Round Tale

(The Hosting News) - Host Color, a globally truster web hosting provider announced today a new Combo deal based on its Multi Domain Hosting plan named “Multi Site”. The Multi Site customers now get Free Essential SSL certificate, Free Domain name and are eligible for Free SSL upgrade to Extended Validation, Green Bar.

Source: Host Color Announced “Summer Combo Deal” On SSL Hosting

(The Hosting News) - Host Color, a globally truster web hosting provider announced today a new Combo deal based on its Multi Domain Hosting plan named “Multi Site”. The Multi Site customers now get Free Essential SSL certificate, Free Domain name and are eligible for Free SSL upgrade to Extended Validation, Green Bar.

Host Color Announced “Summer Combo Deal” On SSL Hosting

(Gawkwire.com) – You don’t have to pay your employees huge salaries to earn their loyalty. In fact, if you’re like most small business owners, you can’t. Entrepreneurial Expert Ty Freyvogel lays out some non-monetary ways to create loyal employees who’ll stick with you through the ups and downs.  
           
Every entrepreneur knows the hectic lifestyle that comes along with starting and running a company. (Heck, most of us live for the craziness!) But have you ever considered how this work schedule affects your employees? You can bet the fate of your business on the fact that they don’t enjoy the long hours or the days (and nights) they must unexpectedly come into the office to handle the latest emergency. If too many such days come and go without any acknowledgement from you, you can bet they’ll be handing out their resumes all over town. And since your employees make or break your business, you must keep your best ones around.
 
"Employees of small businesses are often asked to go way beyond the call of duty," says Freyvogel, founder of MakingSenseOfYourBusiness.com, a new site with a plethora of great business advice for any entrepreneur. "And they usually do it without receiving huge paychecks. But not being able to pay hefty salaries doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of a million other ways to create happy, loyal employees."
 
Small business owners may feel that they are at a disadvantage compared to CEOs of large corporations precisely because of the lack of deep pockets. But Freyvogel says nothing is further from the truth.  Because they work so closely with their employees, rather than being separated by layers of bureaucracy, it is easy for them to get to know their employees well.
 
"Think about it," he says. "You know your employees’ points of pain and you know what makes them happy. If you use this information to meet the special needs of your employees and even surprise them with a few extra perks,  you will be able to build strong relationships with them—and they, in turn, will be willing to go the extra mile for you."
 
Here are 12 ways to keep your overworked and (perhaps) underpaid employees loyal to you and your company:
 
Provide them with much-deserved time off. Time off doesn’t have to translate to the business being understaffed for the day. There are all kinds of ways to give your staff a little break without slowing the business down. "Give them Friday afternoons off in the summer," says Freyvogel. "Or give them either the day before or the day after their vacation off to relieve the stress that always accompanies taking off work.
 
"Another option is to set up a compressed work week for your staff so that they get time off at the end of the week," he adds. "You’ll help them ward off burnout, and after a little break, they’ll be ready to get to work and do a great job for you." 
 
Give them bonuses at critical times. Presumably, you work closely with your employees and know a lot about their lives outside of the work. Act on this knowledge in ways that benefit them exactly when they need it most. "If one of your employees has a new baby or a sick spouse or child, a bonus will help ease the financial burden during these times," says Freyvogel. "She will appreciate your concern for her and her family’s well being."
 
Be flexible. Your employees are working hard to make your business the best. The least you can do is be flexible when they have to take unexpected time off or need to work a new schedule. If an employee is having a personal problem, help him create a work schedule that allows him to solve his problems without feeling like he is going to be in trouble with the boss.
 
"If your employees have children or are taking care of their parents, you may even want to consider providing childcare or eldercare assistance to reduce their scheduling burdens," says Freyvogel. "Either would be a huge benefit. And one of the perks of living in the Age of Technology is that location is no longer an issue with a huge number of jobs.  Your employees might be interested in telecommuting at least part of the time or working flexible schedules. If your business can operate this way, talk with your employees to see what they prefer."
 
