ACRBO Aug Magazine by Association of Computer Repair Business Owners

WHAT’S INSIDE Computers, Networking, Websites, Advertising, Marketing & Sales ISSUE 008 | Aug 2012

ACRBO MAG

Destination Cloud Backup…. by Erica Pittman “FiberCloud”

Featured Member… Ben Delville …ClickRight Computer Solutions

ACRBO contents 3

Editor’s Letter Welcome to the August edition.

Regular Columns 2

ACRBO Inbox Got something to say? Tell us what you think.

Enjoy Better SEO

How To Generate Leads With Article Marketing

Featured Member Ben Delville

Save Time and Money by Building Your Own Website

Windows 8 Corey Fruitman

ACRBO Preferred Vendors Make use of Them

Destination Cloud Backup Erica Pittman

What’s In A Word

Top 10 “Must-Have” Features on Your Mobile Website

Techinline Remote Access

ISSUE 008 | Aug 2012

If you have not checked in awhile you might want to log into the Association website to see what new Preferred Vendors have joined the team. We continually are looking for valued vendors to bring aboard and your emails are appreciated.

Would you like to have an article published each month in the magazine? If so drop us a line and let us know what kind of article you can provide on a monthly basis. All articles will need to be submitted the 3rd week of the month. Email: Dan@acrbo.com

Have a product or service you’re interested in selling? If so drop us a line.

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ISSUE 008 | Aug 2012

ACRBO editor’s letter Welcome to the Association of Computer Repair Business Owners Magazine.

Welcome to this month’s issue of our magazine. We have some great contraptions from innovators contributing some great articles that you should get a lot out of. Check out this month’s articles and advice and see if there is a way to implement it into your business model. You might just find something that works for you. I hope you enjoy this month's issue of the magazine, and as always please email me if you have any comments, contributions or feedback. Dan ACRBO

ACRBO Magazine Fredericksburg Virginia Advertising enquires: Send an email to dan@acrbo.com Contribute articles: If you would like to be a contributing author for the magazine then send an email to dan@acrbo.com and let us know what you would like to write about. Copyright 2012 ACRBO. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated or converted into machine-readable form or language without the written consent of the publisher. Articles express the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily those of the publisher ACRBO Magazine Director: ACRBO dan@acrbo.com Contributors Various experts in their fields The instructions and advice in the Magazine is for entertainment purposes only. The creators, producers, contributors and distributors of the ACRBO Mag disclaim any liability for loss or lack of results from following the advice expressed herein

>> Talk to me dan@acrbo.com www.Facebook.com/acrbo www.acrbo.com

Keep your valuable feedback coming. I try to reply to every email, I appreciate your input as it helps to make the ACRBO magazine possible. Write to me at: dan@acrbo.com

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ISSUE 008 | Aug 2012

Should I pay for Google Adwords?

What kind of website should I have?

Personally I have never paid for Adwords. I think it really depends on your situation. Is your website coming up organically in the search engines? Is your website properly coded? To me it makes more sense to pay the money and make sure your current website is constructed properly vice paying monthly for Adwords. By the same token if you want to do Adwords make sure you do your research so you fully understand how it works and pay close attention to how much you are spending on it. You don't want to find out after it's too late that it cost you hundreds of dollars for nothing in return.

There are many variations one can pick from be it Joomla, Wordpress, PHP or straight HTML. I feel Wordpress is the easiest route for someone to go when starting out. It is rather easy to understand and many others out there to help with issues. Plus, the ability to grow with it is built right into it. Not only can you have a professional looking website but updating it only takes minutes.

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ACRBO inbox

Dan ACRBO

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Enjoy Better SEO and Rankings With These Tips As the Internet grows, it could cause more difficulty in getting traffic to your website. Using the tips in this article can help you remain ahead of the curve. Excellent content will do you little good without an audience. The following article will give your site a big boost in visitors. You will not have to use image links if you are using SEO correctly. An image link offers only the URL of the linked file for search engines to index. One good optimization technique is to include your keywords or phrase in your title. A title tag should be visible on all pages of your site. If your company has a name, it should be placed on a title link at the end so that they can be connected together. People are not likely to search for your company's name. Do not place any copied content on your page, because if Google notices it they will lower the rank of your page. If you are struggling to find something unique to write about, think about what might attract new readers to your site. A good rule on META description tags that you can do is to be sure that every page is unique. The same Meta tag on different pages may be read by search engines as duplicate content, lowering your ranking. Internal links must use relevant anchor text for the best impact. Generic link text, such as "click here", does not positively affect search engine results. You can attract web crawlers to your anchor text by using relevant keywords in it.

