Posted by Eric Jackson | 3 Comments
“We Accept Bribes”
Yeah, we’re not ashamed. In the past two weeks, Keystone employees have accepted Jet’s Pizza, Cracker Barrel and Tennessee State Fair Award-Winning Cake from Metro Councilman at Large Tim Garrett and his wife Theresa. I’m pretty sure Theresa is the one who actually bakes the cake. How Tim stays so thin is beyond me. I think I really liked the first obscenely large piece I tried…so just to make sure I had a second one. I understand why it’s “award-winning.”
So if you think we’ve done something really well…maybe over-and-above the call of duty…or maybe you just want us to get off our collective duffs and do something right, we’re more than willing to accept food as a kick in the pants.
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The Lessons of an Intern
The points I list below are probably the most valuable lessons I have learned at Keystone over the past two summers. Being the office intern doesn’t just mean running to McDonald’s here, it actually means writing blogs, managing our social networking efforts, putting together our e-mail marketing campaigns, and applying SEO work (just to name a few). My intern lessons might be valuable to you and your business as you try to expand your influence on the world of the Internet.
#1. How to write a blog:
When I started at Keystone I had just finished up my freshman year of college. Early on in the job, Jeremy told me that I would be writing for the business blog. I’ll be honest, I was very overwhelmed. Writing for the business blog meant communicating Keystone’s values, teachings, and interests on the Internet… and the Internet is a very big place. Also, since I had just finished up a freshman English class, my idea of a blog was a well written, essay-structured, news piece. I eventually realized the more relaxed you are, the better your blog article will be. Blogs are not like essays; save those for college and proposals. Blogs are like conversations with your readers. And because you are constantly fighting the other blogs for readers, writing style is what can put you ahead. Humor is a great way to attract readers, one way I still strive to perfect, and readability. Make your blogs very easy to read by keeping them to the point and interesting.
#2. The importance of social media for small businesses:
It has been said probably millions of times, but I’ll say it again. Small businesses should definitely take advantage of social media for marketing to a large audience. The social media market has really taken off recently and beats paper marketing any day. With sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Tumblr, a business can get its message out to hundreds of people with just one status update, or just one blog post. I have also learned that there are tons of online tools out there to make social media marketing easier. For example, HootSuite lets you send the same status update to your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and others. HootSuite is probably the best tool of its kind because it has both iPhone and Droid applications as well as letting you access multiple Twitter and Facebook accounts. With this tool or something like it, social media marketing becomes easier than ever.
#3. The importance of E-mail marketing:
Since I became the most frequent blog poster I started watching our site’s stats frequently. If the stats were super low for one day, I would assume my article didn’t appeal to our readers and if the stats were great, I’d try to write more posts like that one. One way that always guaranteed high numbers for the blog was by sending out the KeyNote. The KeyNote is our E-mail marketing newsletter filled with links to great articles that we send out every two weeks or so. By including some of our own blog articles in the KeyNote, I am making the KeyNote more Keystone centralized and I am driving traffic back to the blog. We love Emma for e-mail campaigns because of its easy to learn system and its advanced stats analysis. Sign up for our biweekly KeyNote here.
#4. What SEO means:
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. On my first day of work here, I would not have been able to tell you anything about SEO. But today I feel so confident in my SEO knowledge that I’m actually writing on it! That’s a big step for me. Back to the point, SEO is certainly important to any business with a website (which should be most businesses). Getting your website to been ranked higher on Google seems like an unreal dream, but with SEO it can happen. SEO is a strategy, if you will, that web developers must integrate into the website. By using the most descriptive text and pulling keywords from that text search engines are more likely to rank that website higher for that keyword. This is only one small aspect of SEO work. There are hundreds of criteria that Google goes by when ranking websites. Some others include external links to your website, your domain name, the age of your website, how often your website is updated, and many many more. Just be weary of those other businesses promising SEO without really knowing what they’re promising.
Other than these few lessons I have also learned how to make the perfect 12-cup pot of coffee, the quickest route to McDonald’s, lyrics to too many Jamie Holland favorites, how to type without staring at my hands, how to pull an Adam Arnold joke on Adam Arnold, where the extra pens are, how men think, and who to go to when I need a funny YouTube video.
Read MorePosted by Angela | 2 Comments
The Best and Worst of Online Tools
We took an office-wide survey of most useful, and un-useful, Internet tools to provide you, the reader, with a reliable reference list of online tools. These tools are mostly free downloads and are only a click away.
Keystone’s Favorite Web Tools:
Netvibes – Part RSS reader, part start page, Netvibes gathers the feeds of all your favorite websites together in one place so you can instantly see new reading material without clicking through bookmarked sites. Netvibes also acts as a home page that you can customize to show only what you want to see. You can add a weather widget, your Twitter feed, a Facebook feed, email widget, etc. It provides one-stop-shopping for your Internet news needs.
WuFoo – This form builder is not a free service but takes the hassle out of online forms. They offer all kinds of tools around a basic form building outline. Wufoo can even provide payment integration into your form.
TweetDeck – One of my personal favorites, TweetDeck is a Twitter management tool that allows you to update your Twitter and spread that update across Facebook, LinkedIn, GoogleBuzz, Foursquare and more. This is a great tool for any business trying to break into social media marketing. It puts all of your social media on one platform.
Flickr – Flickr is a free photo hosting service to store your photos and edit them with Picnik online. Flickr also allows for photo sharing and it’s all free.
FileZilla – Free FTP program to transfer files from one computer to another through the Internet. Easy and free, this FTP program is perfect for a quick file transfer.
Support Details – SupportDetails is a very helpful service that instantly tells you the specs about your computer that your tech will need to know. For example, it will tell you what your operating system is, DNS stuff, etc. Not free, but awesome. It provides information on domain names and domain records as well.
PopScreen - This video bookmarking service lets you sign up and drag the PopScreen icon to the top of your browser… Then, whenever you see a video you like that you want to watch again later, just click that browser button and it’s added to your bookmark list. Outstanding.
Tumblr - Blogging boiled down to its simplest form. Also, the Tumblr community allows users to “reblog” any Tumblr post they like and it will appear on their own blog. Then you can view most “Tumbled” blog posts of the day or week, etc. Also, with tons of smartphone apps, your tumblelog can be updated very easily from your phone.
Google products – Google products include mostly free products and services that are as good or better than competitors that cost money. Analytics for site stats. Checkout for online payments that has special . Calendar (with sharing). Gmail (kicks all other free email’s butts). And gTalk for inter-office text, voice, or video chatting.
AdBlock Plus – AdBlock Plus is a Firefox extension that detects and then blocks ads on web pages.
Pandora – It is just fantastic. Lets you listen to the music that you really want to hear by creating personalized radio stations. Not only is Pandora free, it also suggests other music you might not have heard before.
Hulu – Hulu may not be the best for your workday, but we couldn’t forget it in our favorite online tools. Hulu gives access to online TV show streaming and some videos for free.
YouTube - YouTube might be more of a distraction for some of your fellow co-workers, but we think it deserves “best online tool” status. Not only does YouTube have tons of entertaining, random vidoes, but it also has tutorials and informative videos on almost any topic. Try your favorite video in XL.
WordPress – WordPress is free blogging software that is robust, always improving, and feature-rich. Plus it’s very easy to figure out.
Keystone’s Least Favorite Web Tools:
StumbleUpon – StumbleUpon is a Firefox extension that shows you random web pages based on the category of pages you choose. You can vote each page up or down and eventually, you’re on there so often that it begins to know what kinds of random sites you like to look at. We think this tool is entertaining if you like looking at random pages of the Internet, but it’s mostly just a time-waster.
Foursquare - What’s the point of “checking in” at different locations? So people know where you are every second of the day? We think Foursquare and any other mobile “check-in” service is a little too stalker enabling for our business.
LinkedIn - Even though most of us have one, LinkedIn has provided very little results for us. Twitter and Facebook are starting to provide more business connections than the “professional network” that is LinkedIn.
Delicious - This bookmark manager is good for scoping out the hottest websites right now, but not one we’re going to sign up for. It may be good for organizing bookmarks if you can’t organize your own bookmarks, but we don’t like the idea of other people looking through our bookmarks.
Yammer – Yammer is just like Twitter, a micro-blogging social network, except just within your company. This might sound like a great, innovative idea to some people, but we think Yammer is just unnecessary. Why would you update your Yammer when you could just send a gTalk to someone across the office in real time? For Yammer to be successful, all your co-workers must be logged in on all workdays, and that is just unrealistic.
Facebook - Now, we don’t all agree that Facebook is a “Least Favorite” (uhum, I do not agree that it is a “Least Favorite”) but I’ve been out-voted. Facebook has turned into more hassle than it’s worth. All the security setting, ads, and constant updating make Facebook not worth the work to some businesses.
We hope you will try out some of our favorites, especially if you’ve never experienced them before. If you have any suggestions or objections, you can email your comments here.
Read MorePosted by Angela | 0 Comments
Simple Steps to Protect Your Computer
Just yesterday we told you about a Google results scam to be aware of. Today, protection against such scams is on the chopping block. It is easy to call up your local tech guy or favorite Keystone employee and get him to fix all your problems for you. However, your wallet might not appreciate that approach. And isn’t it always best to be prepared and protect yourself from harm? It’s like wearing a helmet when you ride your bike or wearing a seat belt when you’re in a car. You don’t expect to get in a car wreck but you’re wearing that seat belt just in case someone else decides to get in a wreck.
I asked around the office and compiled a list of how to protect yourself and your data while on the Internet. The outline is basic: Install protective software and keep it updated, and avoid malicious tricks.