Be sensitive about their strengths and weaknesses. Carefully evaluate where your employees do their best work, and ask them what jobs they feel the most comfortable doing. For example, if an employee isn’t a people person, chances are she won’t excel working the front of a store. And you wouldn’t want non-people people to be handling your customers anyway! Keep the lines of communication open. If an employee expresses an interest in getting trained for a different job, by all means get her trained! If your employees feel passionate about their jobs, it increases the chances that they’ll want to keep working for you.
 
Help them better themselves (and in turn improve your business!). You can do this by paying for employees to take a class that will help them improve on their job skills or on something that interests them—even something unrelated to their current position. Or take an interest in their health. Provide your employees with health club memberships or enroll in a business-wide wellness program that everyone (including you!) will take part in.
 
"Your employees will appreciate that you care about their health and your healthy employees will help you save money in health care costs," says Freyvogel. "Like each of these loyalty-building exercises, it’s a win-win for everyone."
 
Feed them! A free meal every now and then is one of the easiest (and most appreciated) perks an employer can provide.  It’s a great way for any employer to say, "Thank you" after a particularly rough work week or for a job well done. Another great idea for employers is providing a catered meal for any employee who is working late. You’ll be surprised how far a full stomach goes in building employee loyalty.
 
Constantly recognize a job well done. Everyone likes to be told they’ve done a good job on something, especially your employees. "Typically, people who are interested in working for small businesses are driven more by recognition than by dollars," says Freyvogel. "So whether you implement an Employee of the Month plaque or simply say, ‘Thanks for the great job!’ never miss an opportunity to give your employees the recognition they deserve. And when a client compliments an employee’s work, never steal the credit—indeed, be sure to pass the glowing review along to the rightful owner!"
 
Make them feel like owners. Whether it comes from having a voice in major decisions, being able to work directly with clients or actually owning stock, a sense of employee ownership will go a long way toward instilling loyalty. Nurturing your employees to love your business as much as you do will strengthen your company’s foundation—and your business will be that much more likely to survive setbacks and grow to great heights.
"I like to use what I call A Stock and B Stock," says Freyvogel. "Here’s how it works: A Stock is voting stock and B Stock is nonvoting stock. The B Stock is distributed among my employees and myself, while I keep all of the voting stock. While the employees have no final vote in what happens with the company, they still receive all of the benefits of owning stock. This helps me create employees who feel like partial owners of the company, which makes them work harder and take more pride in what they do."
 
Make sure they have everything they need to do their jobs. Nothing frustrates a high performing employee more than having to struggle to do his job because he doesn’t have the right computer program or because he must make do with faulty equipment. "Be the boss that constantly communicates with his employees, and ask them whenever you have the chance if there is something you can do that will make their jobs easier," says Freyvogel. "Sometimes you’ll be able to take care of it right away; other times it will take awhile. But the simple act of showing you care will go a long way."
 
Pamper them! Show your employees that you know working for you and your business can be stressful by providing a free spa treatment every once in awhile—even once a month—if you can afford it. Female employees, especially, will love this perk. If your male employees aren’t particularly interested spa treatments, consider other, more "masculine" ways to help them unwind—tickets to a sporting event or gift certificates to the local watering hole.
 
Help them leave if it isn’t the right job for them. Working in a small business isn’t for everyone. If you notice that one of your employees is struggling in the environment or simply isn’t happy, talk with her about whether or not your business is the right place for her. If you collectively decide that it isn’t, help her find a more suitable job. How does helping an employee leave build loyalty? "Well, the exiting employee will spread the word about what a great boss you are," says Freyvogel. "Plus, your other employees will see that you are a caring and understanding employer, even when someone is ready to move on. Seeing how well you treat other employees, even those on their way out,will make others think twice about leaving—believe me, not all employers are so gracious!"
 
Provide employee attendance incentives. It’s likely that your best employees are high performers who come in even when they’re feeling a bit under the weather, and don’t hesitate to come in on the occasional day off to take care of an emergency. These are the employees who deserve attendance benefits. For example, for every month without an absence, give employees an extra vacation day, a gift certificate, or a bonus of some kind. It’s that simple. The reward they received for their perfect attendance will make them happy they worked so hard for you throughout the month.
 