If you have quality content you will succeed in SEO.

Only try to master one area of SEO at a time instead of trying to implement them all at once. It's simply impossible to become an expert on every technique because there are just too many. When you choose one that seems to be a good fit for your company, you can explore it extensively and make the most of its capabilities. If you use the plural form or longer form of keywords, you will get more listings in the search results. Keyword stemming is utilized by many search engines. This means that the keyword "accountant" may not be enough to bring in people who search for "accountants" or "accounting." Using the longest version of any keyword result will return all the shorter results. When performing search engine optimization, each page of your website must include Meta description tags. These description tags are important, as they show up below the title of your page in search engine results. The Meta tag should be clear and informative. Doing so will increase your website's traffic and raise your rank on search engines. Your content is the most important thing when you are using SEO. Your content should always be original, well written, focused and not too long. There should not be any grammatical errors. If you have quality content you will succeed in SEO.

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How To Generate Leads With Article Marketing WHERE CAN YOU PLACE BACKLINKS? People are constantly talking about getting leads and creating a list for your business. What they don't talk about is how to do those things. The best way, by far, is a little know secret called article marketing. Many involved with multi-level marketing spend too much time chasing family and friends and becoming frustrated in the process. This is why many end up failing. However, with article marketing you can generate free traffic and build tons of backlinks to your site. Now, your two main problems of getting leads and creating a list in the internet business are solved. WHAT ARE BACKLINKS? If you're not familiar with backlinks, they are simply links in other areas of the Internet that can redirect people to your website. Search engines like Google love backlinks, because they usually mean your website is more relevant with the information it provide. There has always been a debate as to whether or not you should get as many backlinks as possible or only choose quality choices. We recommend looking into the latter, because 50 quality backlinks can provide better rankings than 1000 of them. In the end, it means less work for you and better conversion potential for your MLM business.

While article marketing allows you to get backlinks from various article directories like EzineArticles, GoArticles, or iSnare, there are plenty of other places to put them. One of the most well-known areas is through social bookmarking. You've probably heard of Digg, Technorati, or even Reddit, and they all provide backlinking power. You can also utilize places like Squidoo and build lenses with backlinks to your website. If you have a favorite forum that revolves around the business then use the signature link area to your advantage. Don't forget about places like Facebook and Twitter either, because your link could go viral with the right approach. Again, taking the time to write articles or even blog posts is very time consuming. Building a multi-level marketing business can happen a lot faster if you utilize the right tools along the way. It's also a never-ending process. In closing, not only is Article Marketing effective, it is FREE. The only thing required on your part is a little bit of hard work, persistence and patience. Once you post an article, it is there for the viewing audience of the whole wide web to see and take advantage of. You are now in a position to get traffic and customers for years to come off one article.

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Featured Member Name: Ben Delville Business: ClickRight Computer Solutions Location: Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada Website: www.clickright.ca www.cornerstone-tech.net Education: 2 Years Post-secondary Computer Information Systems Technician What did you want to be when you grew up? What I'm doing now! Worst job: Never had one! First job: This is it. How did you end up owning your business? I thought it would be a good idea, and it was! What is next for your business? More services: Backup & disaster recovery, hopefully a bigger store-front. Who was your hero as a child? Batman What business book do you recommend the most and why? Computer Repair Business Lessons Learned: Daniel Hand. It's very informative and most helpful when starting out in business as it gives a perspective from someone who has already been there. What advice would you give someone thinking about starting a business right now? Start small and expand as you grow. Starting small keeps your overhead low so you can make the money you need to keep going and expanding. What are you most likely to be doing when not working? Relaxing Where do you want to be five years from now? In a bigger office, but otherwise doing what I'm doing now :) Who would you rather spend time with, Bill Gates, the late Steve Jobs or Warren Buffett? The late Steve Jobs.

