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5 Effective Lead Generation Strategies To Consider In 2017

April 11, 2017

Thomas Fox is president of Tech Experts, southeast Michigan’s leading small business computer support company.

Looking to grab new leads? Forget the more traditional marketing approaches. The majority of them are no longer as effective as they once were. Instead, try something new.

Here are five extremely effective lead-generation strategies for 2017.

Blogs
Although the suggestion to start a blog is hardly groundbreaking, it remains one of the best methods of generating leads and one that is all too often overlooked, even today.

Publishing regular articles provides you with an opportunity to reach your audience and establish your expertise.

In addition, you can encourage readers to sign up for your newsletter or input their email address to access some high-value content. [Read more…] about 5 Effective Lead Generation Strategies To Consider In 2017

Why Is A Server Important For Your Business?

April 11, 2017

Anthony Glover is Tech Expert’s network engineer.

A server is a very important asset to any small business as it provides many features that can help your business run safely and efficiently.

For instance, when lending out a new or existing computer to employees, you can prevent unnecessary access, change passwords, or unlock accounts in one location. This allows management of the computers, enabling full control at all times.

It also allows you to have a centralized location for many of your functions: the server. You can share files and applications and reduce redundancy for all files. Since servers primarily run in a RAID configuration of some sort, you will have extra protection for your most important files.

Another great thing about a server is you can set up a domain for your business, enabling automation features like backups in one place.

This also allows for profiles, including files and applications, to be accessible from any workstation connected to the server. Not to mention, a server will keep you organized and running more efficiently in general by keeping your email, contacts, calendars, and files safe.

Data transferring to and from a server is much faster than transferring from a computer due the overall design of a server. Servers are built for speed, reliability, and security purposes.

This means you are going to get through the day with your time and resources spent more wisely, allowing you to continue with what matters in your business.

This efficiency and organization will increase customer relationships and help build retention with new and potential customers.

Best of all, you can set up a server to curve toward your needs. You can use a server for hosting your own websites, as a backup server, fileserver, or even run your database. You can also upgrade (to an extent) if your needs grow.

Keep in mind, these are only some of the many server configurations available for your server.

File or Backup Server
This server is for file-sharing, active directory, and domain services. It’s primarily used for backups and storage of user files.

This is the best option if you are going to need safe storage services for your business since a server is going to have redundancy storage to keep data safe.

Database Server
This server configuration is for database storage and management of SQL, Oracle, etc. This is a necessary option if you are utilizing a database for your business.

Again, utilizing a server is going to allow safe keeping of your files – this includes your critical files such as your database files.

Web Server
This configuration is for webhosting services and will allow hosting and management of a website from your office.

This is a great option for running web-based applications through your server. This option can also be done off-site by a website host if you prefer to go that route for faster access or security.

Utilizing a server is important for your business and choosing a server can be tough, let alone installing one yourself. Let Tech Experts help you decide and make sure you get the best option possible for your small business.

Why Rebooting Your Computer Solves Many Issues

April 11, 2017

Luke Gruden is a help desk technician for Tech Experts.

If you have ever had IT help you with a computer issue, you may have noticed that one of the first things we usually recommend is rebooting the computer. That means shutting down the computer completely and turning it back on. This usually resolves most issues the computer could be having, but why is rebooting so effective?

In our day-to-day life, we are accustomed to our computers working all the time, consistently running programs with little to no faults. It comes as a big surprise when our computer does have an issue – especially when it seems like it should never have an issue in the first place. It may not seem like it, but computers are indeed machines and can have an occasional hiccup, like a car making a strange sound for a brief time. There are many hardware reasons why a computer may act up. Sometimes, the computer receives too much voltage for brief second.

Sometimes, the CPU – while operating under a heavy load – may mess up a bit or two, causing a program to not function normally. Or the hard-drive could have been directed to the wrong sector.

More common than a hardware hiccup is a software hiccup, where a program uses too many resources (or not enough resources) and can cause some processes to freeze or be unusable. The data with the program information is unreadable to the computer, but the program does not know this. When these sort of hiccups occur, it seems there is nothing that can be done to have the program run normally.

This is where a reboot can solve an issue. Turning off the computer forces all of the stuck and misread data to be flushed out. When the computer starts up again, the data that was being mismanaged has another chance to be read properly by the program and hardware.

