Welcome To The Family

 

We would like to celebrate and thank our new clients for their business.  We look forward to serving all their internet needs in 2010.   [We're Clapping] 

A Hollywood Makeover

 

After moving operations to Los Angeles last year, it seemed terribly important to give our website a makeover.    While the makeover is not complete and we sometimes feel like the shoemaker with holes in his or her shoes - we are getting some nice feedback.  The truth is that we have been too busy to work on our own site - which is really great ! 

 

Whats Coming in 2010 and How To Prepare Your Business

 

2010 will be the Year of Search for SMBs.  As print media is fading, along with print advertising and print directories (yellow pages), it is now critical that small & medium size businesses (SMBs) be included in the top search engines.  Many industries, such as hotel, travel, electronics have been clued into the search engine strategies for quite some time, but its only now that brick & mortar businesses are understanding the importance.    No longer do people look in the yellow pages to find auto repair, plumbing, general contractors & lawyers.  They look online with Google, Yahoo, Bing & AOL.   In fact, many cities stopped printing and delivering hard copy yellow pages to homes.

Its no longer acceptable to simply launch your website as an online business card and expect tobe picked up by Google & Yahoo when someone is looking for your services or product.   You must construct your site properly, perform search engine optimization (SEO), set up social media outlets, list your services in the online Local Business listings and perform many other marketing techniques.    If you dont, your business will be at a disadvantage.   Forrester Research put out a study last year showing SEO trailing only social media and online videos as channels that marketers will be shifting dollars to take advantage of its high effectiveness.

In addition to an increase in search engine spend and awareness. Its also becoming more important for businesses to create PDA enabled websites.   Its estimated by the year 2012 that mobile phones will outpace personal computers as the leading device that accesses the web.  People will want  to make hotel or restaurant reservations online from their iPhones.   Many businesses are just now understanding that their website is is not compatible for users accessing via PDAs or smart phones. eMaximize is ahead of the curve and can help you prepare your business for these challenges.

 

 

MaxEbb 

 

Got Virus Issues ?

 

Recently a colleague asked me for a recommendation on virus protection.   I told her it was best to use at least two products and then follow best practices to avoid viruses & malware - dont download items from untrusted sources, dont open .wav files emailed as jokes and pretty much be cautious and aware that there is suspicious activity on the net.     In any event she was suspicious of her computers virus defense, so I instructed her to uninstall Norton Antivirus and give Kaspersky a shot at the 4-star General position in her virus defense. I also recommended to use a spyware program to compliment your security, I like Spy-Bot, Search & Destroy. 

 

Her instincts were correct and Kaspersky found 20 threats including 3 trojans that went undetected by Norton.  I highly recommend Kaspersky, who is quickly gaining market share, with good reason.   You can download a free trial of their software and scan your computer for free, and use it for 30 days which is great.   You can also download a 2-year license for $89 and use it for up to 3 computers.  I found it extremely easy to install and update with all the latest protection.   I highly recommend Kaspersky , I've been impressed with functionality, cost and effectiveness.  It also does not slow your computer to a crawl, runs seamlessly in the background.  You can download here http://usa.kaspersky.com/products_services/anti-virus.php

 

Max

 

 

eMaximize and Haiti

 

eMaximize is trying to help rebuild Haitian commerce.  eMaximize has been in contact with a few relief agencies including Yele.org, founded by Wyclef Jean and AmericaCares.org.  While we understand the relief efforts are currently focused on restoring and maintaining human life, we have also contacted groups dedicated to restoring Haiti's communication infrastructure.   We are hoping to get in touch with deserving organizations to restore and host their website and email services while they get back on their feet. Some of these organizations may be part of the relief efforts  Please let us know if you have any information that might be helpful in our quest.