If you would like your business to be featured in the ACRBO Magazine then drop us an email and we will get back to you with what details are needed. --Dan

ISSUE 008 | Aug 2012

Save Time and Money by Building Your Own Website Many small business owners around the globe are being held back by how much they rely on outsourcing certain aspects of their business model. One of the biggest obstacles to the success of many small businesses is their internet presence. In today's world it is nearly impossible to achieve anything other then moderate success without an online presence that furthers the company's branding and strategic marketing. The problem lies in that small business owners don't typically have the finances to keep on a long term web developer or designer to meet their company's needs. They end up turning to expensive, one off payments to web design companies that end up causing them more problems then solutions. Sometimes this transaction can lead to the failure of a business. There is, however, a way that anyone can take their web presence into their own hands and save themselves both time and money. By utilizing content management systems that are free and opensource even a novice computer user could build a web site that can be optimized to meet the business' needs. Even if a business owner would like to still hire outside help rather then build the site independently, it is still extremely helpful to have a basic understanding of what goes into a design. By illuminating the process of web design you are learning how much to pay for the services you require and how long it should take instead of taking your designer's word for it and paying more then you should.

I highly recommend taking the time to do your research on web development training courses out there. Once you learn how to develop your own pages and get your hosting paid for you can make an unlimited number of websites and develop multiple sources of income for yourself and multiple sources of traffic for your primary site and business. Knowing is half the battle, as they say, and if you can uncover the secrets of web design and empower yourself you have made a giant stride towards that "finish line" of life. A lot of small businesses make the mistake of going with a free online website builder but you end up having any number of drawbacks with this method. First and foremost is that if you don't have your own domain name. Most free website creators give you a sub domain which would have your name in it but it isn't actually yours, and any page rank or marketing you do is actually helping your design company. You may also end up getting your own domain name but then after a month you have to start paying monthly. I personally have fifteen active websites running from one hosting account that I pay 60$ a year for. Add onto that 10$ per year for each domain name and its right around 200$ a year to have fifteen sites. No design company or website creation site can compete with that and once one of your sites starts making some money you have covered all of your costs.

Knowing is half the battle and if you can uncover the secrets of web design and empower

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ISSUE 008 | Aug 2012

Corey Fruitman http://www.InstantHousecall.com

When Microsoft unveiled Windows 8 to the developer community in September of last year, most of the mainstream press focused on its new Metro style interface. More recently, Microsoft unveiled its new tablet, the Surface, with a keyboard built-in to the cover of the device. In Windows 8, there’s a lot more going on under the hood than a new touch interface and keyboard. Windows 8 runs on two architectures: the traditional x86 architecture that powers Windows desktops, and the new Windows on ARM architecture, dubbed WoA and more recently Windows RT. While both flavours of Windows 8 will have the same look-and-feel, there are some important differences that users and techs will need to understand at launch. Windows 8/x86 will allow you to run legacy Windows applications. You can download and install any app from anywhere. Your customers’ old apps like QuickBooks will still be able to run in desktop compatibility mode.

WoA apps are like the apps that you’re familiar with on tablets today. Unlike traditional Windows applications, they are sandboxed and restricted: background network and CPU usage are severely limited to ensure longer battery life and fewer surprise data bills. That also means the range of tools available to techs will be restricted on WoA. That doesn’t mean that there will be a lack of support opportunities for techs to work on Windows 8. Consumer confusion alone should keep your phone ringing for the first six months after launch. While you can expect to see a drop in your virus-removal business on WoA devices, there will still be networks to configure, e-mail to troubleshoot, and regular application support. Will your customers understand the difference between an x86 and WoA device? Microsoft has some great marketing brains working on how to make that distinction in the consumer’s mind.