"All of the perks in the world won’t mean anything if you don’t show your employees the respect they deserve," says Freyvogel. "As a small business owner, you can’t treat your employees like cogs in a machine and expect them to keep coming back to you. Frequently ask them what they think about certain areas of the business. And if at all possible, implement their ideas and suggestions—there is no more powerful way to say ‘I value you.’ 
 
"Your employees are your greatest asset," continues Freyvogel. "Anything you can do to ensure that they stick with you is worth it. As you can see from the examples, you don’t have to break the bank to show them a little extra appreciation. The loyalty these actions build between you, your employees, and your business will be priceless."
 
About Ty Freyvogel:
Ty Freyvogel is a visionary entrepreneur who has launched and grown numerous successful small businesses over the course of a 35-year career.
 
Altogether, Ty has founded or transformed more than a dozen small and million-dollar enterprises over the course of his career. Ty Freyvogel is also the author of It’s Not Your Smarts, It’s Your Schmooze and Seize the Century!, as well as an advice guru on his new website, MakingSenseofYourBusiness.com.

Ty is an avid reader who also enjoys golf, skiing, and off-road bicycling. He and his wife, Katherine, reside in Pennsylvania where they are active in numerous charities. Together they have raised seven children (which Ty likens to running a small business) and they enjoy spending time with their three grandchildren.

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/dont_let_your_best_employees_leave.html

(Gawkwire.com) – Almost a third (31%) of online entrepreneurs today are 50 years or older, revealed a national survey of 25,000 business by the small business website company, CityMax.com. Released to mark National Small Business Week, the study also found that the morning newspaper has become almost irrelevant to small business owners, with 48% going online immediately after waking (compared to just 3% reading print news).
 
“We’ve seen a recent surge in older entrepreneurs making their own websites,” said Dean Gagnon, Chief Evangelist and President at CityMax.com. “To kick off National Small Business Week, we wanted to share our findings on what today’s online entrepreneur is thinking.”

The survey found California to be the most entrepreneurial state online (12.3% of those polled), followed by Texas (8.4%) and Florida (7.0%). Two thirds of online businesses had no paid employees, and two in five generated a household income upwards of $75,000. Surprisingly, half (51%) of online businesses claimed that they were not negatively affected by the past year’s recession.

Other notable trends included the majority of online entrepreneurs foregoing long work hours, in favor of more efficient websites using tactics such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Social media marketing is also currently at the forefront of small business owners’ minds, yet very few are monitoring their online reputations (28%) or have begun any social media campaigns (19%).

For the full survey and more information, visi

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/1_in_3_online_entrepreneurs_over_the_age_of_50.html

(Gawkwire.com) – Network Solutions® and .CO Internet SAS have launched the "Create your Opportunity" contest where anyone with a great idea for a business, blog or website could win up to $50,000 in cash and web services. Business owners, entrepreneurs and individuals in the U.S. are invited to submit a 60-second video or photo about their big idea, along with a description of the idea and their three favorite proposed .CO domain names at www.pitch.co.

Applicants are encouraged to invite friends, fans and family members to vote for their idea. The 30 ideas with the most votes will be eligible to win the $50,000 grand prize — $25,000 cash and $25,000 in web services – and the ideal .CO domain name to build their site. There also will be five runners-up who will win a free .CO domain name and $500 cash. The contest is open from May 4, 2010 through June 14, 2010.

"Great things can come from a simple idea and this contest is a fun way to help someone turn their idea into an online reality," said Tim Kelly, CEO of Network Solutions. "The new .CO domain name extension opens up a new branding opportunity for new and existing businesses and this contest will give someone a great start to launching their idea."

An all-star panel of judges from different realms of technology, business and venture capital will review the finalists and select the one grand-prize winner and five runners up. Participants can enter multiple ideas. Winners will be announced June 20, 2010.

"We’re building .CO from the ground up with the needs of a new generation of entrepreneurs in mind," said Juan Diego Calle, CEO of .CO Internet. "And the Pitch.co contest is our way of inviting small business owners, bloggers, solopreneurs, online marketers and entrepreneurs of every kind to get to know .CO before we launch to the general public in June — and inspiring them to turn their big ideas into a reality."

