I can't tell you why it took me so long to write this BLOG post.  This may be the best advice you will ever get when it comes to protecting your computer.

 

When you ask your Dialup, DSL, or Cable company to provide internet service, you are often given single black box called a "Modem".  For the sake of this article let's refer to this box as your "Cable Modem".

 

Your cable modem is connected to the cable from your provder and your computer is plugged into this modem.  This is the most typical installation you will receive.

 

 

 

 

Once installed, your computer is DIRECTLY connected to the world via this little black box.  Your computer assumes what is called an IP address (Unique address given to your computer).

 

So far it sounds exactly what you asked for right?  Let me explain the risk.

 

If a burglar is looking to rob a gas station they may often visit the gas station beforehand to learn about it.  How many people work thee and when.  Whether or not they have video cameras.  Is there a security system?  Is a man or woman behind the counter?  Do they have a gun?

 

This is all information that a prospective burglar may use to increase the success of their dastardly deed.  Usiing just a modem to connect to the internet may provide this "view" for potential internet attackers.

 

Imagine if the same building had no windows.  No chance to look inside.  No way to obtain ANY information about what goes on inside the building?

 

First, the burglar wouldn't have much motivation to burglarize this location.  And if the burglar assumed there was something of value there -- they could not determine what security challenges they might face.  See the difference?

 

That is what a firewall is designed to do.  Now, firewalls come in many forms.  Software firewalls that you load onto your computer.  Hardware firewalls that you purchase from the store.

 

Hardware firewalls are a good idea. However many can be cost prohibitive.

 

Installing a "Router" offers many of the same benefits.  A router is a device usually used to allow more than one computer to connect to the internet using ONLY ONE IP address. 

 

A router allows you to connect more than one computer to the internet and isolate your computers at the same time.  This is much more secure.

 

 

This makes your computer invisible to people that try to figure out what kind of computer you have.  If an attacker doesn't know what kind of computer you have -- it makes it more difficult to attack it. 

 

I'm not saying it's impossible -- however a potential attacker would prefer to prey on the "easy targets".  Don't be that easy target.

 

EVERYONE should install a router inbetween their Modem and Computer(s).

 

First, it offers security.  Second you benefit with the option to connect more computers to your network.  Even wirelessly.

 

If you don't have a router or firewall (hardware) -- then you should invest in a router as soon as you can.  They run from $30-$100 depending on a few factors.   Most people spend around $50.00.

 

You should still install good antivirus, firewall and anti-spyware software.  A router keeps people from peeking at your computer to see what's under the hood -- reducing the risk of an outside attack.

 

In my opinion everyone should use a router as their first line of defense.

 

Shane Merem

www.magnusoft.com

www.websiteforge.com

Web Site Design and E-Commerce

Our training classes program seems to have taken off quite well and class participants are not only learning from me but from each other!  I have currently been offering only two classes a week one for content and one for ecommerce; however, starting in January I will be adding one more type of "class" twice a month called Odds 'n Ends.  This is designed to allow participants to ask questions about anything in general about their sites or how to use parts of it.  This session is not necessarily designed as tech support session but more along the lines of working on modules that are not covered in the other two classes.

 

If you'd like to join one of these two classes, please visit http://support.websiteforge.com/trainingclasses.html and fill out the feedback form.  Also, if you have any suggestions on what you'd like to have included in a training class or possibly a class that you think that should be offered, then please feel free to post a message to this blog.

 

Thanks,

 

Olivia E Guerrero

Customer Service

Project Manager Assistant

Training Specialist

 

www.websiteforge.com

http://support.websiteforge.com/trainingclasses.html

Over the course of two years now, I have trained so many clients of Website Forge that I couldn't even begin to count.  I know Cindy feels the same way, and is of the same opinion as I am on how to help out our days of training.  We have started a new program with regard to training.  We now offer training classes to new clients as well as existing and "old" clients.  I've conducted a couple so far this month and the response has been pleasantly surprising.  Not only are you able to have a WF team member train you in content management and ecommerce management, but you are able to listen to questions from your fellow classmates that you may not even have thought of before.  What I'm hoping is to have some of our veteran WF users join some of the trainings to help the new clients learn some of the tricks of the trade that the veterans have learned.

 

At the moment, I am only offering content management and ecommerce management classes.  Content management usually lasts about an hour with time to ask questions during and definitely after the presentation.  The ecommerce management class lasts about an hour and a half with questions during and after.  Shane would love for a class on just odds and ends, and I am contemplating a class to cover the membership module and possibly the blog module combined.

 

Also, ad module users if you'd like for me to conduct a class over the ad module I'd like some input from you on what items or subject matters you'd like to cover.  For those of you who don't use the ad module, it's a very large module and should probably be handled in steps rather than try to throw it into an hour and a half class.  So my question to the current users and possible future users is what or how should I break it up?

 

Along with the training classes, I am in the process of remaking several of the tutorial videos and updating the help files.  It's a long task and with the break in day long one on one trainings I should be able to take care of them faster.

