TurnKey Vault NAS Features

More and more businesses rely on cloud services every day, but not all cloud services are created equal. TurnKey NAS is universally accessible (via FTP, SCP, SFTP, Rsync, NFS or Samba connections) and cross platform (PC, MAC, Linux and more). TurnKey NAS is also compatible with every backup software package that supports direct-to-disk backups. It’s perfect for secure backups and file sharing.

Protect Your Business from Catastrophic Loss

The biggest fear for every business owner is a complete server meltdown resulting in catastrophic loss. Can your business afford to lose all of your data? Ours can’t. Easy drag-and-drop backups are now possible with TurnKey NAS, and we are advising all of our clients to take advantage of the service. Backing up directly from your desktop is the easiest and fastest way to make consistent copies of the files you use (and update) most. Make backups as you go, as you need them, and never lose another day’s work again.

Share Files From Anywhere

With TurnKey NAS, you and your colleagues can access files on-the-go, from any smart device, from anywhere in the world. Forgot your presentation? No problem. Lost a disk? Just log-in and download. Not only is this a critical service for any business, it is a critical service for you, personally. Save yourself embarrassment, extra work and stress. Streamline your business data, and protect your most valuable business asset: your hard work.

LEARN MORE ABOUT TURNKEY VAULT NAS, AND SIGN UP!!!

TurnKey Newlsetter and Your Bottom Line: A One-to-One Ratio

Sometimes you can hear something a million times and you still need to hear it again. For example, you know you’re supposed to drink eight glasses of water every day. You hear it on T.V. You read it in the paper. But do you do it? I sure don’t. It’s the same thing for email marketing. Everyone talks about how important it is—how dramatically it can improve profit, how much it affects customer retention and customer trust—yet so many companies still haven’t started doing it. Part of the reason is that it’s intimidating. What solution do you choose? Will you be able to figure out how to use it? I think many businesses are reluctant to try something new that they don’t fully grasp, especially when they are worried about alienating customers or being called spammers. That is why TurnKey Newsletter is so incredibly exciting. It could not be easier to use!

TurnKey Newsletter: Overflowing with Top-of-the-Line Features

TurnKey Newsletter includes beautiful, professional design templates, an easy what-you-see-is-what-you-get editor, CAN-spam compliant automation (so you don’t get flagged, and your emails get through), email feedback and surveys (so you know what your customers are thinking), and personalization options (so every email is addressed personally—as if you sent each one individually). You can read more about all of the features here: http://turnkeynewsletter.com.

TurnKey Newsletter’s Emails: Always Look the Way You Designed Them

One of the things we are most proud of with TurnKey Newsletter is its compatibility with every major email client out there. Many email marketing products look great at first glance—you can edit templates, add images, and personalize just fine—but when your customers actually open your email, it looks nothing like the email you designed. Text is too big, images get resized, code is visible—it’s a complete mess. Your customers aren’t going to think, “hmm, wow, their email marketing software sucks,” they’re going to think, “hmm, wow, this company is incredibly unprofessional and I don’t think I should be trusting them with my business.” It’s sad, and it’s true. Don’t stake your reputation on a shoddy email marketing tool.

Trust TurnKey Newsletter. Really. It rules.

Press Releases

Press releases are a powerful tool for marketing your company. While press releases work best for real newsworthy items, even routine product announcements and promotions can benefit from a formal press release distributed through the right channels. The best part is that press releases don’t have to cost you anything more than the time it takes to write them.

• Advantages

  Bloggers, journalists and online news outlets are always on the lookout for new content. Getting your press release listed is great for exposure, and it builds your website’s backlinks, which is great for SEO. If your release contains newsworthy information that extends beyond the web hosting arena, you could get picked up by print publications. This is an excellent way to build your company’s credibility and to reach an audience that may not be keeping tabs on industry-only news.

• Distribution

  There are several traditional (and free) methods for distributing press releases, and a few more creative non-traditional ones. First, submit your release to all of the online news outlets you can find. This can be time consuming, as many of them require you to register before you can submit news, but the effort is worthwhile. It may be onerous the first time around, but if you save your registration information, subsequent releases will be easier and faster. Second, notify your clients of your releases via your email newsletter. If you don’t have a newsletter yet, you should get on that, and fast, because they are invaluable marketing tools (more on this below). Third, submit your release to all of your local newspapers and radio stations. It might sound old school, but getting listed in print or mentioned on the radio will be a real feather in your company’s cap.

• Keywords

  Load your press release with SEO-friendly keywords and phrases. The more specific your keywords and phrases are, the better, for example: there are millions of companies using the keywords “web hosting” but not nearly as many using the keywords “New York web hosting professionals.” If you target your demographic with your keywords, you’ll maximize traffic from that demographic. And try to remember the rule: one to two keywords per 100 words.