Get Protective Software:
This is the most fundamental way to protect yourself on the Internet. At home or in the office, anti-virus software is very important to having a smooth Internet experience. Our Web producer, Jeremy Scott, says, “Be proactive and get some anti-spyware and anti-virus software as soon as you get your computer. It’s a lot less work to put precautions in place ahead of time than it is to fix a problem after the fact.”
In the office, be sure to buy business-class software. Retail versions of anti-virus software are not strong enough to cover an entire network at your business. Our experts recommend Trend Micro Worry Free Security Suite for a business. For regular home users, Thomas Campbell suggests, “either Trend Micro Internet Security Pro or Webroot Spysweeper with anti-virus. There are plenty of good anti-virus programs out there but in my opinion these offer the best combination of effectiveness, reliability, and ease of use.”
Keeping your Security software updated is almost just as important as having the software in the first place. If you don’t have the most up-to-date software, there can be holes in your security. Cyberscammers stay updated so why shouldn’t you? If you are not keeping your software up-to-date, you could be susceptible to the latest virus scams.
Avoid their Tricks:
This is an important step as well to keep your online data to yourself. Pay attention and use common sense! One of our IT consultants, Adam Arnold, said:
“Most infections come from some form of social engineering or overall trickery. If a window pops up and says ‘You are infected! Click here!’ Please don’t. Reputable software doesn’t do that… If you are the type of person that gives out very private and personal information to strangers on the street, you will need to hire someone to supervise you on the computer. Otherwise, if you are unsure, call someone to help you.”
Our web producer, Jeremy Scott, gave his input here also and said, “Pay attention. Most people only notice their machine is infected long after they’ve received a lot of malware and spyware.”
Very true, Jeremy. Make wise decisions when you are surfing around on the web. You have too much data at risk when you don’t make smart choices. Clicking on random pop-ups is always the wrong thing to do. Another Keystone IT consultant, Thomas Campbell, says:
“Don’t open attachments if you don’t know who they are from. Remember that people can spoof e-mail addresses (i.e. look like the e-mail is coming from a friend or trusted bank but it is not) so be careful clicking on any links. Be careful where you surf, and even more importantly, what you download… A lot of the malware we see these days install a fake antivirus program on the victim’s machine at the user’s prompting and harasses them to buy the “full version” of their software. Don’t be fooled!”
Overall, the Keystone office agrees that you need to take certain steps on your own to avoid major problems with viruses, malware, identity theft, and more. After reading all these warnings, I hope you will take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with your anti-virus software and update it to the latest version.
Read MorePosted by Jeremy Scott | 0 Comments
Just Born – Stephen’s Auto Paint &...
We’ve recently developed and launched a new website for Stephen’s Auto Paint & Body in Nashville. They specialize in auto body repair and have a long tradition of guaranteeing customer satisfaction. Please check out their new website by clicking the image below:
Posted by Angela | 0 Comments
Website Building: How much & how long?
I recently asked some of the Keystone experts what were the questions they get most often from potential customers. Most answered with either “How much does a website cost,” and “How long will it take to build my website?”
Both questions are obviously good questions, but also pretty vague. It’s like asking “How much does a house cost,” or “How long will it take to build my house?” It all depends. A house with all wood flooring, marble counters and chandeliers in every room is going to be more expensive than a cookie cutter house with no defining features. Likewise, A house can be built within four months if everything goes according to plan or it can take over a year because of minor adjustments and mishaps.
When building a home you need many things to come together in a proper arrangement. The land, blueprints, foundation, and build out of the house itself all take time and money. The same is true for building a website.
For a website, the land is your domain name and hosting service. These two things determine your address on the Internet.
The blueprints and foundation are a critical step in the home building process. This step is all the planning – and it’s a lot of planning. Deciding how big the home will be, where the bathrooms and bedrooms will be, what purpose each room will serve, etc. For a web developer, the planning phase is definitely the longest part of creating a website, and it can also be the most frustrating for a client. During this phase, there is very little physical evidence of progress. Planning, writing content, creating page templates, etc. all require time but aren’t seen until the final product is done. In both scenarios, this is the step where communication plays a large part. If the communication is executed correctly here, it will make the whole project run smoother in the long term. Clear communication will provide defined expectations on both ends of the conversation.
Next comes the fun part! Building out the website with pictures, content, and links makes all the planning and waiting worth it! This is also where quality work reveals itself. The difference between a long lasting design and an unprofessional design is seen here in the final product. This is also where problems may arise from failure to communicate properly or from incompetent web developers. Obstacles that arise at this stage will probably prolong the process and possibly affect your wallet maybe more than you’d like. However, the same is true for a home. If your home is completely built and ready and you decide you want to move the kitchen to the other side of the house, that’s going cost you.
Building a home and building a website can both be extremely frustrating experiences, or they can be exceptionally great with little struggle and huge reward. It is all about who you trust with such a large project. Many business men and women do not realize what an extensive process building a website can be. Somewhere between a service and a physical product, a website is a product of its own. And I hope this comparison cleared up the process a little.
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