ISSUE 008 | Aug 2012

ACRBO Preferred Vendors Make Use of Them

In the Association of Computer Repair Business Owners we have Preferred Vendors. Not sure if everyone totally understands what a Preferred Vendor is or not so I figured Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d cover it in this article. When the Association was started there was the idea of bringing select Preferred Vendors into the Association in order to give members an opportunity at products/services that typically they may not be able to afford or knew about. With that thought we put together a way to go about it and that was to find out what members are/were using and also knowing some of the big name companies out there and reaching out to them in order to see if they would be interested in being a Preferred Vendor. We continually get request from companies that have services/products and want to be Preferred Vendors but we are very select in who we choose and what is being offered. By the same token we do not want a dozen of a product or service that is the same otherwise it convolutes the program.

All Preferred Vendors that are part of the Association are supposed to be giving a greater discount/offer than our members can get anywhere else. That is most important to us. The discount the vendors are giving to members is entirely to the benefit of the member. It would be able to take a percentage into the Association per sale/transaction but instead we pass all savings to the members. The concept has always been to just give the member the absolute best price they can. With all that said its imperative that members actually use the Preferred Vendors in their business. Right now we probably have 40+ Preferred Vendors offering products/services to Association members and all of them in my mind are offering a very very good price.

The other factor we look at is what the offer is that vendors are putting on the table for the members. If a member can just as easily go to If you have not logged into the Association the companies site and pay the same exact price website in a while you might be missing then it defeats the purpose. If a member can sign something. Login today and check out the up as a reseller or a partner on the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Preferred Vendor section to see which one will fit website and get the same pricing/discount that is into your business model. Check out Iain Mcdonaldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s being offered to the Association then again that website: is not acceptable.

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ISSUE 008 | Aug 2012

Win a Brand New Windows Sysinternals Administrator’s Reference book! We will randomly choose a winner and e-mail the winner. Just send an email to dan@acrbo.com and in the Subject line put: Win Book Last Months winner of the book is: Dean Deans Computer Services

If you own a computer business you can’t afford not to be kept up to date with the latest news and techniques being used by others. Check out all the Podnutz series and see what you’ve been missing. Visit www.PodNutz.com

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Destination Cloud Backup By Erica Pittman Online backup in the cloud is an excellent source of recurring revenue and a great way to get your customers started with cloud services. Cloud solutions make sense, not only because of their practicality in an era of tight budgets, but also because the cloud offers a wide range of tangible benefits to small businesses. Cloud IT solutions are easy to access over the internet and are flexible and scalable. Resources can be mobilized quickly without you or your customers having to procure, deploy and configure new hardware. Even better, a move to the cloud can happen in increments, removing the stress of changing a businessâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; entire IT infrastructure at once.

Online backup can protect essential private and proprietary data, ensuring that uncorrupted versions of mission-critical databases, documents and confidential plans are available, accessible from the web, and recoverable with a click. This allows you to empower your customers and users to recover single files on their own when they need to.

Voyage to the cloud

The challenges presented by traditional tape backup include, not only the cost, but also the risk of data loss due to loss, damage or mislabeling of tapes. Recovery times are typically long due to the need to find the data on the right tape, have someone recover it from the tape and then make the file(s) available or the user.

Cloud backup is one of the most intuitive cloud applications. Prospective customers can easily relate to its importance: most people know that they need it, although few do it. Employees can easily back up files and data from individual workstations or servers to a secure offsite location for future recovery. Customers have the flexibility to select what is backed up, how often it is backed up, and how long the data should be retained.

In terms of security, the data is encrypted before it leaves the computer, and remains encrypted while in transit. Once it is in the vault for that account, no one, except the owner of the encryption key, has access to it. This protects data from leakage and supports regulatory compliance.

Online backup backs up files automatically and runs in the background with minimal impact on day-to-day business performance. Moreover, traditional on-premises backup is often done daily or weekly; leaving a fairly large window of new data that can be lost. Cloud backup can shrink that window to a matter of an hour or even less.

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Purchasing cloud backup from a trusted provider gives small business owners all the advantages of a highly secure storage infrastructure and dedicated experts. Having business data stored offsite and accessible through a geographically diverse network is a more resilient and redundant backup solution than traditional on-premises backup strategies. In the wake of a disaster or another scenario where data loss has occurred, cloud backup reduces the time to recovery, ensuring little to no break in business continuity.