• Paid Releases

  There are several companies that offer to distribute your press releases for a fee. Typically, the fee is $50-$250 and includes submission to all the major search engines and news outlets online. We have found paid releases to be beneficial for truly newsworthy releases, especially those that involve a new product or service that we know people will be excited about. The bottom line here is sales. If we have a release we think will bring in sales, we’re willing to spend some money to make sure our customers see it.

Blogs

What I’m doing here… right now… and here… is writing a company blog. This blog increases traffic to TurnKey Internet because it is regularly updated, searchable, indexed content that keeps us at the top of search results. The more I talk about TurnKey Internet’s top-notch web hosting products and services, the more easily we will be found by customers searching for top-notch web hosting products and services. It’s simple. It works. Try it!

Specials

Specials, sales and coupons attract attention. Everyone wants a deal. Everyone wants to pay less for something that used to cost more. You can advertise your specials via all the social networks (in which you should already have an account for your company). You can also include specials and promotions on your blog, with keyword-filled content that highlights the amazing features included in your special. If your special is really…well… special, you can write up a press release.

Email Newsletters

You have undoubtedly heard about the marketing power of email newsletters. If you haven’t started one yet, check out TurnKeyNewsletter.com, our one-stop email newsletter shop. Newsletters are ideal tools for sending out company updates, promotions, specials, etc. They are also critical tools for building customer trust and loyalty. An active company that has a lot going on is a successful company—at least in the eyes of your customers. Finding the right email newsletter software can be a real challenge. Many of the better known products out there have major bugs that will hurt your company’s image (the opposite of what you’re going for, obviously). That is why we have just released our very own, superior, incredible, action-packed email newsletter software. Check it out here: http://turnkeynewsletter.com. Also, stay tuned for a whole entire blog post dedicated to this new must-have marketing tool.

You may not realize it, but if you send emails through your web hosting server or virtual server and operate a web hosting business, web development business or host your email with a web hosting company, you have likely had some trouble getting your emails through. Often the reason is that your server has been used to send spam without your knowledge. Most of today’s web hosting companies employ automated protection to stop such things, and catch abuse before it gets out of hand. But spammers are getting more clever and an increasing number of stealth spamming techniques can bypass these systems.

Many web hosting companies resell web hosting, and their resellers (unbeknownst to them) send out spam. This can result in the blacklisting of the entire server, and everyone on it, which will keep most (if not all) emails sent from the server from ever reaching their destinations. Of course, it is the web host’s responsibility to carefully monitor their clients and web sites on their server(s) to make sure this never happens. Traditionally, this hasn’t been too difficult. Today’s modern web hosting systems employ advanced abuse tracking and header info in every email making it easy to catch and stop this type of abuse before it becomes a problem.

Lately, however, this has become a lot harder. There is a new wave of spam abuse that hides under the radar, bypassing the web server’s normal email system(s) by opening up a small cgi program, which then operates as a small mail sending server, which then floods spam out onto the Internet. Unfortunately, none of the traditional monitoring systems are able to detect this sort of stealth spamming. Naturally, for this reason, it has become very popular.

Fortunately, here at TurnKey, we’ve figured out a fix for web hosts and developers using cPanel (this will work on other servers, such as Plesk and DirectAdmin as well). Our fix will stop stealth spam dead in its tracks! Until it is a built-in a feature in all hosting companies’ server offerings, make sure you ask your web hosting company to set this up for your server. Alternatively, you can pick a web hosting company that takes care of it themselves (like TurnKey Internet).

First, login to your cPanel server via the unix shell and install CSF firewall. Follow the usual instructions here:

mkdir /usr/local/src
cd /usr/local/src
wget http://www.configserver.com/free/csf.tgz
tar xfz csf.tgz
cd csf
./install.sh

On a cPanel based server, all the default settings are what you want, with 2 exceptions:

Open the configuration file in your favorite text editor (/etc/csf.conf) and change the following lines:

TESTING = “1″ change to TESTING = “0″

NEXT:  you need to change 2 more lines, the SMTP_BLOCK and SMTP_ALLOWLOCAL to the following values:

SMTP_BLOCK = “1″

SMTP_ALLOWLOCAL = “0″

This will block outbound emails from anyone other than the mail server software, and prevent any unauthorized access to the mail daemon from local scripts.  Your web hosting clients, and web pages will still be able to send email like before (they use a proper method of communicating to the mail daemon already, this above trick is just to block stealth spammers from working).

restart the firewall by typing:

/etc/init.d/csf restart

If all goes well your server will now be protected by a firewall with an added check to prevent spammers from sending emails that avoid the normal php_mail or other local mail sending method (which lets you track and log all emails, put in abuse headers by default, etc.).

Next time on Ask the Expert, we will show you how to optimize your server to really cut down on abuse from spammers.

