Greetings!
Welcome to the seventh edition of The Maestro Monthly, an email newsletter published by The U.P. Web Maestro. The intent of this publication is to bring you news and updates on U.P. Web Maestro services, local business news, as well as general Web related business tips. (Please note: if you do not wish to receive this email or other messages from us, you can safely click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this email.)

Happy New Year!

Though economic forecasts aren't all that promising for a quick change from 2009, a new year is always an opportunity. It's when things aren't going the best that it's the best time to try something new. We'll be doing that this year, and will keep you updated!

If you have some changes your business is going through, or have big events or important news to share, please let us know. If we have the space we'll be happy to pass your news on.

On The Web For Free

by Nathan Lyle

There are many things you might want your website to do for you, but one common task is making sure that people can find you when they go looking. And most people are looking online these days. If you're not ready to make the leap and put together a complete website, there is a way you can get started for free.

An often overlooked method of getting your business information online is using social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, etc. You can take advantage of these free services that allow you to create a profile, which gets information about your business online. Your name, location, contact information and even information about your services can then be found, even before you've launched your own website.

You can think of each of these profiles as a "mini website" and can create as many of them as you'd like. I recommend choosing one site or service you're most familiar or comfortable with, and making that your "default" profile, while linking to that profile from all the other ones you create. That way you're connecting your information together, and building a connected presence in the search engines. (In the future this will also help when you do have your own website, as you can link your default profile to that site and take advantage of the history and credibility you've built with the search engines.)

Another advantage of choosing a default profile, is that you can spend most of your time keeping that one up to date, instead of having to update all of them every time. Different websites and services will fit better with different types of businesses, so it makes sense to look around and see what seems to work best. Unless there are reasons to choose otherwise, I would recommend using Facebook as your default. In this case, you would want to actually create two things: your own personal Facebook account, and then a "page" for your business. Once those are in place, you can market your business page by building up the number of "fans" it has. Those are people who will then see the updates you add to that page...

[read the full article]

New Year's Resolutions for Small Business Owners

Guest Article by Robert Warlow

We have all been told year-in-year about making New Year's Resolutions. Giving up smoking, loosing weight, going to the gym... all good stuff! But what about making some New Year's Resolutions for your business!

Resolutions, if thought about and properly planned, can be a powerful tool to boost your business.

Let's have a look at just a few resolutions you can make you get your business off to a flying start this year.

Get New Customers!

Sometimes we can spend too much time looking after our existing customers; we look after all their needs; we ensure that they are consistently happy and we are always looking for the next sale. But... we forget that a percentage of customers will always drop off and before you know it, your customer numbers and sales are down.

Never forget that there is a new batch of clients out there who are desperate for your products! All you have to do is ask for their business! So to gear yourself up for a renewed campaign think about these aspects of your business.

Take a fresh look at your advertising material. Does it look dated? Is it designed to attract new business? Do you do enough advertising?

Could you improve your networking skills? Find out if there is a business club near you... and join! If there is no club, resolve to form one of your own. Get your business colleagues to a local meeting place and ask that they bring along one other business person.

Ask your customers for referrals. If they are satisfied with your service then they should be more than happy to provide you with some introductions.

To give you direction, set a clear, achievable goal on how many new customers you are going to get each month.

Keep Your Existing Ones!

In your quest to get more customers, don't forget your existing ones! Yes, I know I just said you should cool off them and search for new clients, but get the balance right! Resolve to call all your key customers at least once a quarter. You don't have to try to get an order, just show that you have not forgotten them.

If you have recently launched a new product or service have you told your existing customers? Are they totally up to date with your product range?

Think about introducing a loyalty bonus or gift. Reward those customers who have been with you for many years or have placed significant orders over the last year. Just say thank you for doing business with you.

Look at Your Expenses

Treat every year as a challenging year for businesses and keeping a keen eye on your outgoings could help you. When did you last review your monthly expenses? Set a resolution to look at your overheads every month. Can you reduce your electricity bill or phone by either being more efficient or changing suppliers?

If you have a range of suppliers, have you recently re-negotiated terms? Are you still getting a good deal or could you do better?

Resolve to look at your bank charges at least once a year. Does your bank offer you a competitive deal? What are their competitors offering? Also, check whether you are getting the best deal on all your insurance requirements. Go and see a broker or spent some time on the Net getting some quotes to compare.

Keep an Eye on the Cash

This year, resolve to watch your cash flow! With a generally tightening of available credit in the market you may find your larger customers squeezing you on payment dates. Make sure you get your invoices out on time and that overdue payments are promptly chased; don't give any latitude to anyone except your very best customers.

If you are facing a liquidity crisis make sure you are making full use of credit terms offered by your suppliers? Could you negotiate even more favourable terms? Even stretching the payments you have to make by two or three days could make the difference.

Remember, its cash, not just profit that keeps your business going.

Have a Radical Re-Think?

Are you hanging onto something in your business in the hope it will improve next year? It usually doesn't! Do you have suppliers who are constantly delivering late or have quality problems with their goods? Resolve to search for new suppliers!

Do you have slow-moving products, which you are 'positively sure' will take-off this year (for the third year running)? Accept the fact that without a radical re-think it's not going to happen... dump it and move on.

Over the past year have you been spending a lot of time chasing a potential new customer? You've paid for the lunches, paid for a night to the theatre, even nominated him to join your favourite club, but still no business! Is this year the time to accept that they may not do business just yet? Resolve not to waste your precious time and effort chasing no-hopers.