Uses aging equipment: Many companies also rely on older laptops and servers to stretch IT budgets, so they need be prepared when equipment reaches the end of its life.

Help your customers get onboard

When you sign-up for a private label resale program, cloud based back-up is a simple way to get started and an easy way to add recurring revenue and expand your product line. Backup is fully supported to extend the services and support you can offer your clients. The right provider wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just be another vendor, but will view your relationship as a strategic partnership: they will work to support your businessâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; success as well as their own, provide attentive customer service and be able to customize their products to fit your needs and the needs of your customers.

What does a cloud backup customer look like? Aware of the potential for data loss: The easiest prospective customers are businesses that have already suffered data loss, either from one employeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s PC, or from an entire server. Having had that direct experience makes the need for regular secure backup much clearer. This is low hanging fruit for businesses concerned about disaster recovery. Has a distributed work force: Businesses may also be interested in cloud backup for other reasons. If a company has lots of dispersed employees working from a range of laptops, do they have one common site for data and files, and is it being backed up? Avoids business down time: Another concern may be about how to maintain productivity and keep critical business operations up and running in the face of an unexpected incident, such as power outages and natural disasters. Users are not having to duplicate work, minimizing negative effects on productivity.

Uses diverse environments and operating systems: Businesses today have both Windows and Mac OS X desktops/laptops as well as Windows and Linux servers. Employees may also be using a range of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Choose a route.

Consider the following questions to assess the offerings of different cloud providers. What kind of support is available for you and your customers? Will you continue to own the relationship with your customers, or will the provider take over the billing and collection process? Can you control your own pricing? What kind of sales and marketing materials and training are available?

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Can you brand the products yourself, and tailor the packaging to your specific markets? If a customer wants to add new cloud products or alter subscriptions to existing products, how easy is it for you to make those changes yourself? Set sail for data protection in the cloud As businesses increasingly realize how technology-based their organizations have become, data protection has become more of a priority. At the same time, many small businesses have very limited IT resources and existing onpremise backup and recovery solutions can be time-consuming and costly. This gives you the opportunity to take some of their IT issues off their hands while helping them become more secure and protected.

A worthy vessel With so many noncommercial-grade options for online backup coming onto the market, customers may find it confusing to select the best option for them. The bottom line, though, is that you just can’t cut corners when it comes to backup – risking data is risking business. Here’s a snapshot with details on several popular online backup offerings that you may find helpful to reference in talking with your customers.

Destination Cloud Backup By Erica Pittman http://www.FiberCloud.com

ISSUE 008 | Aug 2012

ACRBO Deals/Specials Instant Housecall View and control remote PCs from anywhere without preinstalled software. Full featured, up to 10 concurrent sessions, branded with your company logo. Subscription or one-time prurchase. Easy for your customers. Powerful for your business

Free Trial: www.instanthousecall.com/free-trial More Information: www.instanthousecall.com Contact: 1-888-838-4050/ info@instanthousecall.com ACRBO

Preferred Vendor

Laptop Repair Videos Thinking about working on Laptops? Then you need this package

Visit www.LaptopRepairVideos.com

ACRBO Preferred Vendor

XZ Backup

The partnership between XZ Backup and the Association of Computer Repair Business Owners was established to provide members of the ACRBO with an easy to use white label online backup solution. The XZ Backup product was already geared for IT Consultants / VARs / MSPs to monitor and manage thousands of user's backup jobs providing ACRBO members with a perfect solution that can easily fit in, and adapt to their current workflows and backup/restore guidelines. Need to know more or speak with a sales associate? Call us today! United States Toll Free: 800.213.2157 or UK: +44.2036.080613. Let us know you are an ACRBO member! Visit: http://www.xzbackup.com/ac rbo

New Preferred Vendor

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Going into business for yourself, becoming an entrepreneur, is the modern-day equivalent of pioneering on the old frontier.â&#x20AC;? Paula Nelson

