Scam 1: Free iPads
You’ve undoubtedly already seen links for free iPad offers this holiday season, and hopefully you haven’t fallen prey. With the iPad topping the charts for the most sought after new tech gadget, these scams are sure to ramp up as the big day approaches. This scam is rampant on social media sites where visitors are asked to take a survey for a free iPad. Be wary of any survey that asks you to submit any personal information. Often these will ask for your cell phone number and then will bill you for $10/week.

Scam 2: Social Networking – A Cybercriminal “Wants to be Your Friend”
I know how flattering it is to think perfect strangers want to be friends, but beware. This year there are more fake profiles than ever. These scammers are out to install malware on your PC and steal your password. And you just wanted to be friends!

Scam 3: Charity Phishing Scams – Be Careful Who You Give To
It’s a low down, dirty game but this scam hits you when you deserve it the least (not that you ever deserve it, but you know what I mean). Watch out for emails claiming to be from a charitable organization. They might contain links to fake websites set up to steal your donations and/or personal information.

Scam 4: Fake Gift Cards
Gift cards are extremely popular this year—in fact we ran our own gift card promotion in September. Like many other scams, fake gift card offers ask for your personal information. When in doubt, DON’T PROVIDE IT. Stay safe.

Scam 5: Help Me Overseas!
This variation on the overseas needy gets personal when scam artists hack into email accounts and send fake distress messages to family and friends. The scammers ask for wired money, claiming dire straits in foreign lands. Before sending money, give your loved one a call and make sure they really need help.

Scam 6: Fake Job Offers
This is a real heartbreaker—fake job offers targeting the out-of-work and desperate. You’ve likely encountered plenty of these scams on classified sites and otherwise legitimate job listing sites. Any time you see the words “work at home” or “I made x amount of dollars in one week” or anything else that seems too good to be true, IT IS. Avoid these scams at all costs, and protect your personal information!

Scam 7: Smishing
This silly word refers to a very serious crime. Smishing is phishing via SMS text messages sent directly to your phone. They appear to come from a retailer or your bank, and have already fooled many consumers who aren’t used to receiving spam on their phones.

Scam 8: Holiday Rentals
Many people are looking for nice rental properties for their families during the holiday season. Never send anyone a down payment unless you’re sure they’re legitimate. Use rental sites with consumer protection, and be sure to google names and locations for more information. Often, people that have been duped before you will post their experiences online to protect future consumers. Make the most of this early alarm system.

Scam 9:  The Dangers of Holiday E-Cards
Happy Holidays! Celebrate with the gift of malware. ‘Tis the season! This scam was popular last year too, and apparently it works because it’s making the list again. Beware.

Scam 10: The Recession Money Scams
This is another one that’s been around for years: low-interest and pay day loans. Don’t buy the hype: free money isn’t free! Pay-in-advance credit cards are another popular one this year.

Scam 11: Holiday-Themed Downloads
Downloads are the easiest way for cyber criminals to install malware on your computer. Be wary of holiday screensavers, apps, jingles and animations, even if the link is sent by a friend. Scammers are increasingly using the names and information they collect to target friends and family members of the stolen addressee. It’s a sad thing, but you really can’t trust anyone—even people you know.

Scam 12: Price Traps
Any time you see a deal for something you want at a price far below market, beware. Many cyber criminals are using popular classified sites to post fake deals for popular brands. Always make sure the URL of the website you’re on corresponds with the company.

Yikes!

It’s a scary Internet out there but you can protect yourself by keeping your security software up to date and your wits about you. Avoid strange links, don’t open weird attachments, and keep your chin up!

We hope you have a safe, happy and crime-free holiday!

Once a customer reaches your store, chances are good they’ve decided to make a purchase. Your website has done its job, and you are about to make a sale, but you’re not home free. If your store is confusing, unattractive or makes your customer feel unsafe, all your hard work may go right out the window. Consumers are used to a certain standard for online stores, and anything less won’t fly. Would you risk your credit card information in an online store you didn’t trust? I sure wouldn’t.

It’s clear that professional, clean, secure e-commerce solutions are critically important for online success—so which one do you choose? Surely there are many options out there, but you probably don’t want to just try one and hope for the best. Unless you have the luxury of lost clientele, you’ll likely want a solution you can stick with. You’ll likely want a solution you can set up easily, without a steep learning curve. I can’t help but suggest TurnKey Commerce.