The .CO domain extension is being offered by Network Solutions. .CO offers an immediately recognizable, global branding opportunity for new and existing websites. For more information about .CO domains visit: http://marketing.networksolutions.com/dms/DOM/dotCO/index.php. Currently, .CO domain names are only available to companies with a trademark of national effect. On June 21, 2010 the general public can begin to register domains during the Landrush phase. For contest rules and additional information visit: pitch.co/rules.

http://www.gawkwire.com/promotions/win_50_000_in_cash_and_prizes_for_best_idea_for_a_business_blog_.html

(Gawkwire.com) – Network Solutions® and .CO Internet SAS have launched the "Create your Opportunity" contest where anyone with a great idea for a business, blog or website could win up to $50,000 in cash and web services. Business owners, entrepreneurs and individuals in the U.S. are invited to submit a 60-second video or photo about their big idea, along with a description of the idea and their three favorite proposed .CO domain names at www.pitch.co.

Applicants are encouraged to invite friends, fans and family members to vote for their idea. The 30 ideas with the most votes will be eligible to win the $50,000 grand prize — $25,000 cash and $25,000 in web services – and the ideal .CO domain name to build their site. There also will be five runners-up who will win a free .CO domain name and $500 cash. The contest is open from May 4, 2010 through June 14, 2010.

"Great things can come from a simple idea and this contest is a fun way to help someone turn their idea into an online reality," said Tim Kelly, CEO of Network Solutions. "The new .CO domain name extension opens up a new branding opportunity for new and existing businesses and this contest will give someone a great start to launching their idea."

An all-star panel of judges from different realms of technology, business and venture capital will review the finalists and select the one grand-prize winner and five runners up. Participants can enter multiple ideas. Winners will be announced June 20, 2010.

"We’re building .CO from the ground up with the needs of a new generation of entrepreneurs in mind," said Juan Diego Calle, CEO of .CO Internet. "And the Pitch.co contest is our way of inviting small business owners, bloggers, solopreneurs, online marketers and entrepreneurs of every kind to get to know .CO before we launch to the general public in June — and inspiring them to turn their big ideas into a reality."

The .CO domain extension is being offered by Network Solutions. .CO offers an immediately recognizable, global branding opportunity for new and existing websites. For more information about .CO domains visit: http://marketing.networksolutions.com/dms/DOM/dotCO/index.php. Currently, .CO domain names are only available to companies with a trademark of national effect. On June 21, 2010 the general public can begin to register domains during the Landrush phase. For contest rules and additional information visit: pitch.co/rules.

http://www.gawkwire.com/promotions/win_50_000_in_cash_and_prizes_for_best_idea_for_a_business_blog_.html

There are many ways one can promote their business website with ease, and I’m sure you’ve heard of all of the popular methods such as search engine optimization, social bookmarking, video marketing and link exchanging, but there is one method that is commonly overlooked by many online business owners; audio. Although audio is not as popular as online video, there is a huge visitor base that is looking for popular songs and other interesting audio clips online. If you can cater to their needs effectively, then you could benefit from some of this traffic.

Streaming Audio and Hosting Capabilities

Most regular web hosting plans will not provide enough server space or bandwidth to store and transfer all of your site’s audio, especially if you have a large database of audio files. Instead of your average hosting plan, you may want to consider an ecommerce hosting solution instead. Ecommerce hosting solutions will provide the right amount of storage space and bandwidth needed to give your visitors an optimal audio listening experience.  Trying to offer streaming sound with very low server bandwidth will almost indefinitely result in slow transfer speeds and choppy audio. Your visitors will most likely leave after a few minutes of dealing with these annoyances.

Selling Audio with an eCommerce Hosting Account

Selling audio is another way your online business can benefit from the addition of audio. If you want to make some extra money with your domain, then you may want to consider selling digital products. A good ecommerce hosting account will let you create a catalog of digital products such as audio clips and video files, that you can display on your website. You can even post short clips of each file to give the visitor a sample before they buy. Selling digital media without an ecommerce hosting would be very inconvenient, unless you possessed a dedicated server with plenty of server space and bandwidth. For small business owners, an ecommerce hosting plan is much more suitable.