What’s In A Word? Are the words you use to market your business attracting the right buyers? The internet has proven to be significant revenue & inbound lead-generating tool for small businesses, and with so many companies having websites nowadays, businesses of all sizes are discovering that local marketing is hyper-competitive. Being discovered online is getting increasingly complex. The days of set-itand-forget-it websites doing the heavy lifting of online marketing are long gone. Today’s businesses need quantifiable results for their hard-earned marketing spend. With respect to internet marketing – this means selecting the right words that will enable your business to both rank well on search engines, and be discovered by more buying-prospects searching for what you have to sell. Regardless of what the name is on the sign outside your building or on your business card – the wording you use for internet marketing plays a significant part of your overall online visibility. Your businesses listing on Google Search for example, is often the first impression a new customer has of your company – so it should accurately convey your business and be crafted in a way to attract the right searchers. Conversely, a low ranking on search might cause your existing clients to be lured away from your business by competitors who appear more prominently – judging solely by their higher ranking and increased visibility. Think of the words you use for online marketing as magnets – use the right ones, and you’ll attract the right buyers.

Think of the words you use for online marketing as magnets – use the right ones, and you’ll attract the right buyers. Think for a moment how you search for something online. If you were looking for great pizza in New Haven CT for instance, this might be how your search query could play out: >Pizza< (whoa – way too many results) >Pizza restaurants in CT (more refined, but not specific enough yet) >Pizza restaurants in New Haven CT> (there we go!) This same concept carries over to computer repair businesses: >computer repair < (whoa – way too many results) >computer repair in CT< (more refined, but not specific enough yet) >computer repair New Haven CT> (there we go!) You need to research words that are used and work those into your web presence.

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What’s In A Word? What’s In A Word? With the right research, strategy, and execution - businesses using optimized & targeted keywords within their digital assets and in their online marketing wordtrack will rank higher in search. A website, blog, social media channels, images, and video are common examples of a business’s digital assets. Why is ranking on search engines so important anyway? • 93% of all internet traffic is derived from search engines • 60% of search clicks go to the top three listings • 70% of the links people click on are for organic results (i.e. – not the paid ones) • 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results • 80% of unsuccessful searches are followed by a revised search • 91% of email users have unsubscribed from a company email they had previously opted-in • 40% of SEO marketing campaigns achieve a ROI (return on investment) of 500% • 22% of PPC (pay-per-click / paid advertising) campaigns are able to reach a 500% ROI • Search is the #1 driver of traffic to content sites beating social media by more than 300% • 62% of American households are connected to the internet

I often hear how business owners had assumed the person building their website would have done this keyword and website optimization to make their website discoverable on search. While that was common just a few years ago, the complexity of search engine optimization [SEO] & search engine marketing [SEM] and of website design has divided them into separate disciplines over the years. Just as it is unlikely that the person digging the foundation for a house will be the same person nailing the shingles on the roof – so too is it unlikely that the same person designing your website has the same skills to successfully get it discovered by search engines and (most importantly) marketed to the right buyers. SEO is the technical element that gets website pages discovered by search engines SEM are marketing discovered by people

actions

that

get

websites

The focus here is to do some local keyword research to see if your local identifier (i.e. town name) should be added to the front or back of your principle keyphrase – Rhode Island computer repair companies vs. computer repair companies in Rhode Island for example. Common areas to implement this new keyword strategy include: • Website title • Website anchor text (the blue-color text that has a website page linked to it) • Social Media profiles & posts • Blogs • Business Profiles – like LinkedIn, Yelp, and Google Places (being phased out by Google+) • Website Image & Video • Photo sharing sites (like Picasa & Pinterest) • Maps and GPS software • Hashtags # • Print media & email marketing