Immediate Follow-Up

Every cancelation request is an opportunity. If you have an automated billing system for your company, you can start by scheduling an email cancellation message to send out to every customer that cancels her services. Compose a friendly message that politely asks why the customer cancelled. Ask if she was unhappy with your products or services. If you receive a response, consider it an open door. Send another email, offering to significantly reduce her monthly bill. Making less money is better than making no money. If you don’t receive a response, schedule another email for a week or two after the initial cancellation. In your second email, offer specials or deep product discounts designed to entice her back to your business. Make it an offer she can’t refuse. Don’t give up. A previous customer is an extremely valuable lead. Chances are good, if you’re consistent, polite and solicitous, that customer will think of you the next time she needs web hosting. Customer loyalty is a powerful thing. Make the most of it.

Appeal to the Businessman

One tactic I have found extremely effective is to appeal to the logical businessman in our customers. Web hosting is unique in that it is the portal through which our clients reach their clients. Without a website, most businesses will fail nowadays. Sometimes a phone call with a simple sales pitch works wonders. Not only is it harder to say no over the phone, a convincing voice explaining how important it is to maintain your business presence online goes a long way. Pair that with an unbeatable offer for discount services, and reel that client right back in.

Take it from the Salesman

A good salesman can convince anybody of anything. But when you have a great product with great service at a great price, you don’t have to be the best salesman in the world, you just have to tell it like it is. Get your message out there and be consistent. Like I’m always saying, success and hard work are the same thing.

Help Your Customers Succeed

According to a whole lot of industry experts, the main reason businesses fail online is bad marketing. You can’t sell something nobody knows about. It may seem obvious, but most hosting companies don’t go the extra mile to help their customers market their services and they lose customers because of it. Give your customers tips about how to get noticed. Put together an e-book full of marketing research and ideas. If your customers are successful, you will be successful. This is also a no-brainer when it comes to building brand loyalty. If you help someone make money, they are not likely to forget it.

During July and August, TurnKey Internet is offering up to $100 in visa gift cards to all new ultimate web hosting, virtual private server, dedicated server, colocation and ultimate reseller customers! With this free-gift summer special, TurnKey will welcome new sign-ups and make it easy for existing customers to try out new web hosting products and packages.

Now is the time to get that new business website up and running for the September rush! If you have never experienced TurnKey Internet’s web hosting before, take advantage of this offer to try it out risk free. If you are an existing customer, you can use this opportunity to expand your service offerings, grow your business or launch a new online store.

For complete details, visit us at: http://turnkeyinternet.net/cashback

They theory is that, by turning off comments, you force readers to respond to your articles on their own blogs and social networking sites, linking back to your post in the process. This not only encourages linking-in but it also prevents spammers from hitting your blog with their own links. If you happen to be a blogger with a loyal readership, I can see how this method might improve your traffic. However, I can also see how it could kill your blog—and fast.

Not only are you counting on your readers to stay loyal after you ban them from discussing your post on your site (which, frankly, is kinda rude), you are also counting on them to care enough about your post to write their own. Maybe it’s naïve of me, but I think people tend to be a touch lazier than that in real life. The beauty of comments is how easy it is to leave one. You read a post, you have an opinion, you share that opinion, you go on with your life. In a perfect world, comments demonstrate to new readers how fascinating your post has been to past readers, and encourage discourse among your budding fan-base.

When you turn off comments, you turn off the discussion. Unless your readers are super bloggers with unlimited time, and your content is, like, the most compelling thing ever, you’re taking a big risk. Not only are you shutting down a pipeline of traffic, your sending an elitist message to your readers. My advice: let people comment, heavily moderate for spam, and encourage readers to blog about your blog by writing good content. It’s the best of all possible worlds.

Welcome to part four of my SEO-fu experiment series. If you haven’t read the earlier installments, find them here: part 1, part 2, and part 3. In this last installment, I’ll outline some techniques that can help you quickly evaluate the authenticity and reputation of a web host. You don’t have to make uninformed decisions, even with limited time. With just a few clicks in the right places, you can learn a lot, and it’s worth the extra little effort. Choosing a web hosting company is like choosing an employee. You have to be able to trust this company with your business information. If their network goes down, your business suffers. It is an important time to make sure you’re going to get excellent service from people you can trust.

Third Party Reviews

As I mentioned in a previous post (HERE) third-party reviews are a great sign that a business is on the up-and-up. When a company posts customer reviews on their website without any kind of vetting process there isn’t any way to know if they’re authentic. Look for third-party company logos or links to leave a review of your own. If you’re really feeling sporty, go ahead and leave a review and see what happens. It may not appear immediately, but it should appear within an hour or two. If it doesn’t, you might want to look elsewhere for hosting.