Programs are usually very good at starting up and making sure that everything is running as it should after a fresh boot-up. If the reboot does not resolve the issue, then the issue is typically not a hiccup on the computer’s or software’s end, but another issue that needs to be investigated more closely, usually by a technician.

This is why IT techs are very likely to have you reboot your computer before continuing looking into the issue further: we want to make sure the computer didn’t just have a hiccup. This saves time on both ends, as well as prevents any unnecessary purchases or vendor calls.

In short, computers are prone to little glitches. While annoying, the plus side is that these minor bumps in the road are often pretty easy and quick to resolve.

When it doubt, reboot. You would be surprised by how many problems this can fix, such as a program not opening, and you can return to your work as soon as possible.

When a reboot doesn’t work, then it’s time to call your techs to investigate and get the problem under control.

New Features Coming To The Windows 10 ‘Creators’ Update

April 11, 2017

jared-stemeye — Jared Stemeye is a Help Desk Technician at Tech Experts.

Windows 10 doesn’t follow the footsteps of previous Windows iterations. Far and away from the uniform operating system that would be replaced by a successor every few years, it’s more of a living, breathing entity – one that consistently evolves with new “named” updates. The last update, the Anniversary update, was nothing compared to the new bells and whistles Microsoft has in store with the Creators Update.

The Privacy Dashboard
The Windows 10 initial launch was the subject of scrutiny for two main factors. The most well-known was the forced-upgrade push from Microsoft.

The second was the watered-down privacy settings when compared to Windows 7 and 8. Fortunately, Microsoft’s attempts at a forced upgrade ended when the free upgrade offer expired.

Now, the Windows 10 Creators Update addresses the privacy concerns with a new privacy dashboard. This makes privacy settings much easier to understand and manage.

Users will now be able to quickly enable and disable location tracking, ad tracking, and speech recognition, among other privacy settings right from the desktop.

Application Throttling
Application Throttling will allow users to dial back resources from background processes to allow more power for their main focus.

This will be especially favorable for business-oriented users who are plagued with hang-ups and freezing from resource-hungry applications. It will also come in handy for those running Windows 10 on older PCs.

Power-Mode Slider
This is for the mobile users who rely on battery power. By simply clicking on the battery icon in your system tray, you can adjust your power settings on the fly. Crank up the power settings if you need more computing firepower or dial it to reduce performance for a substantial increase your battery life.

Paint 3D
The new Paint 3D app dramatically boosts the power of the Paint we all know and love and adds 3D image manipulation.

Paint 3D is full of tools and filters that make 3D image manipulation simple and it can even help you convert 2D images into 3D objects.

Paint will now also work with Remix 3D, a website loaded with 3D images created by other Windows 10 users.

Windows 10 Update Improvements (Thank you, Microsoft!)
Since launch, one of the biggest gripes with Windows 10 has been its updating system. The current system can be an annoying, buggy mess and those forced updates tend to reset your PC at the most inopportune times. Two upcoming features aim to make these updates a bit more tolerable.

First, Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise users will be able to defer new updates for up to 35 days. Unfortunately, this does not apply to Windows 10 Home Edition users.

Finally, Microsoft also increased the defined period when Windows cannot update from 12 to 18 hours in the Active Hours settings, helping those of us who are regularly using our PCs into the wee hours of the morning.

So, in conclusion…
The aforementioned updates only scratch the surface of what Microsoft will be implementing with the Creators Update.

In example, a free new built-in application, Groove Music, is set to be a direct competitor to Apple’s GarageBand, which until now was the only OS that directly catered to the niche market of amateur music producers.

As Windows 10 continues to evolve, we foresee further integration of mobile and desktop unity that will soon rival Apple’s dominance in the “one document, all devices” platform. Details about the Creators Update will be released regularly leading up to this massive update coming on April 11th, 2017.

Free Windows 10 Upgrade for SMBs: What You Need to Know

April 6, 2017

While Microsoft has recently accounted that free Windows 10 upgrades have been reinstated, there is a caveat: They are only available to SMBs that have previously declined the offer.

If you fall into that particular category, now is the time to reconsider.

Here are some frequently asked questions about the free Windows 10 upgrade and how it affects you.