TurnKey Commerce offers a free 14-day trial, so I signed up to try it so I could write an informed post for our customers. I’d never seen the interface before and was interested to see how long it would take to start actually doing business. I can honestly say the process was fast, easy and fun—that’s right: setting up an online store was fun. The thing I enjoyed the most was playing with the templates, and configuring my store items. Even though I work for a company that specializes in easy online solutions, this particular solution seemed too good to be true and it was a shock that I was actually able to create a functioning, professional-looking store so quickly.

Really though, whether you choose TurnKey Commerce or another e-commerce solution, make sure you have back-end support, and that the solution works securely before you open it to the public. Your business depends on it. Learn more: http://turnkeycommerce.com

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:

Help! My Tech Heroes Are Selling Out!

Every time I login to our TurnKey Internet Twitter account, I see another good tech person selling out. I know: who am I to talk? After all, I’m logging in to my COMPANY Twitter account, to SELL something. I shouldn’t really be splitting hairs here. But there is a big difference between a company account and a personal account; between a company network and a network of friends. Or there should be. There REALLY should be. Unfortunately, at this stage of the game, the line between personal and professional is woefully blurry. Drunk pirate anyone? While this might be good news for companies taking advantage of individual’s social popularity to market their products, it’s not so good for individuals taking advantage of their FRIENDS for monetary gain.

Companies are no dummies

Twitter offers an unprecedented forum for the bite-sized advertisement and tech gurus with thousands of followers offer an irresistible demographic. But I don’t follow those tech gurus to be advertised to, and I suspect you don’t either. I want my free information and I want it now! Which leads me to my next point…

Everyone’s In IT for the Money

The more I think about it, the more I wonder if the problem is more systemic. We have all gotten so used to this fancy-free exchange of information. We subscribe to feeds and streams left and right and consume them without a thought for the poor sap behind the tweets, endlessly and thanklessly churning out tech tips for our enjoyment. Surely tech gurus need to eat! If only we could all keep our professional lives and our private lives separate, but with this all-access-all-the-time technology… it’s a fat chance, sister.

So what’s the upshot? The conclusion I keep coming to is that free access puts the onus on the individual. It’s up to each of us to decide what we are going to share and where we are going to share it. Each of us has to weigh our friendships against our desire to monetize. We also have to remember that our input is valuable, as diluted as we might feel by the seemingly endless input of others. And, I think, we have to start valuing quality input more highly, and by that I mean, we have to start being willing to pay for it. If we aren’t, we have no right to complain about our tech expert buddy spamming our twitter feed with advertisements. The fact remains: if we value what he has to say, we’ll tolerate his spam. Probably. If enough of us stop following him, perhaps he’ll think twice about what he’s doing. Perhaps he will offer a monthly subscription to an ad-free version of his feed. Now THAT is something I’d pay for.

Brainstorm: What are You Looking For in a Company Brand?

Because of how hard it is to get a simple domain name these days, your best bet is to attack the problem from the opposite side. Figure out how you want to present your company to the world. Are you fun and web 2.0 like Google or Mozy, or are you more traditional and neutral like Dell Computers or Verizon? Try to think from the perspective of your demographic. If your clients are teenagers, look at the successful businesses in that market. What are their names like? Take your time doing this research. The brand you choose will help shape your company, and once you start marketing, you won’t want to make any changes that could disrupt traffic or confuse consumers. Point is, if your business is successful (which it will be, obviously) you’ll be living with this brand for a long time. The energy you put into naming your company will pay off every single time you see the name in the paper or on your letter head, every time you say it on the phone. This is your business! You need to be proud of its name.

Start Searching for Domain Names

Once you have a solid sense of the scope of your business, start trying out domain names. Sure, many of your early choices will likely be taken, but you might be surprised. There are still many domains out there and if you know what you’re looking for, chances are good you’ll find one pretty fast. Aim for short and simple and remember your goals and demographic. Don’t settle for something too soon. Once you have a list of names you like, show them to friends. Ask people in your target demographic what they think: if the name is memorable and interesting, and if it would attract them to the company.

If you can see the name in lights, up on a billboard or behind home base, you’ve done your job.

