Recent email phishing scam spoofing Citibank is targeting Federal Government employees. The email message states, “You have received an urgent system message from the Citibank Department. To read your message, please, go to your account immediately.”, and points to the malicious Romanian domain digikad.ro. Learn how to protect yourself from phishing scams.
As you run your business, you will worry about almost everything, however, not everything is worth worrying about. Only worry about the important things – the rest will eventually work itself out. In his 2010 Business of Software presentation, Peldi of Balsamiq shares some of the issues that concern him, and discusses which ones are worth worrying about, and which ones are not. Peldi also shares some tips to overcome, and deal with, those fears.
Back in September I entered the HP SugarTone business blogging contest hosted by Bloggertone and BizSugar. As part of the contest, they created a free small business eBook. My blog post, 6 Free and Amazing Ways to Promote Your Business, has been featured in the free eBook, along with many others. To download your free copy of the small business eBook click here.
To have a successful software business, you need happy customers. It’s simply not enough to just acquire lots of customers – you need to retain them. And to retain your customers, you need to make them happy. You must measure your customers’ happiness level. Come up with your own metrics if you have to, but look at those numbers closely. Determine what makes happy customers, and what doesn’t, and adjust your business model accordingly.
Dharmesh Shah’s 2010 Business of Software presentation was packed full of insights – customer acquisition, customer retention, customer data, transparency, and venture capital.
Seth Godin’s 2010 Business of Software conference presentation. Being a great programmer is no longer sufficient to succeed. Creating a piece of software that works is no longer an indicator of success. Times have changed. And in a world where we are bombarded with brands and products, we must create a unique experience to succeed. Success in the software industry is now dependent on your ability to create a tribe – a movement, a place of belonging, a community – and lead it.
The Hacker Challenge is a competition in which Department of Defense Sailors, Soldiers, Marines, Airmen and civilian government employees try their hands at solving computer and network security problems. It’s a free and open competition designed for beginner to intermediate level security professionals and enthusiasts, and is designed to engage military and civilian members in a fun and educational way.
With Light Point Web, we use a lot of open source code. However, some of this code is released only as a zip, not the ability to pull directly from their version control system. This can cause a lot of problems if you are trying to use this code to build a product of your own. Here is how I recommend solving these problems.
This is a short video by Jason Fried on marketing your product through teaching others and sharing free content. Jason suggests that you should go beyond just blogging, and actually teach others how to become your competition. This enforces your status as an expert in your industry, as well as keeps your brand fresh in people’s minds. This keeps them coming back to you, which is especially important when they are in need of your services!
I’ve decided it would be a good idea to occasionally post a status of our startup update on our blog. I plan on listing which of the many steps involved in launching a startup we have completed, and maybe some tips on the ones that warrant it.
Online criminals create Facebook pages claiming that Facebook will begin charging some monthly fee in an attempt to trick people into divulging their personal information, downloading malicious content, or inviting their friends to join the page.