Is it open to everyone?
No. It is open to SMB customers on Enterprise plans that are running personal computers on Windows 7 or 8.1.

The Purpose Of Routine Maintenance On Your PC Or Server

April 6, 2017

Workstations and servers are valuable assets for any small business. This is why it’s very important that we take proper care of these vital attributes.

Computers can be great, long-lasting tools if taken care of correctly and routinely. This ensures that your PCs and servers will continue to run as they should, as long as possible. There are several steps to maintain your PC or server.

Monthly Hardware Cleaning
This will keep your fans running efficiently and keep your PC or server clear of dust and debris that can potentially cause a few issues (such as heating problems, fan malfunctions, or damage to devices like your power supply).

Heat also can cause computers to run slow or sluggish. This is extremely important and should be monitored and managed by an IT professional such as Tech Experts.

Monthly Software Management
This is to ensure you provide a safe operating environment for your business. It helps to keep the functionality of all your programs and keep your computer running smoothly. By clearing caches, you eliminate temp files that could potentially cause problems for some programs and will also free up space on your hard drive. This is another key process to keep your PCs and servers running at their full potential.

Registry Cleaning
Throughout use of your PC or server, you will accumulate registry errors from programs being installed, updates, etc.

This should be cleaned and corrected on a monthly basis to ensure proper operation of your PC. When it comes to speed when booting and operating your PC or server, this is an especially big factor.

Monthly Hardware Monitoring and Recording
When you are operating a business that needs your equipment to work efficiently (which is the case for most businesses), you’ll want to check your PC and servers on a monthly basis.

Having your vital components like hard drives scanned, checked, and recorded will let you know if anything needs replaced before it fails and leaves you in a bind.

Thermal Monitoring
Heat is a vital threat that should never be overlooked as it’s essential to speed and safe operation of your PC or server.

Heat can destroy components and cause Blue Screens Of Death due to heating issues, causing the PC or server to not function at all unless it’s corrected.

You want to make sure the environment of the equipment is clean, clear, and cool to avoid overheating.

Process Monitoring
This can catch potential threats like malicious software, of course, but it can also help you and your IT department find more subtle unwanted issues such as backdoors or even rootkits that allow onboarding of your PC or server without the end-user knowing at all.

Here at Tech Experts, we provide a preventative maintenance service that can be utilized on both PCs and servers at your business. So why hassle at all if you don’t have to?

You could have an IT professional manage your computers, saving your business money and saving you time. It could even save your computers or server.

The Importance Of Having Ad-Blockers

April 6, 2017

Every day, millions of people go online and go to a familiar website, just to get an advertisement pop-up that disrupts their online experience.

Ads are a way of life for many websites to generate profit from viewers visiting their website and, when clicked, these ads can take a person to another website, usually for their product.

While annoying and harmless when used as intended, issues in this system start to happen when the intentions of an “advertiser” go beyond just advertisement.

There are malicious people on the Internet utilizing advertisements to leave our computers and information vulnerable for theft and abuse.

Some advertisements will come in as scareware trying to pressure people into calling their number or download a harmful program.

Scareware is a common pop-up that thousands have fallen victim to – giving up Social Security numbers or access to bank accounts, allowing malicious connections to their computers, leaving networks vulnerable and infected, and more.

Some advertisements, if not filtered by a website correctly, can actually contain viruses and infections that don’t allow a person an opportunity to protect their own browser and computer.

These infections usually leave spyware and trojans that try to steal your information from your computer.

Surprisingly, the websites with these sorts of advertisements may have never intended for you to fall victim to scareware or other infections.

Usually, websites with these ads tend to be smaller websites using an advertisement agency that does not fully screen all the advertisements they are receiving, allowing malicious people to send their harmful information out onto the Internet.

There is a very simple solution to these real threats: ad-blocking software. If you use Firefox or Google Chrome, there are two good options that you can attach to your browser.

The first option is Adblock Plus, which is a common choice that works well. There is also uBlock Origin that uses less processing power than Adblock Plus that also blocks most advertisements. Both of these options will go a very long way in protecting your computer.

If you are using Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge, these web browsers do not support add-ons and have weak advertisement blocking capabilities.

Firefox and Chrome on their own, even without add-ons, are more secure than Internet Explorer. If you have not switched to Chrome or Firefox, I highly recommend you make the change soon.