 

As always, I'm open to any questions, suggestions, and learning in general so feel free to leave comments or email me.

Have a good week!

Olivia E Guerrero
Customer Service
Project Manager Assistant
Training Specialist

 

www.websiteforge.com
http://support.websiteforge.com
http://support.websiteforge.com/trainingclasses.html

It's true!  And I have PROOF!

 

Because of the updates we affected last Sunday to all the Website Forge web sites -- you are getting more traffic because your products and keywords are more effective than ever in Yahoo!, Google, MSN and more!

 

Imagine:  Your Website Forge web site is moving to a higher position in the major search engines right now as you read this article! 

Brian Shockly at www.shopbakersnook.com just sent me via email:

 

I have been following the new SEO updates for about 15 hours a day since they took effect.   I have noticed on various hot search terms that we have moved up a number of places ahead of our competition. It looks like the WF guys are top of things as always :).   I will let you know in about 30 days or so about the further effects of the SEO updates on my site.   Shane when you go public with WF I would like a piece of the cake :)   Thank you Brian

 

 

JUST BECAUSE IT'S SIMPLE DOESN'T MEAN IT IS EASY!  You still need to work at marketing your web site in the search engines.

 

Buying a car with all the latest features doesn't make you a better driver -- it just makes driving easier. 

 

Fact: Your Website Forge site is loaded with technology that exponentially increases your ability to rank well in the search engines

 

Fact: Garbage in -- Garbage out

 

You need good content to have good search engine results!  If you don't take the time as a business owner to make sure your web site and product descriptions are written with plenty of keywords  then your web site will not be relevent to search engines.  It's that simple.

 

If you have not yet talked to our SEO expert, email us at support@websiteforge.com and we will schedule a time for Kevin Gannon to contact you and see what things you can do to make the most out of your Website Forge web site. 

 

He will give you free advice and offer a strategy.  I cannot name any business  that is successful without good marketing of some kind.

 

Shane Merem

www.websiteforge.com

Web Design and E-commerce

Recently, I was asked what I considered good customer service to be considering what type of industry I work in today.

 

I'm sure many of you will have similar stories to the one I will illustrate briefly.  It's about how I learned what real customer service was and is today.

 

While my first "real" job was that of an apple picker where the only customer service I had to learn was not falling off of a ladder onto a bushel of apples!  The jobs that I had following that position each in turn taught me more than my college education ever taught me.  But college is really all about partying...right?  Oh sorry!

 

I started my customer service education working for a gas station in my home town.  While it's not the most glamorous types of jobs, it certainly opened my eyes to what kinds of horrible monsters people can turn into while shopping for gasoline.  For those in the gas station business, and those who aren't or haven't been, most stations make around 10 - 15% of their profits from the actual gas purchases.  (that percentage is generous)  Most of their profits come from the items inside the store.  So, knowing this information I wondered on a regular basis why I and my young crew would consistently be yelled at, harassed, and treated with disdain for the price of gasoline when in fact many of us were making just a buck or two over minimum wage and living on our own and did not receive gas discounts.  While some of my crew were let go because of their treatment of customers who behaved this way, the rest of learned VERY fast how to be quick thinking and amiable to our customer-base.

 

My next position to hone my customer service skills was located, in all places, the career center for my college.  I helped my fellow students learn what they needed to know for interviewing, work ethics, resume formatting, etc.  From my fellow co-workers, I learned how to handle irrate people over the phone, how to speak pleasantly in the face of grumpy students, and of course, how to like the job I was in at the moment.

 

However, where I learned the most about business to business customer service, and that helps me most here at Website Forge, was when I worked for a large Chamber of Commerce in the Business and Education department.  Not only was I expected to show the highest customer service skills, I also expected that from the businesses that I worked with day in and day out.  What it instilled in me with that position is that business owners should consistently demonstrate excellent customer service to everyone they meet.  After all, you never know who maybe a potential client or someone who could further your company.  Also, I learned that customer service goes both ways.  Just because someone is giving you service doesn't mean that you are allowed to treat them any less when the answer or answers they give were not what you were hoping for. 

 

Now, with Website Forge customer service is a little bit different as all of you know.  Very rarely, if ever, will you see someone face to face with our company.  Most of the time you don't even hear our voices!  Our front line customer service person is located in a chat room where on any given day he may be speaking to one or five different people at once.  Our project team try very hard to take care of most of your needs through our project portal system and schedule calls when appropriate.  We are working in a virtual reality where customer service sometimes has to be remade everyday. 

 

However, the same rule applies...good customer service will beget good customer service.

 

I wish you a good day!

 

 

Olivia E Guerrero
Customer Service
Project Manager Assistant
Training Specialist
Website Forge LLC

There are two search engine technologies you absolutely must take advantage of if you are serious about marketing your web site.  They are absolutely free.

 

Froogle (renamed Google Product Search) and Google Sitemaps.