Attracting Traffic and Improving SEO With Audio Lessons

A good way to get traffic from audio is by teaching and tutoring people with audio lessons. Posting a how to audio lecture is a great way to gather targeted search traffic, and to attract the attention of your visitors once they’ve already reached your website. Audio can also improve the search engine ranking of your website. Many people don’t know that search engines gauge the popularity and usefulness of a website by judging how long each visitor remains at the website. By placing audio on you home page, you can grab the viewers attention for long enough to create a lasting impression on both the visitor and the search engine that may have referred them.

Conclusion

In the end, the addition of audio to your website can only bring positive effects. However, hosting large amounts of audio files without an ecommerce account is simply not feasible unless or affordable. If you’re unable to spend a lot of money on a dedicated or private server tat the moment, then you may want to consider a more limitless hosting plan, such as an ecommerce hosting plan.

The internet is an ever-growing sea of entrepreneurs and small business owners, and with every passing day new people are joining the gold rush trying to get their piece of the pie. If you are in this situation and you’re trying to make a name for yourself in the online world, then you’ll need a web hosting solution. Simply put, you’re site cannot exist without a web host. A web hosting plan gives your site access to a web server, which stores all of the site’s data and makes this information viewable to the world. Selecting a web hosting plan when you know absolutely nothing about web hosting or site creation can be nearly impossible to do correctly. In fact, you’ll almost always regret your first decision unless you do all of the research necessary before deciding upon a web hosting solution. If you’re having trouble figuring out which hosting plan would be right for you, then you may want to consider a free web hosting solution.

Free Web Hosting Really Exists?

Yes. You can get free web hosting from many different  companies, the only set back is you’re not going to be able to build your business with free web hosting. However, you can become acquainted with the web hosting industry and you can learn how to build and operate your site with a basic free web hosting solution. Instead of spending your money on a plan that you’re not sure about, you can opt to test the waters with free web hosting instead. If you are looking for a free web host, just do a web search for the term “free web hosting.”

What Can I Do With Free Web Hosting?

The answer to this question is a broad one, in that you can do pretty much anything you would do with a regular hosting plan, except you are limited by the amount of server resources. Free web hosting provides a sample of what web hosting is like, and it let’s you site up a small site that you could use as a personal profile or a small personal blog. Free web hosting is similar to the food sample you’ll find at the food court in the mall – you can get a taste of what is on offer, but don’t expect to make an entire meal out of it!

Can I Upgrade My Free Web Hosting Plan?

One of the best aspects of free web hosting plans is that most web hosting companies will let you upgrade your free plan to a more inclusive paid plan. Many times upgrading is as simple as sending an email or making a phone call. If you are looking for a way to test the waters before you set your boat a sail, you may want to consider free web hosting with a company that offers the option to upgrade. Since free web hosting is such a limited solution, you are undoubtedly going to have the need for an upgrade in the near future, so you’ll want to leave this option open and make the transition as smooth as possible.

123Together.com Expands Its Suite of Hosted Business Services with the Addition of Desktop Data Backup

Web-Based Automatic Desktop Backup And On-Demand File Recovery Ensures Data Protection And Provides Peace of Mind to Small Businesses at a Cost Effective Price.

BURLINGTON, Massachusetts – February 10, 2010 – 123Together.com – a mindSHIFT Technologies company and the leading provider of hosted email and collaboration services – today announced the immediate availability of its Desktop Data Backup service to its small business customers. This online data backup service, powered by Iron Mountain, successfully removes the constant threat of data loss from PC or Mac desktops and laptops by automatically backing up users’ files as they go about their normal business day.

“For many small business owners, their livelihood is on their computer and data management and protection are a constant concern,” said William Flynn, Senior Executive Officer for 123Together.com. “Online data backup and recovery is a great complement to our suite of online communication, file protection, storage and data management solutions. We can now provide our customers with a comprehensive small business insurance policy, protecting their most valuable business assets.”