The installation processes for Adblock Plus and uBlock Origins are very straightforward and easy on Chrome and Firefox. You can Google the ad-blocker you want to use and go to either the Chrome web store or Add-ons For Firefox, based on which browser you are using.

Keep in mind that this isn’t a substitute for anti-virus. Ad-blocking extensions for your browser simply help to block the things that could become nasty infections.

For a more protected computer, you should absolutely use both anti-virus and ad-blockers.

If you need help setting up ad-block software or have questions, you can always contact Tech Experts.

Stay safe and remember to use ad-blocking software to keep your Internet experience safe.

2017 Will See Worst Cyber Attacks To Date

April 6, 2017

At least, according to cybersecurity experts.

There were around 500 million people with personal information leaked and over $2 billion stolen or lost in damages between 2015 and 2016 alone – and, chances are, you heard of at least one of the many high-profile data breaches during this time. Experian, Target and Yahoo all experienced massive data breaches within the past two years.

Beyond the private sector, government agencies such as the Office of Personnel Management (the bureau in charge of background checks on all government employees) were hit with cyberattacks, causing data leaks of over 22 million individuals who had undergone federal screening.

These numbers are quite alarming as top cybersecurity firms and analysts agree 2017 will see even more data breaches through the creation of ever-evolving and sophisticated malware.

Size Doesn’t Matter
In the cyber world, there are few things being bought and sold faster than data. Personal records, financial information, and even intellectual property are being distributed and exchanged for money or other data – and business is booming.

Organizations of all sizes were not fully aware of how this deeply embedded malware could potentially be infecting their systems without their knowledge until just recently.

The prevalence of zero-day attacks was not fully understood either. This has allowed attackers to prepare and disseminate virtually undetectable software to perform data dragnets across many networks, big and small.

It would be naïve to assume that all the data breaches occurring are currently exposed and being corrected. This is even truer for smaller, community-driven businesses that may have little to no persistent network security monitoring.

The Cost
Per the non-profit online security analysts Online Trust Alliance (OTA), approximately 82,000 cybersecurity incidents impacting more than 225 organizations worldwide were reported in 2016.

“As the majority of incidents are never reported to executives, law enforcement or regulators, the actual number of incidents causing harm combining all vectors including DDoS attacks could exceed 250,000,” OTA said.

Given this, it is well known by those affected that data breaches are expensive – and the longer the breach takes to discover, the more these costs can compound.

“If a breach took a long time to be found, then something about the existing infrastructure made it hard to discover the weakness sooner. That calls for rearchitecting the infrastructure, typically an expensive and time-consuming project. But that imperative is not always heeded,” says OTA. However, the cost of notifying victims and hiring security consultants to investigate, identify, and fix the problem can cost a company a lot more.

This is only the beginning as the costs of such an attack continue to rise when downtime, lost productivity, and the resulting lost revenue are considered.

Today’s Need For Cyber Defense
The scale of small business networks is becoming more complex as even basic technologies evolve.

Cloud deployment, fluid transfer of data across multiple devices, and the incorporation of all things Internet have made it increasingly difficult for your everyday office worker to navigate and detect threats.

For the attackers, though, nothing has changed. Malware will keep infecting these new systems and attackers will keep hunting for data to steal. “Cyber-attacks and cyber-defense is not a battle of attrition, it’s an arms race,” Ray Rothrock, CEO of Red Seal Security Analytics, says.

It is important to always be ahead in this race and, for businesses, it is becoming increasingly evident that having a full-time cybersecurity team at the ready is necessary for a fluent and successful operation.

Four Technology Tips To Enhance Your Small Business

March 6, 2017

Technology has transformed the way small businesses operate, and making full use of the tools that are available can mean all the difference between success and failure in the competitive business environment of today.

Here are four tools that every small business owner should make full use of to transform how they do business.

Video
Video has been proven to increase conversions, enhance customer trust, add personality to a brand, and educate consumers about your products and services.

In addition, the use of video on your website can appeal to the Google search algorithms and significantly improve your chances of ranking well for a given keyword or phrase. Using a video in your local Google or Google Maps listing can also provide a huge boost to your online presence. [Read more…] about Four Technology Tips To Enhance Your Small Business

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