time of year
How else do you make your accounting and tax tasks quicker or easier?
Take 30 minutes…
If you suddenly found yourself with an extra 30 minutes, what would you do with your time? Would you waste it, fill it with the ordinary or do something different?
Chris Brogan and many people in his blog community gave some ideas on filling an unexpected half hour in order to make use of their ‘spare time’. Some of my favourites on the list are relaxing (meditating, walking, etc), a quick burst of filing or tidying, give some recommendations/referrals, contact people on a personal level (it can be a business contact, but chat to them instead of always focussing on what has to be done) and catching up on some reading/learning.
Moving on from that list, I like the idea of making half an hour a day for these sorts of tasks. Maybe start your day with them, lift the ‘low’ times around lunchtime or finish off the working day, but make a time to do some little tasks.
[Tweet “Schedule time for the little ‘care for me’ tasks”]
Why? Those little tasks can be very important – to your calmness, clarity, happiness, productivity, relationships and creativity. And doing them regularly for a short time will keep things under control.
I’m going to give it a try, now that I’ve been inspired. Could you benefit from making 30 minutes a day, too?
Ranking for childcare?
You have to laugh really – I mean, how can I take people seriously when they send spam that is so off target?
Let me share the laugh with you!
I received an email from someone who tried to be my friend and show how good he is at internet marketing – mind you, he isn’t good enough to find my name on my website and use it in an email! He does point out that he has my contact details, including phone number, from my site though.
This email was about word constructions – a professional writing service in Australia and his email includes the following (in blue – the black text is my response!):
I see that you’re not ranked on the first page of Google for a childcare centre search. And this is a problem for me why?
I’m not sure if you’re aware of why you’re ranked this low but more importantly how easily correctable this is. I’m guessing it’s because I don’t have a childcare centre or use that keyword? If he found me through that keyword, it says a lot for my childcare articles though!
There’s no reason you can’t have a top three ranking for the keyword childcare centre based on your site structure and content. You have a very nice site. Perhaps the fact I don’t have a childcare centre (or a website about childcare) is a good reason not to rank top three? And if you don’t know that, I have no reason whatsoever to believe you have looked at my site to know it’s good!
I didn’t send this email out to very many people (oh please!) but I am currently reaching out to a list of your ‘keyword competitors’ (If their keyword is ‘childcare centre’, they aren’t my competitors at all) as well. But I do favor your website because I can see your website monetizing the targeted website traffic the keyword childcare centre can deliver. If you truly believe my site is best placed to maximise this keyword, you REALLY have no idea about relevant content and keywords – and I REALLY don’t want to make use of your ‘help’ and ‘skill’.
He followed this up with four requests to call me, and one to call him. Sure, Jason, call me so I can tell you how little you really know, at your long distant phone cost!
Hopefully that gave you a laugh, too.
If you want a serious message from this, here are some real marketing tips:
- be relevant – don’t contact a business about something they don’t offer
- be honest – adding blatant lies makes it likely you’ll be caught out and lose whatever credibility you may have had
- if you claim to have viewed my site, then have the courtesy to find and use my name
- don’t overstate your importance – if Jason is so successful and owns the 1,000s of sites he claims, why does he need to spam people around the world to get further business? Again, it just destroys your credibility if your claims and behaviours don’t match
Here’s to lots of laughs and very little spam in our lives!
Climate Change is a business concern too
Today is Blog Action Day, with over 6,000 bloggers writing about climate change and its impact on our world, and on us.
Maybe climate change, and protecting our environment, is something you think of at home or when choosing to buy local or low packaging options. Many people act as if environmental concerns don’t apply at work or in business, but we all need to think and act sustainably all the time and in all sorts of situations.
As a small business owner, here are some of the things I take into account:
- amongst other reasons, I work from home because it saves any energy or pollution from commuting to an office somewhere else AND I only have one set of base consumption (e.g. I don’t heat an office and somewhere for my baby; I only need one computer for business and personal use)
- I choose to reuse paper by using the back of documents and envelopes instead of notepads
- I buy recycled paper products for printing
- I email invoices and statements to save paper and printing – the computer is already on so sending an email is close to environmentally neutral
- I read news items and articles online rather than buying paper versions – and rarely print copies of them
- I use email and phone calls as much as possible for communicating with clients – again, this saves using a car or plane for meeting face to face
- I turn off my computer, printer, etc when I finish for the day, and turn off my screen whenever I leave my desk for a while
- I close the curtains as soon as it starts getting dark and cold – keeping the heat inside saves heating
- I choose practical promotional items rather than gimmicky things that use resources to make but provide no real value. So I would prefer a pen, notepad, water bottle or bookmark to a plastic bracelet, inflatable toy, flag or fan
I’m sure there’s more as I care about my environmental impact, but the list shows how easy it can be to include environmental ideas into everyday business. While we may not be able to reverse climate change, I think we can slow it down considerably by taking individual responsibility in the little things as well as the big things.
In Copenhagen next month, world leaders will be making some decisions and agreements about topics around climate change. I just hope that everyone starts working on those targets straight away rather than waiting until the deadlines.
What have you done/are you doing in your business to help our planet? What suggestions do you have for other businesses?
Capitalising job titles
A few months ago someone asked me (as a comment in a blog post) about capitalising the words in a job title.
My response, in summary, was that job titles don’t need to be capitalised although it is not technically wrong to do so. The exceptions being a title as part of a name (e.g. Doctor Jones) and someone in a key national role (e.g. Prime Minister, Treasurer).
I also noted that some companies list capital letters for extra words as part of their corporate style guide. Thus, we get companies writing about their Managing Director, Marketing Manager and Company when managing director, marketing manager and company would be perfectly acceptable and easier to read.
While I respect that each company can set their own brand, what annoys me is the inconsistency of such capitalisation. That is, most (maybe all!) of those companies would quite happily write about Jack the receptionist, Simone the cleaner and Justine the forklift driver while referring to Craig the Chairman and Mary the Operations Manager.
It annoys me because it is inconsistent (and therefore distracting and harder to read) but also because I find it disrespectful. Using capital letters is usually done as a sign of respect to the person in the job – does a receptionist, cleaner or forklift driver not deserve respect as well? And for anyone who says a Marketing Manager is more important than a receptionist, I ask if you could manage a busy switchboard or how you view companies you call where the receptionist doesn’t do a good job.
So, while I prefer to not use capitals for titles, if you do capitalise titles please be sure to capitalise them all.
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