Test Customer Support

Many web hosting companies offer live chat support, or so they say on their websites. Frankly, it’s shocking how many companies don’t man their live chat. Click on the support link and see how long it takes for a real person to come online. If it’s under five minutes, you know your real support questions will be answered in a timely fashion.

Contact Information

Real, legitimate companies should offer you several ways to get in touch with them. Look for a phone number and a physical address. If you have the time, throw that physical address into Google streetview and see what shakes loose. Is it an office building or a sketchy-looking house? Sure, if they thought about it, scammy web hosts could give you a fake address to an office park, but chances are good they’re betting you won’t check.

Guarantees

We offer our customers a 30-day money-back guarantee. We can offer this because the vast majority of our customers won’t ever need to use it. We know our products and customer support are excellent, and we are happy to refund customers who don’t agree. If a company doesn’t offer a money-back guarantee, you’re taking an awfully big risk giving them your money.

Affiliations

At TurnKey Internet, we have registered with several third-party companies to help potential customers easily recognize our legitimacy. Visit our website and you will see the following logos:

We proudly display our affiliations and so do other companies that have them. If you don’t see these logos, there’s no affiliation. Beware!

How did you find this blog post? Did you run a search for TurnKey Internet Scam? If so, welcome! You’re my target demographic. This is part three of my SEO-fu experiment. If you haven’t read the first two posts, you can find them here (1) and here (2). Today, the focus is you, the customer, and how you browse, search and read. Understanding how you do these things will help us figure out: how to help you find us; how to appeal to you when you do; and how, as a business, to navigate this weirdo short attention-span information culture we all find ourselves living in.

Many people (myself included) don’t always take enough time to evaluate the sources of their information. We may read a review somewhere that effects our opinion of a company without ever wondering about who wrote it. Our decisions are snap, our time is valuable, and once we pick a company, we will tend to stick with it. It’s easier to stay where you are once you’re there—I think that’s a law of inertia or something. But really, market studies show, consumers demonstrate brand-loyalty online the same way they do in a supermarket or clothing store. So get those customers in the door, and you’re likelier than not to keep them.

Information is power. The trouble is: there’s too much of it out there (information AND power, but in this context I’m referring to information). Often, the first line of text that appears under the Google search result link is all a customer will read before making a decision. As a marketer, it is my job to make that text count—to curate my information into bite-sized pieces without sacrificing quality. This is extremely challenging when, say, you have like eight things to communicate and only room for four. Surely in this equation there is an inevitable sacrifice of information quality—you just can’t always cram everything you need to say into tiny spaces. In this case, language can’t keep up with progress. But there is hope! One positive thing about Google’s indexing of every word of text on the internet, is that every word counts. So you may not be searching specifically for “TurnKey Internet Quality” or “Marketing Philosophy” or “Web Hosting Masters” but goll durnit, you’ll find us! Of course, you may never know WHY you found us (unless you actually read this post) but, point is, my SEO-fu got you here, despite your 2010 attention-span.

Welcome to blog post #2 in the SEO-fu experiment. The truth is TurnKey Internet does have a good reputation. In fact, our reputation is excellent, thank you very much. We work extremely hard, day in and day out, to provide a top-notch service, great customer care and 100% uptime. But that doesn’t make us immune from the SEO powers that be when good customers turn bad. Like it or not, we are all at the mercy of Google. As I discussed in the last article, 2010 is the year for all of us to learn to use the Internet to our advantage—to protect ourselves and our businesses from unscrupulous bad eggs and, for that matter, unscrupulous rival businesses that don’t hesitate to seed negative reviews for their own evil benefit. Yes, I’m being dramatic, but no, I’m not kidding.

It’s an ugly practice, but many companies have taken to posting bad reviews of competitors to influence potential customers. The hope is that Google searches will return those seeded negative reviews, and customers will steer clear of the implicated companies (and steer towards the companies posting the reviews). If you don’t have a superstar PR team at your disposal, ready to re-seed with positive reviews (also an ugly practice) you’re sunk. So what do you do when cheaters game the system to make your business look bad? How do you fight back without stooping to their level?

SEO-fu. Rather than seeding reviews (which is totally cheating), you can improve your reputation by regularly updating your site content to reflect the truth about your business. It doesn’t matter how many nasty reviews your competitors throw to the winds if your well-written, informative content shows up first. Also, as I always recommend, solicit real reviews from real customers. The more real reviews you have, the better, even if those reviews include some negatives.

This isn’t about having a 100% A+ reputation, 100% of the time. A page of perfect reviews can work against you too. Think about it: if you visit a company’s website for the first time and every review you see is five stars, are you going to believe it? This is about a real life business. Every business makes mistakes, the salt is how you deal with them.

In order to protect your credibility, and to provide a quick reference-check for your potential customers, it’s a good idea to employ a third party to manage your company reviews. We use RatePoint: