WHAT’S INSIDE Computers, Networking, Websites, Advertising, Marketing & Sales ISSUE 015 | Mar 2013
ACRBO MAG
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts….Winston Churchill The Owen Lea Foundation…. Let’s Make A Difference!
Association of Computer Repair Business Owners…Now over 3,900 members!
Association of Computer Repair Business Owners
CONTENTS 7
A New Upsell Opportunity
9
Tactics Every Business Should Implement
14
Define Social Marketing
16
Small Business
20
What To Do About Java
23
Small Business Marketing
24
Avoid This 4 Letter Word
28
Reputation Changer
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Contribute
Are you a writer? Do you enjoy writing down your experiences? Would you like to be able to contribute each month regarding your business model and give tips to other business owners? If so feel free to contribute to the magazine. Credit is given to all writers in the form of links to your website or any other way you would like. Share your experiences!
Editor’s Note Welcome to the latest edition of the Association Magazine. I'd like to welcome our new contributors this month. We look forward to bringing you more articles this coming year that can help you grow your business. Lastly I’d like to congratulate you for investing your time to educate yourself by reading this magazine. We are proud to be able to help all our readers, and look forward to serving you for many years to come.
Dan ACRBO 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
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 machinereadable 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
ACRBO inbox Finders Fee
Subcontracting
I typically have businesses contact me for support but I do not provide support for businesses I only do residential clients. If I refer them to another business should I get a fee?
I am looking at subcontracting to places like OnForce and others. Is it worth my time? Well it really depends on how busy you are. If you are busy then I don’t see it being beneficial to you. If you have slow period then I can see it filling in gaps. I personally feel that time would be put to better use marketing yourself and your business vice doing sub work.
Dan ACRBO
Dan ACRBO
TOP EMAILS
TOP EMAILS
Absolutely‌But, you need to establish yourself with this other company ahead of time not the day the referral comes in. Get it setup ahead of time so you know that you are going to get a fee and determine what that fee is going to be in advance.
Have a question? If so email it do dan@acrbo.com and we will be glad to answer it. It can be business related pertaiing to marketing, setting up your business, growth of your business or anything you can think of.
A New Upsell Opportunity dMaintenance As business owners, we put a lot of effort into growing our customer base. As important as this is, we often overlook the simple services and products we can provide our existing customers in order to generate more income. Anti-virus software is a common upsell, and given the right vendor and volume it can be a very profitable revenue stream. Unfortunately, a lot of businesses stop there. There are many products and services we can resell to generate more income, some more profitable than others, but all increase our bottom line. There are many choices such as uninterruptable power supplies, wireless devices to cut the cord, external hard drive enclosures, tune-up services, even configuration of 3rd party DNS servers for extra protection from malware. Hopefully we are all familiar with these common upsells, but I would like to introduce a new potential revenue stream. dMaintenance is an inexpensive, white label, fully automated maintenance application which can be branded with any company name and logo and resold. Originally designed as an automated maintenance application for network administrators to push out a scheduled maintenance routine to workstations, it also serves as the perfect stand-alone maintenance application for home and small business users. The feature set within dMaintenance is massive, including reporting and email capabilities, and it optionally has the ability to work with (and control) 3rd party applications of your choice, with preconfigured functionality for apps like CCleaner, Defraggler, and PatchMyPC and some Nirsoft reporting apps.
Believe me, our customers ARE looking for PC maintenance applications. We frequently see ‘maintenance’ software on our customer’s PCs; some are legitimate while others are more like snake oil. Many of our customers purchase these apps (legitimate or otherwise) from other companies – there are plenty these of companies out there selling maintenance applications. Why aren’t we doing the same? As business owners we can benefit greatly because unlike reselling products with per-PC licenses such as anti-virus software, or having monthly fees associated with managed services platforms, dMaintenance is a one-time purchase. Once the initial investment is recouped, there is no additional overhead on future sales; every additional sale is pure profit. It may be resold as a one-time deal or as part of a packaged maintenance bundle with other products and/or services; and we set the rates. We can choose an inexpensive model so it practically sells itself to every single customer, or we can price it competitively with similar products and make up the overhead in just a few sales. With an optional and inexpensive dCloud account from Foolish IT, which adds subscription based functionality, we can even resell it to our clients as part of a monthly or annual subscription based service. Our customers benefit by purchasing software from people they trust, with no risk involved. Often the search for a miracle maintenance application is why our customers get malware and virus infections, so by providing the application for ours customer we help secure them against future threats by removing their need to seek out alternatives. To learn more, visit http://www.foolishit.com/?ap_id=acrbo, click on the dMaintenance link, and explore a new way to generate more revenue from your existing customer base!