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ISSUE 008 | Aug 2012

-Stephen Colbert

ISSUE 008 JULY 2012

Top 10 "Must-Have" Features on Your Mobile Website The latest research from Gartner and LFM claim that by the end of this year, over half of all Internet searching will be done on mobile devices, there's a scramble in the cyberspace on going mobile. All fortune 500 companies already have a mobile-ready website and other businesses are following suit. Website owners are going in droves to become 'thumb-friendly' so that they can reach a much bigger audience. There are 6.8 billion people on the planet. 5.1 billion of them own a cell phone, but only 4.2 billion own a toothbrush! That's the reason why website owners are in a frenzy to make their website accessible for mobile and tablet users. With such a mad rush to go mobile, here are top 10 features and mobile-strategies that every mobile website MUST have in order to make their online content more useful and engaging for their mobile audience. 1. Keep It Fast and Easy to Manage. Mobile users are a busy lot. Always short on time and want things at the tip of their fingers, literally. So make sure your mobile website is designed to load fast. Not just fast, make it super-fast and easy to read. Prioritize your website content and features and display only the most important ones. Say "no" to large blocks of text and don't forget to compress every image that you want on your mobile site. 2. Make It Smooth and Easy to Navigate. Mobile users are used to multiple screens. Latest smartphones allow them to use it that way. Make use of this and port your content to span multiple screens, depending on the functionality

Take care to make your mobile site look similar and consistent on all sub-pages. Focus on easy navigation and 1-click buttons to navigate to any part of your mobile website. Repeat key features on all pages of your mobile site. 3. Use Mobile Site Re-direction Technology. Use suitable scripts or codes that can detect the visitor's device and automatically re-direct them to the mobile version of your website. Your visitors can browse to your website from any computer or mobile device using same URL and they will be served with the right content. However, never forget to give your users a choice to switch to the desktop (regular) version of your website. 4. Make It Interactive. Mobile device users do have a mouse to go over your website. So, make it easy and interactive using 1-click buttons. Virtual keyboard on mobile screen are tiny. So minimize text input on your mobile website. The best way to collect information from a mobile site is to make your forms shorter or better still, start a mobile mailing list (text/SMS list) so that all your visitors have to do is click a button to subscribe their mobile number. Use 'Click-ToCall' buttons in key locations throughout your mobile website. 5. Design for Visibility. Eye-strain is the number one complaint of mobile users. Make it easy for your visitors to read the content using proper, mobile-friendly fonts and colors.

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ISSUE 008 JULY 2012

Top 10 "Must-Have" Features on Your Mobile Website Use simple and complementary contrasts. Keep the cool gradients and stunning graphics to your desktop website. The text must fit on the screen and users should be able to ready without pinching or zooming. Use mobile-friendly effects like button colors and shadows. 6. Optimize for Local Visitors. Customers are always looking for local information on their mobiles, from locating the nearest fuel station to finding restaurants. So, include functionality that help people find your place of business. Add your address and include mobilefriendly 'maps and directions'. Allowing your mobile users to check out nearby attractions and businesses is also recommended. 7. Make it Versatile. Your mobile website must work on most device platforms and handset orientations. Find alternative to "Flash" content because Flash is not properly supported on all devices. The latest HTML5 and CSS3 is recommended for interactivity and animation effects. Adapting your mobile website for both vertical and horizontal orientations is very important.

9. Go for a Thumb-Friendly Design. Everyone uses their fingers to operate mobile handsetsâ&#x20AC;Ś more so, their thumbs. So, design your mobile site in such a way that even people with big-hands (and thumbs) can easily interact. Use large, centered buttons and give enough space in-between to avoid accidental clicks. Pad smaller buttons and check-boxes to make the clickable area a bit more spacious. 10. Track Everything. Do not forget to use a robust tracking mechanism for your mobile website, just like you do on your desktop website. Use a suitable tracking mechanism to measure visitors, clicks and browsing habits. Keep tweaking your mobile website based on tracking results. One other surefire way to get a direct feedback about your site and what people want from your mobile site is -- "ask". Just ask your mobile visitors to take a short survey (with pre-populated, thumb-friendly choices) and learn from them directly.

8. Maintain Clear Hierarchy. By maintaining a clear and consistent navigational hierarchy throughout your mobile website, avoid confusion and user frustration. Add a small search box, if feasible, so users can search what they want, if your website has too much content. Avoid too much scrolling and rollover effects. Add 'back' and 'home' buttons at regular intervals so that users can navigate freely.