My supervisor, Anneke, joined forces with the Parks and Trails NY Campaign Director, Sean, and together they organized an amazing rally. To prepare, they had a pizza and poster making party the Sunday before. This had a good turnout – about 20 people showed. Hundreds made it out on Wednesday to protest and lobby for Thacher Park. Veterans, Senators, elementary school children, senior citizens who had fought for Harlem parks in the 60s, and many other park loving people came to Albany to fight for this cause. The anger was palpable and their voices were heard. In fact, quickly after the rally, New York State Senator Serrano issued a press release stating that he would push to block $11 million from the budget cuts to keep the parks opened. Thanks to the hard work and passion of a few individuals, the beloved parks have a chance to stay open for everyone’s enjoyment. Make sure to check my site, www.savethacherpark.com, often to learn about more fun events and Thacher Park’s status!

Overall, the site-making project went really well. I’m keeping it updated and recent with new information and links, and have had a great response from the public. The main lesson learned here: if I can do this, anyone can! Save the park!

Abbey Connick
Intern

The Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has loosened restrictions this year, making it possible to create new TLDs.  The rules regarding TLD ownership will not be finalized until the middle of 2011.  Currently, ICANN has the TLD application fee set at $185,000.  However, fees can increase if there are disputes and multiple organizations apply for the same name.  In these cases, the name would go to the highest bidder. 

Rob Beckstrom, the CEO of ICANN, has stated, “One of the least innovative spaces in the Internet is the global top-level domains.  It’s an anomaly.  When the Internet opens up, then there is innovation.”  The new CEO plans to make the approval process for new domains quicker.  Along with Canon, Beckstrom predicts that one hundred of the most popular websites would eventually apply for their own TLD.  In addition to these TLDs, Beckstrom plans on reinstating the approval of the “.XXX” domain for pornographic websites.  He is also proposing that cities receive their own TLD and other languages get their own domains in their own language using language-specific characters.  He believes it will preserve local cultures and promote global interconnection.

Many people are criticizing Beckstrom that his new plans for the Internet are inspired by greedy motives.  Opponents claim that with all these new domain name possibilities, ICANN will make even more money from domain registration fees, and in turn, Beckstrom will be a richer man.  Beckstrom reinforces this is not the case and stands behind his statement that “adding more TLDS will add innovation.”

The Italian edition of Wired magazine is the main proponent behind this decision.  Wired Italy Editor-in-Chief Riccardo Luna explains, “The Internet can be considered the first weapon of mass construction, which we can deploy to destroy hate and conflict and to propagate peace and democracy.”  Wired is promoting their idea of the Internet being a ‘tool for peace’ with the campaign ‘Internet for Peace.’  It already has many supporters, including 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, professor Umberto Veronesi, and stylist Giorgio Armani.

This would not be the first year that an individual does not win the prize.  In 1965, the prize went to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and in 1985, it went to the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.  If the Internet does win the prize, it is unclear who would receive the $1.4 million cash reward.

We have many clients with years of experience working with servers, and these are typically the clients who opt for the unmanaged option. With an unmanaged server, we set up the hardware, install the operating system, install the control panel if one is ordered, and maintain the network and hardware. Beyond that, most everything is controlled by the client: troubleshooting, configuring firewalls, installing software, etc. While we are happy to provide unmanaged servers to those clients who request it, we feel so strongly that managed servers are the way to go for most clients that we offer it free with our dedicated and virtual private servers. Over the years, we have found that this is the most effective and efficient plan for keeping our clients up and running. 

A managed server is dedicated server or virtual private server backed with extra technical support services such as round the clock monitoring, off-site backups, security and firewall management, software updates, and software technical support beyond just rebooting the server if you have a problem. Many companies out there today abuse the term Managed, when in reality they only provide minimal support via email only, and offer to reboot or reformat your server in response to any problems you may have. TurnKey Internet was founded on managed services and we take it very seriously – when we say our servers are fully managed we mean it, and put it in writing.

Whether a client is an expert or a novice, having a platform that works without a fuss is usually pretty appealing. Why do all the extra work if you don’t have to?

Click here to learn more about TurnKey’s managed services.

Or follow these links to learn more about our different managed plan options:
Silver, Gold, Platinum, and  Titanium.