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This month’s winner will receive the eBook “Computer Repair Business Lessons Learned”. We will randomly choose a winner and email the winner. Just send an email to dan@acrbo.com and in the Subject line put: WinBook Last Month’s winner is Ken Pennington of Ken’s PC Repair
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3 EFFECTIVE TACTICS EVERY BUSINESS SHOULD IMPLEMENT Do you remember your first day as a business owner? You were probably just like the rest of us... pretty darned happy and a bit on the proud side. Yeah, back then we thought we could conquer the world. Now we're too busy conquering our own little corner of the world to pay a lot of attention to the rest of the world... unless it's to learn a few tips from successful owners. 1. Create a Special Offer A special offer is exactly that... an offer that is special. Normally, customers would not be able to purchase this product or combination of products, and once the products are gone... sorry! You don't have to go out and order a bunch of new products to put together a special offer. It doesn’t take a whole lot... just use what you've got. Grab a few items that are related, group them together, discount the price, and your customers will be excited to be getting a good deal. Think about it from your standpoint... you've sold three or four items rather than one. Yeah, combination offers are winning deals for everyone! Could be as simple as a computer tune-up WITH a year of virus software included. 2. Address the Small Customer Groups Niche markets are everywhere, right under your nose! Within the customer audience that you serve right now are groups of people who share common traits. Think about it... maybe you have a group who speaks Spanish, a group of teens, and a group of middle class family men and women. Evaluate these classes of people, and discover the unique needs and desires they share. That will set you up to customize your advertising campaign directly to them. It’s not hard to take your current ads, and make a few changes to adjust to the niches. They’ll be impressed that you understand THEM, and the increase in your profits will be the best thanks you can get.
3. Set Up a Winning Referral Program Successful owners develop the ability to turn their customers into advocates. Often, they don't even have to directly ask customers to refer them to others. Their willingness to go the extra wins customer loyalty and support. Naturally, satisfied customers refer their friends and family to the place that will take good care of them. Quality service and is the first step toward referrals, but you can easily take it one step further. Studies show that every satisfied customer tells three people about you. What would happen with a little incentive added to the picture? Yeah, a lot more. Give customers who refer friends a thank you - whether it's a discount, special gift item, or a simple thank you card - and watch the referrals spiral! You can get two birds with one stone by implementing customer surveys. A few quick questions about what the customer does and doesn't like about your product, followed by a request for the names and addresses of friends and family who would benefit from the product, and you're all set to go with the contact information of a prospective customer!
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ACRBO Deals
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Have a story to share with others about your computer business that might help them in the future. Submit it and we will publish it in next month’s issues right in this location. Send to dan@acrbo.com
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In business time is one commodity that you do not ever have enough of. There will always be enough projects, meetings, loose ends, appointments and more, but never enough time. How to make time for things that you never found time for before. How to not stress out at the end of each day because you did not finish what you started. Start Today “Time Is Precious”…www.TimeIsPrecious.info
Inside this article we are going to examine what needs to be implemented to be successful online. This system is really easy and one that people don't bother about too much. By telling you what to search for online, this is going to be a smart way for you to master how to set up a small online business.
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Define Social Marketing - Old Wine Generally, social marketing can be defined as a new concept (not so new though) to market or promote an endeavor using the internet and the web2.0 based tools. Started with this small approach, social marketing has now gained a new level as many people across the world are joining the worldwide business chain with several new ideas and strategies. The purpose of social marketing is to provide fast and quality service using the World Wide Web. All the enterprises of online business market are aiming to be part of global economy and take their business to next level with the help of social media marketing. In essence, social marketing is the key word to get a worldwide platform and succeed in business. Apart from this brief definition social marketing has different other wings that needs a proper co-ordination for proper marketing. Social media sites were basically created an online network of people who wanted to communicate with each other and stay in touch. Business owners and corporate houses used the social media tools for marketing their businesses, services or products. Just from its beginning, social marketing has succeeded to create a difference in the world of business. Businesses houses that made careful and strategic use of social media sites created a revolution in the marketing world but at the same time careless and casual dealing spelled doom for many businesses. If you are a newcomer to the world of social media marketing then you need not worry a lot about the results of your efforts because there are thousands of online resources from where you would be able to learn some vital tips and tricks to crack the social networking or social marketing nut. Online reviews, e-books available on "social marketing" would provide you with a comprehensive picture of social media marketing world. The pros and cons of this business and survival strategies are also discussed thoroughly in these books, journals or articles. Here, in this blog we will discuss the two most potential social media - Facebook and Twitter and strategies that would get surprising fast results from.
