You hear it all the time from us: back up your data, keep your virus protection current, and install and maintain a firewall to protect yourself from hackers and other online threats. However, while these precautions will certainly help you avoid problems, they CAN'T do anything if you don't have a good back-up and disaster recovery plan in place.

Are You A Sitting Duck?

     We all know that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure; yet, disaster recovery planning often takes a distant second to the daily deadlines and pressures of running a business. That means that most businesses, including your own, may end up off-line and without important data after a simple lightning storm.

     Don't think that could ever happen to you? Consider this: "data-erasing disasters" can also take the form of office fires and broken water pipes, not just earthquakes, floods and tornadoes. If a fire started in your building, the parts that weren't burned beyond recovery would probably be destroyed by the firemen's efforts. But even more common is software corruption, hardware failures and human error!

7 Disaster Recovery Questions You Need To Answer

     A disaster recovery plan doesn't have to be complicated, time-consuming or expensive. Start by asking yourself the following questions:

  1.  Do you back up your company's data daily to both an on-site and off-site location?

  2.  Are you absolutely certain that your back-up copy is valid, complete and not corrupt? How do you know for sure?

  3.  If disaster strikes, HOW would you get your data back, and how long would it take? In many cases, it takes days and, often, weeks; what would you do during that period of time?

  4.  Do you have copies of all the software licenses and discs in a safe location that could be accessed in the event of having to rebuild you server?

  5.  Would you and your employees have a way to access your network remotely if you couldn't get to the office?

  6.  Do you store important passwords in a secure place that company officers can access if you are unavailable?

  7.  Do you have a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) device in place to keep your network and other critical data operations running during a power outage?

Call 518-320-8906 to schedule your Disaster Recovery Assessment so we can be sure you are ready BEFORE a disaster strikes.

    "Power positioning" is presenting yourself to the right person, at the right time and place, in the right way, with the right message. If you can do that all day long, every day, you will be an incredibly successful professional. This applies to most every profession. We're always trying to sell something, whether it's a product, a service, an image - you name it.

     What separates the real pros from the amateurs is their ability to make whatever they are providing of vital importance to every prospect.

     Such positioning is not something you can achieve quickly, or once for all time. It's a continuous process of discovering new ways to take charge of the way your clients and prospects see you.

     The better you plan your strategy for positioning yourself, the more successful your efforts are going to be. There are, in fact, ten crucial factors to consider as you think through your own positioning strategies and tactics.

1. You position yourself first in your own mind. The way you see yourself will shape the way others see you. The way you think about yourself determines how you do everything. It affects the way you prospect, the way you interview, the way you present, the way you close, the way you manage your time - it shapes everything you do. As a result, people will see you the way you perceive yourself.

2. You position yourself with your attitude. Some people walk into a room and say, "Here I am!" Other people walk into a room and say, "Ah, there you are!" The difference is whether we are self-centered or client-centered, whether we are ego-driven or value-driven. Our attitudes toward our clients and prospects will always show up in the way we treat people. And, more than any other single factor, the way we treat others will determine the way they respond to us.

3. You position yourself with your appearance. First impressions get set in stone very quickly. And, like it or not, the way you look is the most important factor in shaping those first and lasting impressions. To see how vital good appearance is, all you have to do is reflect on your own reactions to the people you meet. Don't you pay more attention to people who look important than you do to people who look sloppy? Most crucial, your prospects judge your importance by the way you look.

4. You position yourself with your actions. Your prospects determine your importance, your intentions, your reliability - and many other critical factors - by watching everything you do.

5. You position yourself with your words. Every word you say positions you either as a person to be considered important or as someone to be dismissed as quickly as possible.

6. You position yourself with your focus. The most pressing question on your prospect's mind is always, "What's in it for me?" The real pros position themselves as consultants and business partners to their clients. They always keep the focus precisely where it belongs - on the client, not on themselves or their products.

7. You position yourself with your presentation. The way you go about setting up and making your presentation says a lot to prospects about how important it is to listen to you.

8. You position yourself by the way you handle objections. Amateurs see objections as excuses for not buying or as invitations to do battle. But real pros recognize that objections show a prospect's legitimate concerns - issues which must be cleared up before the prospect will make a decision to buy.

9. You position yourself by the way you close. The way you ask for an assignment can position you as a true professional, with an offer which provides value for the prospect. Or the way you close can make it look like you're an amateur who's trying to get a prospect to do you a favor. The difference is tremendous.

10. You position yourself with the way you follow-up. One of the most vital factors in positioning yourself as a professional is what you do once a sale has been made. Professionalism involves developing a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship with every client. It's turning one-time customers into clients who view you as a valuable resource in your area of expertise.

     What really counts is not what you know or believe, but what your prospects think and feel. You make them believe in you by positioning yourself as a professional.

     Here are a few simple things you can do to prevent your server and network equipment from overheating and crashing:

1) Tidy up the server room; a neater room will increase air flow.

2) If you have more than one server, arrange them in a row so that the cold air comes from the front and is expelled out the back.

3) Keep the doors to the server room closed and seal off the space.

4) Make sure cold air reaches all the equipment.

5) Have a redundant A/C that is specifically designed for computers.

6) Buy a rack enclosure where the cooling is built in to the bottom of the rack.

7) Keep the temperature at no more than 77 degrees.

8) Use blanking panel over any empty spaces on your server rack.

9) Consider virtualization or hosting in a cloud environment so you are generating a lower amount of heat in the first place.

   

     First of all, why should you even worry about clearing the cache? There are two main reasons:

     Reason 1: It frees up space on your computer. After a while, the cache fills up and needs to be cleared so your Web browser will function more efficiently.

     Reason 2: It will protect your privacy. This is especially true when several people use the same computer in a workplace or home. If you have privacy concerns, you should regularly clear your cache.

     Now, here's how you can do it:

     1. Open Mozilla Firefox 6.

     2. Click the Firefox button, and choose Options.

Note: If using the menu bar, choose Tools and then Clear Recent History. Skip to step 5 below.

     3. With the Options window now open, click the Privacy tab.

     4. In the History area, click the clear your recent history link. 

     5. In the Clear Recent History window, set the time range to Everything.

     6. In the list at the bottom of the window, uncheck everything except for Cache.

     7. Click on the Clear Now button.

     8. When the Clear Recent History window disappears, all of the files saved (cached) from your Internet browsing activities in Firefox will have been removed.