 

 

Froogle is a version of Google that focuses on your product catalog.  If you provide an upload of your entire database formatted specifically for Froogle, your products will be indexed exactly how they should.  Froogle will insert every one of your products into the Google database exactly the way you intended. 

 

Google Sitmaps is another technology, if taken advantage of, will assure that every page of your entire web site is visited by the Google search engine.  No more wondering if your entire web site has been spidered and indexed by Google.

 

You will significantly increase your search engine penetration with Froogle and Google Sitemaps.  It's a must have.

 

Why don't more web developers encourge the use of Google Sitemaps and Froogle?  My guess is that the average web site developer does not have the programming skills to automate the delivery of these files. It wouldn't make sense for a web developer to suggest something they cannot provide themselves. 

 

Your Website Forge web site is fully Froogle and Google Sitemaps compatible "out of the box".  This means there is no coding neccessary to utilize these powerful search engine technologies.  It's just a matter of configuration.

 

If you are interested in configuring your web site to use Froogle and/or Google Sitemaps, please contact support@websiteforge.com and we will have one of our search engine specialists help you get it setup.

 

YOU CANNOT AFFORD to omit Google Sitemaps and Froogle from your search engine efforts!  It's a free boost up in the search engines.

 

Shane Merem

www.websiteforge.com

Web Design and E-commerce

Hi Website Forge customers!

 

I have had the chance implement "scheduled inventory downloads" recently.

 

What is a "scheduled inventory download"?  Well many of you buy your parts from a wholesaler or manufacturer.  If your wholesaler changes prices, adds, or removes products from that database you would need to find out what those items are and make changes to your Website Forge catalog.

 

We can write special code that speaks directly to your wholesaler or manufacturer on a daily basis to automate things like price changes, additions or deletions.  Every day your product database can be automatically updated saving your hours of time.

 

This process is not a fit for everyone -- however the people that are a good fit can save hundreds of hours per year of database maintenance (if they do it at all).

 

If you have questions about an inventory update or any other automated process that may save you time and money, please post your comments and questions.

 

Thanks,

Shane Merem

www.websiteforge.com

Web Site Design and E-commerce

How many CEO's call a customer after they place an order with their company and thank them in person? Answer: Not very many. Do you ever wonder why? Do you even care? Let me give you some reasons to care and lets see if I can convince you why you should care.

 

     In this day and age of e-mail and computers things are becoming very sterile in terms of selling a product. Even the cash registers at your local super market say thank you on the display card so the cashier does not need take the time to thank you. Why is that? In my humble opinion I say, we have lost focus on the most important Factor. The human Factor. (It may be linked to the black helicopters but I just can't prove that yet lol :))

 

     What can we do to correct this? What advantage does my company have if I take the time to do this?

 

     To answer the first question may I suggest that you take to the time to call a few of your customers  every month and personally thank them for ordering from you. Most are in shock that the CEO himself/herself is taking the time to talk to the customer and not wanting to sell them more stuff. Once they get past the point of being shocked they become a gold mine of information and insight about your company and how things are being run.

 

     The answer to the second question above is those people who you just called via phone and spoke with will most likely get on the net and write in a blog somewhere that you called them and it was really a nice thing that a CEO of a company took the time out to personally call them and take the time just to talk to them. This is great for your company in terms of free marketing for your company. It is also makes you feel good inside as a person! Now you have something to look forward too every month. I do this every month and it is so much fun. 99% of the people I speak with have so much fun talking with me and I have so much fun talking to them. So lets all set a new goal for next month! Lets call and make a customer happy! A happy customer is a paying customer for life!

 

My next article will be about Whales. It is such a cool marketing concept. Hint: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

 

Brian :)

We all know how effective using the chat software I have on my site is effective at following customer shopping habits. But did you know you can go keyword mining with it? Keyword mining on your site is like striking gold! Best of all it is free! Because you the owner are doing the work. :)  Learning a new word to associate with your products can and will help you sell more products effectively. I learn about 5-6 new words a day that need to be placed with my products.

 

Below is an example of what I am talking about. 

 

When a customer comes to my site and I see the word they used to get to my site I then quickly add that word to that specific product they were searching for.  Then all of the sudden that product appears right in front of them when they search for it on my site. That is really cool to see.

 

They way people use the English language is very fractured by region in the country. It is the best explained as the tomato vs tow-matoo argument or vase vs's Vahhhse. This is the problem we have as a website owner's. How do you learn these regional language differences? How do we effectively apply the various regional use of the English language to our sites? The first step is to install the chat software and watch, watch, watch and learn the new words and do more watching. I will go more in depth if you e-mail me at sales @ ShopBakersNook.com if I can confirm that you are a WF customer I will tell you the exact system we use. I know other people from the other side are watching me now. I don't need to be giving up all of my secrets to them. :) I also live in constant fear of black helicopters landing on my lawn too. LOL :)

 

As always thank you for taking the time to read this.

 

Brian