Facebook: Let's start with Facebook that has been ranked as the second most popular (Google is still number 1) social media site for its popularity. With the introduction of Facebook, social marketing has taken a new turn and the generation now defines social marketing in a single word, which is Facebook.
Facebook:
Business owners are making the most out of Facebook and opportunity measure their ran Let'staking startthe with Facebookto that has been performance from both positive and negative second most popular (Google is still numbe comments on their products and services. Using media site for its popularity. With the intro Facebook, clients can research on the needs and has takenAta ne demands ofFacebook, customers,social which marketing changes frequently. defines socialonmarketing the same the timegeneration one can now provide updates the word, which is Facebook. upcoming services or products fan pages to keep the visitors engaged. Spending a few extra dollars on Business owners areabout making most out of Facebook and let visitor's know yourthe company directly fromand Facebook. taking the opportunity to meas
performance from both positive and comments on their products and servic Facebook, clients can research on the n As a socialdemands media site,ofTwitter has been ranked tenth freq customers, which changes and is being used widely to deliver short messages at the same time one can provide update incredible speed. A short message of 140 characters upcoming services or products fan pages to reaches the inbox of your consumers in a minute and engaged. Spending few extra the tweets visitors will spread to the mass in an aexplosive Facebook and let visitor's know manner. There is no other cost-effective andabout time- you directly from Facebook. saving marketing idea than tweeting about a product. Twitter:
Twitter hasTwitter: more preference among the busy users who prefer to get product updates just right to the point. The As most fact site, aboutTwitter twitter is that it ra a important social media has been always contains so to thedeliver customers and isrelevant being messages, used widely short me will read them thoroughly, of message just ignoring incredible speed.instead A short of 140 them. reaches the inbox of your consumers in a m
the tweets will spread to the mass in an
Now, it depends on your business and the product manner. There is no other cost-effective when you get down to choosing between Facebook marketing ideasuits thanyour tweeting about a and Twittersaving - choose the one that business needs perfectly.
Twitter has more preference among the b who prefer to get product updates just ri point. The most important fact about twitte always contains relevant messages, so the will read them thoroughly, instead of jus them.
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If you want to start your own small business, the market for a business is something you should consider. If there is no market for your business, you will not have any success with it. So, make sure that the people in your area will want to purchase the products or services that you will offer them. This is a very important part of having any sort of success with a business - possibly the most important in some cases, because it can often determine the success or failure of a business.
Owning and running your own small business is a great thing to do, but it is not always easy. If you want to have success with your small business, there are some ways to do it, though. Here are some small business tips to maximize your profits and minimize your headache, even early on with the business. The first of the small business tips that you need to remember is that in the early time of the business, you want to keep your profits as high as possible. This is not always an easy thing to do because often, especially when your business has first opened, your customers are pretty low, and therefore your money is pretty low. In order to make this happen, keep your spending as low as you can. Avoid buying anything that is unnecessary in order to keep all the money that you can. Another of the great small business tips that you can use is about advertising. If you want to get customers, which are necessary for the success of many businesses, you will have to advertise in order to get them. Advertising is something that you should always make room for in your budget. Of course, finding the most affordable methods of advertising early on will make quite a bit of difference. It may take more work, though.
Another of the great business tips that you can use is to always take advantage of the Internet. Even if your business is not one that would benefit in any way from a website, it is a great idea to advertise on the Internet. This can greatly expand your ability to get customers. And what's even better Internet advertising is far more affordable than many local newspapers. This is advantageous for additional advertising at a great price, which is especially great for young businesses that don't have a lot of money to spend on advertising. If you have a successful small business, then you will experience all of the great advantages of it. But, you have to have a successful small business in order for that to happen. These small business tips will help you make your business more successful so that you will actually make money. Keep all of these in mind when you buy a business or when you start one of your own. They will be helpful in both cases to get your business established and help you actually make money.