Faulkner Information Services, a leading market research firm, has found that 50% of businesses that lose their information due to disasters go out of business within 24 months, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor has reported that 93% are out of business within five years. 123Together.com’s Desktop Backup service effectively removes the threat of data loss from lost or stolen laptops, computer viruses, data corruption or human error.

This web-based hosted service provides users with automated protection of their entire desktop or select files at a time that can be pre-selected by them or done on-demand – ensuring that data is backed-up at a time that is most convenient. This “set it and forget it” capability enables users to carry on with their daily activities while the Desktop Backup service runs in the background. On-demand data restoration can be done quickly by the user from any computer with an internet connection. 123Together.com provides all users with live 24×7 technical support. The ability for users to restore their own data on-demand and contact 123Together.com with any questions at any time, dramatically reduces the workload of a company’s IT staff, enabling them to focus on their primary responsibilities.

123Together.com customers are able to leverage the expertise of the larger mindSHIFT Technologies organization which currently provides online data backup and restoration services to its small and mid-size customers. mindSHIFT backed-up 372 terabytes of customer data in 2009 and restored more than 11,000,000 files which totaled 360 gigabytes of data. mindSHIFT’s advanced systems and processes, along with its highly secure, off-site Equinix data center, ensure the highest level of physical and data security. All files are encrypted at the users’ computer before data transfer begins using 128-bit encryption and remain encrypted during transfer to this International Business Exchange (IBX®) data center. Data remains encrypted while in storage and the network is monitored around the clock.

123Together.com offers hosted Desktop Backup and all of its online business services for a small monthly fee. No new hardware or software is required and there are no upfront expenses or contracts to sign.

About 123Together.com
Headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, 123Together.com, a mindSHIFT company, is the leading provider of hosted email and collaboration services to small and mid-size companies who want to increase productivity and decrease cost. The Company’s suite of hosted services includes Microsoft Exchange Server, Windows SharePoint Services, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, archiving, and spam filtering. Users of popular smartphones including BlackBerry, iPhone, Palm Pixi, and Google Nexus One stay connected with its hosted Exchange mobility service. All customers receive live, 24×7 U.S.-based technical support and up to a 100% uptime guarantee. Additional information can be found at www.123Together.com.

Contact:
Lisa Masiello
123Together.com
781-418-1652
lmasiello@123Together.com

(The Hosting News) – Small business tool provider Newtek Business Services, Inc. , today released it’s newest brand of Ecommerce tools, NewtPay(TM) and NewtPay Pro(TM), which will assist the online operations during the start up period for small businesses.

In response to the needs of its small business customers, Newtek created NewtPay(TM) and NewtPay Pro(TM) to deliver a seamless, online Ecommerce solution by harnessing the knowledge and expertise of two of Newtek’s primary small business services, Newtek Web Services and Newtek Merchant Processing. Both products draw on the three core areas necessary for an effective Ecommerce product:

 * accelerated approval for merchant payment processing accounts;
 * 48 hour availability of funds from online transactions; and
 * a single telephone number to call for all facets of online
   storefront activity including website access, hosting,
   gateway, shopping cart and electronic payment processing.

“In handling online, electronic storefronts as well as the brick and mortar presence for tens of thousands of business owners over the past decade, we found that most customers had similar Ecommerce needs,” commented Barry Sloane, CEO and Chairman of Newtek. “NewtPay(TM) and NewtPay Pro(TM) were developed with those client demands in mind, including increased security and compliance updates which incorporate the latest directives for data center protection and PCI Compliance.”

NewtPay(TM) is primarily focused on the Website Designer and Developer community as well as business owners establishing their initial online e-commerce presence to provide a competitive solution to PayPal(TM), with superior pricing, customer funds availability and Newtek’s standard, superior customer service. NewtPay Pro(TM) provides features and enhanced functionality to those businesses that currently have an online presence. Given that small business owners across the U.S continue to fight through a tough economy, Newtek is in the market everyday doing what it can to help businesses reduce costs, provide needed capital and solve their Ecommerce needs.

New Tools for Business Released By Newtek Business Services, Inc.(Nasdaq:NEWT) is a post from: Hosting News and Reseller Web Hosting information.