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ISSUE 008 | Aug 2012

ACRBO marketplace “If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete.” Jack Welch PC Dice Veteran Web Hosting Contact dan@cmonova.com ContactUs Hosting – Domain Names – Yearly Packages (ACRBO Discount)

Contact: dan@cmonova.com A great gift for that tech you know. Or even better take them on site with you and amaze your customers. www.PcDice.com

Visit www.VeteranWebHosting.net

Linux For The Rest Of Us - Do you want to stay ahead of the computer curve so that you don't feel left in the dust? - Do you want to expand your knowledge so that YOU are that technician who people go to for advice?

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- Do you want to learn an operating system so powerful and fun you'll wonder how you lived without it?

Contact dan@acrbo.com Let Us Know > Want to see your ad here? Drop us an email.

Selling Something?

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ISSUE 008 | Aug 2012

The Industry If you are in the Information Technology industry then below is a list of must visit locations

Site: www.TechNibble.com Who Is Technibble For?

Site: www.TheForceField.net Technibble is a free resource for Computer Technicians and Computer Business Owners.

What is The Force Field?

Technibble helps computer technicians with information and how-to-articles published a few times a week and has a strong community of Computer Technicians to help one another.

The Force Field is the name of a podcast for IT Service Professionals, IT consultants, VARs, computer shops and anyone else in the technology field, particularly those who offer products and services to end users.

Technibble helps you by covering topics such as:

The half hour show is produced by Savoia Media and hosted by Rick Savoia, an IT Service Professional who is also a veteran in the broadcast industry.

- How to start a Computer Business - Advertising, how to get clients and keep them - Business and legal issues - Streamline your computer repair work - Technician related product reviews and discounts - New opportunities to look out for - Stories from â&#x20AC;&#x153;the trenchesâ&#x20AC;? from your fellow Computer Techs Technibble also has a large database of Computer Repair tools and adds a new on to its database every week. Be sure to check out the Archives, Computer Repair Tools section and the Computer Technician forum. .

Your Ad here ISSUE 008 | Aug 2012 Contact

dan@acrbo.com

Let Us Know > Want to see your ad here? Drop us an email.

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Techinline – Remote Access New Preferred Vendor Techinline: An Affordable and Convenient Remote Support Tool for Any IT Pro Over the recent months we’ve covered numerous remote support products available on the market today. In a wide range of such tools, Techinline Remote Desktop stands out as delivering arguably the best value for the dollar and easiest connection process. Techinline is a browser-based remote desktop application which does not require any software installation or download on either end of the remote connection. Its entire connection process consists of the following 3 simple steps: 1)The tech (Expert) logs into their Techinline account at www.techinline.net/Expert 2)Remote Client launches www.fixme.it, where randomly generated 6-digit Client ID number will be displayed 3)Expert enters this number into a corresponding field in their account to establish a connection with the remote Client

The simplicity of Techinline’s connection process and its intuitive interface make this tool especially useful when it comes to supporting clients with limited or no IT knowledge. Furthermore, its affordable and flexible pricing options effectively meet the needs and budgets of small/mid-sized IT businesses compared to the likes of LogMeIn, Teamviewer, and Webex. Some of Techinline’s key features and capabilities include: • • • •

2-Way Desktop Sharing Branding & Integration File Sharing Safe-Mode Reboot

Techinline’s pricing options, including a flexible “pay as you go” Per-Session model, are summarized on their Buy Now page Register today for a 15-day fullyfeatured Techinline FREE TRIAL and begin exploring the value that Techinline may deliver to your business: http://www.techinline.com/TryItFree.as px

Business Apps Now available for Android and iPhones Put simply, an app makes things easier; they make accessing information quicker and more convenient for the user. The app market caters for everyone, apps can help customers find you, find out more about your business and interact with you. Businesses are now putting faith in apps to generate revenue, raise brand awareness and increase user engagement. I compare it to the internet came about and people were wondering “Do I really need a website?”. The same can be asked of apps, and to me the answer is yes. If it’s affordable and doable why not implement it into your business.

Pricing is: $50 for just the Android app, $125 for the iPhone version, or $150 for both (Prices reflect ACRBO membership discount) Contact Dennis Drew dennisdrew@gmail.com for more information