The Industry Site: www.TechNibble.com Who Is Technibble For? Technibble is a free resource for Computer Technicians and Computer Business Owners. 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. Technibble helps you by covering topics such as: - 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 “the trenches� 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. .
www.Technibble.com
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What To Do About Java? In recent months the programming language Java has been in the news a lot, mostly because of its association with virus infections. By most reliable accounts, over one-half of all recent malware infections have been accomplished by exploiting vulnerabilities in Java. Java was first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995, which was subsequently acquired by database software company Oracle. According to the Oracle web site, “Java runs on more than 850 million personal computers worldwide, and on billions of devices worldwide, including mobile and TV devices. Contrary to a widely-held belief, Apple computers are not immune to virus infection. In fact, the most widespread infection of Macs to date involved 670,000 infected computers that unwittingly became members of a botnet known as Flashback. The Flashback virus was actually a Trojan Horse, installed as a “drive-by download,” without the user’s knowledge or permission. The virus accomplished this objective by taking advantage of known security holes in Java, adjusting its behavior as necessary to fit the environment of the target computer. These vulnerabilities are commonly exploited on Windowsbased PCs, and many IT professionals question whether Java will ever be secure enough to be trusted on the average user’s computer. As much as Oracle tries to find and patch all the holes in Java, the bad guys keep finding more of them. Further complicating the issue is the fact that some applications are incompatible with Java 7 altogether and still require the older Java Version 6. Oracle has continued to update Java 6 as well as Java 7, with the latest update being Java 6 Update 41. But they have announced that there will be no new public updates of Java 6 after February, 2013. So, what should you and your users do about Java? You will hear various opinions on the subject. The right answer, of course, is “it depends.” The unfortunate reality is that many programs, devices, and web sites use Java in one form or another. While some experts recommend removing Java from your computers altogether, that approach may not be practical in some cases. But a reasonable first step might be to uninstall Java from your computer and see whether you lose any functionality.
Do all of the programs you normally use continue to run normally without Java installed? If so, that’s a promising sign. What about web sites? Any of your favorites quit working when Java isn’t there? Here’s a hint – GoToWebinar won’t work without Java. And there are many others.
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One of the improvements in the recent Java updates is a wider range of options related to security. There is now a Security tab in the Java dashboard, with a slider that allows you to select a Security Level from Low to Very High. The default setting is High (recommended), and an Advanced option gives you more granularity in the detailed settings. There is also an option to “Enable Java content in the browser,” with a check-mark in that box by default. Deselecting that option will greatly improve the security of that computer, albeit at the risk of breaking some web pages. But this is a prudent step for you to take if possible. Another new option allows you to specify how often to have Java check for updates. The default was originally once per month and has since been increased to once per week. But now you can set it to check for updates every day if you like. Considering how frequently new exploits are discovered, you may want to set all of your computers to check for Java updates daily. The increased overhead is minimal, and the potential for keeping the computer secure against Javabased attacks is significant. It’s important to note that there is no option to install Java updates automatically, only to notify the user that a new version is available. So be sure your users know to look in the System Tray on a regular basis and allow a Java update to install any time it is offered. Keeping Java up to date is every bit as important to security as a serious, commercial-grade (not free, in other words) anti-virus program and Windows Updates. Disabling or removing it altogether is a more secure solution, but one that may not be practical for many users.
Copyright 2013 by Ken Dwight, “The Virus Doctor™,” Houston, Texas. All rights reserved. Ken is a Computer Consultant, Speaker, and Trainer, and creator of the Virus Remediation Training workshop for computer support technicians. For reprint rights, information about upcoming workshops, or to inquire about booking Ken for your next Conference, Convention, or Company Meeting, contact us at www.thevirusdoc.com or phone (281) 5370252.
SMALL BUSINESS MARKETING: SAVING MONEY ON ADVERTISEMENT Every form of advertising has an element of waste. As soon as you buy the ad, there’s a certain percentage of people that will see your message but simply will not care. As I leaf through the newspaper and spot an ad for a new car, I don’t really look at it since I’m not currently in the market for a new car. That advertising money is gone up front. As soon as you buy the ad, you can almost hear some of the money being blown out the window. So for all that you probably hear about targeting your advertising and marketing efforts, what you really need to know is which advertising opportunities have the least waste.
STAY LOCAL – Before you go and place an ad in the newspaper or on radio, ask yourself: Who will hear or see this ad? If you service a relatively small area, don’t buy ads on a radio station that reaches far beyond the area in which you do business (your “trade area”.) Same goes for the newspaper. You are paying for coverage that you are not interested in. Buy local ads that local customers will be exposed to.
Spend on Publicity – As I mentioned before, publicity is free and offers your business a great chance to get local recognition. But it won’t work without well-crafted news releases. So don’t be afraid to spend a few bucks to get a writer working for you on a freelance basis if you need that support to generate news releases and spot story ideas. NEGOTIATE AD PRICE – Buying ads is a bit like buying a used car. The price really isn’t the price. It’s the starting point. So be sure to negotiate on the asking price for the ad.
Don’t be afraid to spend a few bucks to get a writer working for you on a freelance basis if you need that support to generate news releases and spot story ideas.
