domain registration scam

There are so many unsavory people out there… occasionally we get a call from a client wondering if an email or letter is legit. When we get one ourselves, we try to post them here so you know to be on the look out – Here is an email we got a couple days ago:

Dear CEO,

We are a domain name registrar centre in HongKong which mainly deal with the domain name registration and dispute internationally, we have an important issue to confirm with you.

1. On the July 14,We received a formal application from a company named ” … Continue Reading

SEO Myths

What are Myths? One theory claims that myths are distorted accounts of real historical events. Storytellers repeatedly elaborated upon historical accounts until they become distorted. One of the foremost functions of a myth is to establish models for behavior. In the SEO world, this very definition lays the foundation for the birth of SEO Myths.

Search engines and the “Logic” that runs them – search algorithms, constantly change and “evolve”. They do (and have to do) this, to keep up with the ever changing standards of the World Wide Web and also to stay ahead of black … Continue Reading

Servers down…

Our Data Center performed a physical move of our servers last night. The maintenance window was to be from 11 PM Pacific until 1 AM Pacific. With an expected down time of 20-30 minutes. Had all gone as planned this window is the lowest traffic window for our servers.

Unfortunately, all did not go well. And one the Windows Apps server did not reboot. Technicians are working on the problem but I do not yet have an ETA for the servers to be back on line. The contingency plan is to install a new server but that will take time … Continue Reading

Is “Live” phone support the next big thing?

NSNA CEO Bob Reynolds and I recently traveled to Nashville to take part in the CPrint Sales Summit. (Read the Press Release) We were pitching our ProFusion Dealer Program to these CPrinters which would essentially allow them to sell a technical product (websites, hosting, email marketing, etc.) to a non-technical audience. The printing industry has been hurting over the past several years with more and more companies opting not to print brochures and with more of them moving items they would traditionally print, to the web. So we saw the print industry as a natural fit to be resellers … Continue Reading

Family owned and operated

I was listening to talk radio yesterday morning (like I do every morning) and heard 2 separate ads that made all the standard claims “best quality, lowest price, etc.” but then they both ended with “Family owned and operated for XX years.”.

I wondered if anyone cared about this anymore? If all things were equal and you were making a purchase, would you opt to go with the product that was manufactured by the Family Owned and Operated Company? Does family owned and operated somehow equate to good service and tangible value? I’m not sure it does.

I think the … Continue Reading

Video Sitemaps

Videos and video content are one of the most popular rich media formats in the web world. If you are not getting the traffic that you would like to for your videos, the search engines are probably ignoring your video content. There are millions and millions of videos on the web already.  So how do you get yours to get indexed in video searches?

Similar to XML Sitemaps,  a video sitemap gives the search engines, specifically Google, more information about the video content in your web pages. By submitting this video-specific sitemap in addition to your standard XML Sitemaps, you can … Continue Reading

damn hackers – a response to the Network Solutions server hack

Why don’t you guys provide FTP access like all the other hosting companies? Why is your hosting more expensive than…?

We get asked these question and ones like it all the time. And the simple fact is that hosting appears to be a commodity until you have a problem. Recently one of the Industry giants was attacked by a virus infecting thousands of WordPress Blogs. Then re-attacked infecting several other open source applications like Joomla and simple HTML sites. According to Eddie Schwartz, chief security officer with NetWitness, hacks like that of [Network Solutions] are all too common. “We see these … Continue Reading

Thoughts from the shower – pros and cons to empowering your employees

water proof notepadI love taking a shower. Not only does the water on my head and body feel good, but it seems to be the ultimate stimulant for getting the brain to think about things I normally do not have time to consider. This morning, I found myself contemplating business relationships. We have spent the last 6 years building a company. Yet many people, who do business with us, consider the person they deal with the company.

A case in point, recently I read a Linked In recommendation … Continue Reading

Useful tools for PC users

People often ask me what tools I use to make my life on a PC easier… well here is a list of some of my favs.

1. PixResizer (http://bluefive.pair.com/pixresizer.htm) easily allows you to resize one or multiple images. Please, please use this or http://profusionproducts.com/resizer/ to resize your images before you load them onto your website.

2. TweetDeck – I manage a few Twitter and FaceBook accounts and TweetDeck makes this simple from one interface

3. Pixie – (http://www.nattyware.com/pixie.php) ever wonder what the hex, RGB, or CMYK value of the color on your favorite website is? Well wonder no more, Pixie is a … Continue Reading

But I’m not technical… and other excuses that will cripple your sales.

My degree in psychology does not qualify me to sell a technical product. When I first got in this industry (almost 6 years and 2,300 websites ago) I thought, boy, do I have a lot to learn. And that was true, and I almost let it cripple me.

Now, for those of you who do not know me directly, I am not short on confidence. My parents told me I could do anything, and I believed them. So when given the opportunity to start a company selling web solutions, I said why not and jumped in with both feet. Unfortunately, the … Continue Reading