Commit To a Plan

If you have decided to take on one (I hope more!) of these New Years resolutions, to give you focus and something to aim for, write them down. Prepare a plan listing all your resolutions and detailing the actions you have to take to achieve them all. Then, resolve to review your plan at least once a month.

Follow these ideas and you'll definitely be giving your business a boost!

About the author: Robert Warlow runs Small Business Success a website dedicated to providing entrepreneurs with ideas and tips. He writes a free weekly newsletter and has written three ebooks, 'How to Market Your Small Business For Next to Nothing' 'The Secrets of Writing a Killer Business Plan' and 'The Secrets of Getting Your Bank Manager to Say yes!'

Miscellaneous Maestro Minutia

You may have noticed that we have been sending invoices the old fashioned way - by postal mail - if you would prefer that you receive invoices by email, please let us know.

If you host your website with us or have registered a domain name with us, please make sure to keep us updated when your contact information changes. The best way to make sure your accounts renew smoothly is to make sure we can stay in touch!

That's it for this time around! Please feel free to let me know what you find useful or what you'd like to see us cover in future issues.

Sincerely,
Nathan Lyle
Phone: (906)228-5884
Email: nathanlyle@upwebmaestro.com
Website: www.upwebmaestro.com
Blog: www.upwebmaestro.com/blog

Business Tip

Claim Yourself Today!

The primary article in this newsletter talks about claiming your location in Google Maps, and it seemed important enough to also make it this month's business tip. Actually, you should consider doing so in all of the available map/search services on the Web. Most of them allow you to claim your location and create a profile, for free. You can have your business name, phone number, address, website address, and product or service information in multiple places. If you're eager to get visibility on the first page of search results, this is a great way to help achieve that goal.

Get started here: google.com/local/add

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Web/Technology News

Hardware for Gmail: The 'Gboard' keyboard

Gmail has long had keyboard shortcuts, though learning them can be difficult. Now there's the Gboard, a specialized mini-keyboard for Google's e-mail service. The Gboard consists of 19 colored keys set in a standard size numpad-only keyboard. Clicking on any one of these performs that particular keyboard shortcut.
[read more]

McAfee uncovers riskiest domains

You may want to think twice if you hit a site with a .cm extension. That belongs to Cameroon, pegged by McAfee as the world's riskiest domain. McAfee's third annual "Mapping the Mal Web" report looks at riskiest and safest domains across the globe. The small nation on the west coast of Africa reached the top spot this last year with 36.7 percent of its sites posing a security risk. Because .cm is often a typo for .com, McAfee said, cybercrooks like to use that domain to set up typo-squatted sites to hit you with malware.
[read more]

Congress probes Visa, AmEx role in Web scam

Although Visa, MasterCard, and American Express have rules designed to protect users from unauthorized charges as well as to weed out problem-plagued merchants, thousands of people appear to have complained to their card companies for years about three post-transaction marketing companies: Webloyalty, Vertrue, and Affinion. Perhaps as many as 30 million people were affected.
[read more]

Chrome passes Safari in browser usage

In its 15th month of public existence, Google's Chrome browser surpassed Safari for share of worldwide usage in December. Chrome jumped from 3.9% to 4.6% of usage, according to statistics that analytics firm Net Applications publishes based on the 160 million monthly visitors to the network of websites using its services. Safari increased from 4.4% to 4.5%.
[read more]

Windows "GodMode"

Although it's name suggests perhaps even grander capabilities, Windows enthusiasts are excited over the discovery of a hidden "GodMode" feature that lets users access all of the operating system's control panels from within a single folder. By creating a new folder in Windows 7 and renaming it with a certain text string at the end, users are able to have a single place to do everything from changing the look of the mouse pointer to making a new hard-drive partition.
[read more]

More attacks expected on Facebook, Twitter in 2010

Social-networking sites like Facebook and Twitter can expect more attention from cybercriminals in 2010, according to a new report released Tuesday by McAfee Labs. Also at risk are users of Adobe Systems products including Acrobat Reader and Flash. And move over Microsoft; the security firm predicts that Google's Chrome OS will create another opportunity for malware writers to prey on users. The company also anticipates smarter and more dangerous Trojans that "follow the money," as well as a significant trend toward a more distributed and resilient botnet infrastructure that relies much more on peer-to-peer technologies.
[read more]

Escaped Prisoner Left Trail on Facebook, Daring Cops to Catch Him

Three months ago, Craig "Lazie" Lynch, 28, escaped from prison in eastern England. He went on the lam... and then he went online. Soon after his escape, Lynch joined Facebook. He used the site to taunt the police, daring them to catch him. He detailed his scrumptious steak dinners and debated plans for New Year's Eve parties. He posted a photo of himself holding a "wanted" sign with his own name on it. In another photo, he posed shirtless and made a crude gesture directed at the authorities. "I ain't handin' myself in," he posted, "Why am I going to do their job for them?" Later, he wrote about evading the police and posted, "They think this is going to cripple me, the FOOLS!" His brash, some say foolish defiance has won him at least 37,000 fans on his Facebook fan page. Someone wrote a song in his honor and posted it on YouTube.
[read more]

Minnesota Tourism Agency Tracks Quirkiest Queries

If you're planning a vacation in Minnesota and you ask a state travel counselor for help, try not to ask about things that only happen in other parts of the country. Otherwise you might end up with your question on the state's "Quirkiest Queries" list, compiled by Chuck Lennon, who handles media relations for Explore Minnesota Tourism. The list came about because Lennon was looking for something fun to add to his annual year-in-review report at the office. He decided to ask counselors from the state's call-in lines and 11 travel information centers to send him details about the "corniest calls" they received in the past year.
[read more]