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AVOID THIS 4-LETTER WORD Several email marketing providers offer a spam score before you send your email. Make sure you're within the limits and make changes to reduce your spam score. So what is spam? According to Wikipedia, Spam is the use of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages, especially advertising, indiscriminately. However, reality is that spam is anything the reader thinks it is.
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Use double opt-ins. When someone signs up, have them to confirm their email address.
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Set expectations. If someone is signing up for a monthly ezine, and you decide you want to do weekly tips, ask the subscriber to opt into that list. Don't just assume because they signed up for the monthly ezine that they want to receive weekly tips.
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Make sure your email looks reputable.
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Don't try to hide your unsubscribe link. Make it visible so someone can easily unsubscribe rather than report you as spam through their ISP.
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Brand your subject line. Be sure to include your company name or initials or your ezine title in the subject line so people know what they're opening. For example, this week's subject line of my ezine was "[GCOS] Avoid this 4-letter word".
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Avoid known spam triggers. When creating your content, be sure your content and formatting do not trigger the spam filters. For instance, if your picture ratio outweighs your word ratio, it could trigger the spam filters. And of course, we know certain words will do that, which I won't include here!!
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Check your spam rating. Several email marketing providers offer a spam score before you send your email. Make sure you're within the limits and make changes to reduce your spam score.
Maybe you've sent out an ezine and it's been marked as spam and you want to yell, "I'm not a spammer! I didn't spam you! You signed up to receive this information!" Do you know that feeling? There are some common reasons people report emails as spam.
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Length of time between emails. If you haven't sent to your list in several months, chances are they've forgotten who you are.
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Change in sender. Did you change your email address or have emails coming from a different address? They don't recognize you.
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Content is not what they expected. Set clear expectations of what they're signing up for and what they will receive. In my instance, I have a Virtual Assistant company. My ezine includes business tips for entrepreneurs. I also co-founded a non-profit that does equine assisted therapy. If I started emailing my entrepreneurs about the therapy, they might not be too happy!
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Recipient didn't ask for email. If you've purchased a list, then the recipient definitely did not ask to receive emails from you. Make sure you're only emailing to people who WANT to hear from you.
Along with the above tips, there are a few more things you can do to alleviate the possibility of someone reporting you as spam.
While there's no set and sound rule to avoid being reported as spam, following these tips will lessen those chances! What things do you do to avoid the spam trap?
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Reputation Changer - When Is It Time to Call A Reputation Defender? Keeping your name positive, protected and well managed online is not an easy task. To protect their name, a lot of people opt for online reputation management firms. However, a lot of other steps exist to take matters into your very own hands. Here are some of the best strategies in protecting your reputation. Follow these reputation changer steps to begin making positive changes in your online reputation now. Get your brand name under control. Your competitors would love to squat onto sites that haven't been registered. Even more so, they might create defamatory or fake accounts making use of your actual name. A lot of new laws that protect against these practices are beginning to emerge, but making the changes frequently takes a long time and is also a very daunting process.
Make it a point to fully comprehend and manage your social media privacy. You have to know how to remove negative reviews, feedback, comments, etc. The best thing you could do is to get your brand name under control across multiple sites by registering your name and related information across various websites. This may include social networking sites, other websites and more. You must be aware about which social media sites are frequently used and are also currently hot. Use your social media connections. Plenty of companies out there today do not completely understand social media. Direct interaction beyond promotional posts is how social media defines itself. Utilize these sites as mediums to interact directly with your customers. Resolve a potentially negative scenario directly and professionally, if there are any. Doing so will add real value to both your name and brand.
Monitor your privacy online. Promoting, discussing and boosting your brand's image are what a social media site is great for. But do you have any idea about how privacy works in sharing for sites such as these? Managing your privacy online has earned somewhat of a bad name in the recent years. However, the good news is that it's only served to help people, businesses as well as organizations protect their privacy even more. Make it a point to fully comprehend and manage your social media privacy. You have to know how to remove negative reviews, feedback, comments, etc. A preventive measure such as this one grows increasingly more important each day. Be aware of any changes, new posts, etc. Do you realize that social media isn't actually a "once and you are done" phenomenon? Neglected or under-posted accounts could prove extremely dangerous for your image. You need to be absolutely active in interacting, posting and responding to your customers, but you also need to be aware of new posts, responses as well as other various information. A targeted reputation management account, in the end, can accomplish all of these for you and more. However, that doesn't necessarily mean you are actually off the hook in taking the important reputation defender steps outlined above. You may need to find a reputation management specialist that will help you place control back into the palm of your hands.
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