Big Ideas for Small Business

I got an email today from a client running a MIVA Merchant store at http://www.petitepluspatterns.com. She is an independent pattern designer living in BC, Canada. She got two orders she suspected of being fraudulent. Both orders were placed using free web-based email accounts (yahoo and gmail). Most people I know use these free email accounts these days, so simply disallowing orders from free email providers is not proof enough of fraud.

Here’s some tips for identifying and avoiding fraudulent orders:

1. Don’t accept a credit card order is unless complete information is provided including full address and phone numbers.
2. Don’t accept any order originating from a free, web-based email address. The customer must provide an ISP or domain based address. One that can be traced back to a “real” person. Since the list of free email addresses is growing, check every email address by going to a browser and putting a www. in front of the domain. Don’t accept orders unless the email/domain is a legitimate website or ISP — something that can provide definitive identification of the email address in question.
3. Call the phone number listed on the order. Many cardholders find that their card information was being used without their knowledge by making this phone call. On the other hand, the party on the other end may have never heard of the “customer.” This results in a call to the issuing bank of the credit card to alert their fraud department.

If you’d like to report criminal cyber activity, you may do so with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at http://www.ic3.gov/. This government website offers information about how to protect yourself against internet fraud, spoof email and common crime schemes.

If you’re like me you find yourself using multiple computer systems in lots of locations. Even at home I have three computers I use to browse the web. Then there’s the public and university libraries, client offices, along with the home systems of friends and family. For a long time I wished there had been an easy way for me to look-up all those great sites I’d found so I could share or kill some time. So what I did was send myself emails with the links in them and save them in folders I could access via webmail. But those times are long gone.

Now I use Jeteye to access my bookmarks from any location. Here’s how they describe their product:

Build collections of super-powered bookmarks (we call them JetpaksTM) to save and share your best web searches. Whether planning a date night or researching the 2008 presidential election Jeteye lets you quickly and easily build collections of web resources on any topic. More powerful than bookmarks, specifically tailored for use with web-enabled cell phones, each Jetpak has a permanent address (aka its “URL”) that you can access anytime, anywhere, through any browser-enabled device (computer, laptop, iphone, blackberry). You (or a friend) can create Jetpaks and send super-powered links to your cell phone. If you leave your Jetpaks “public”, then the community can use your Jetpaks and, over time, we can all help make the web a little easier to navigate. For confidential information we suggest you lock your Jetpaks by making them “private”. Our built-in sharing system allows you to selectively permit access to your private Jetpaks so you can hook up a friend with your list of secret travel websites or share a confidential business proposal with a potential buyer.

This service is free and you can sign-up for an account at their website and login to view your bookmarks. However, the best way to have instant access is through a Firefox browser add-on that allows you to add, edit, view, and delete your bookmarks directly in the browser window. YEAH!

If you’re not already using Firefox, then go get it now and quit using any other browser. It’s free, fast, and has great security along with hundreds of add-ons you can use to customize your browsing experience.

So dump your Internet Explorer, Safari or AOL browser and get hooked up with Firefox and Jeteye. And check out all the other wonderful add-ons available at the Firefox website.

Happy Browsing!

Every few months I get an email from a client who thinks they may have a virus. The computer is running slow or freezing up. Eeek! This can spell big trouble for a small business. Of course, a slow computer can be due to other things (specifically too little RAM), but if you think you may have a virus(es) you need to deal with this before it gets out of hand.

First thing to do is get yourself some good anti-virus software and I’m not talking about Norton or McAfee. I’ve had issues with both of these allowing bad stuff to get through and onto my system. I recommend trying AVG’s free anti-virus software. It’s easy to download and install. It automatically downloads updates and runs system scans. I’ve been using it for years and have NEVER had a problem with viruses or any other digital baddies since using it. You can get it for free here:

http://free.grisoft.com/

But wait! This is not enough. You also need to protect yourself from spyware. I like Spyware Guard. Like AVG, it’s free to download. Easy to install and works well. You can get it here:

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html

And now for a disclaimer: I am not a trained IT professional…just a web designer. But I can tell you that as a small business owner and a person who has their computer gear practically tied to my hip, it is in my best interest to stay protected and well-oiled. So far so good!

Every few months, we pack into the car and go to Greenville (SC) to hit the mall and do some serious shopping. When the seasons change, Asheville just doesn’t have the goods to feed the monster. While browsing through the Macy’s shoe department, I came upon them. THE shoes. The shoes I saw myself kicking around in all summer long. Red Hula Girl Shoes made by Rocket Dog. Perfect in every way. Bright red, not too orange, not too blue. Big rubber bumpers on both ends to bring back memories of those childhood keds. Cute little grass skirted hula girls and the word “ALOHA” sprinkled throughout. Nothing to tie, just slip ‘em on and wear ‘em anywhere. Perfect. Well, perfect in almost every way. The $39.99 price tag gave me chills even in the warm weather. I must have $$$ for video games. Shoes are my second priority. So I passed on the perfect summer shoes.

I don’t have many regrets in life. My grandmother told me that regrets were the one thing you don’t want to take with you. Ever since I passed up those perfect sneaks I have regretted it. I have thought about those shoes non-stop. I even tried to order them online (since we don’t have a Macy’s in Asheville) and come to find out, they come in many colors, red being “rare”. Fine. Well, after two months of constant regret and periodic searching, I found the very same shoes on Solestruck.com. My heart skipped a beat, my face flushed, and my fingers fumbled to grab my credit card from my wallet even though now I’d be paying over $50 for the dynamic duo. I placed my order assuring myself that soon I would slip those babies on and walk with pride.

A few days later, my Red Hula Girls arrived carried by our neighborhood FedEx man who will not step foot into my yard due to my two large and rowdy canines. I brought the box inside, grabbed the scissors and began to cut the box open. It was double boxed. I cut through the layers of tape, then plastic, removed all the customary paperwork, and at last had the hula girls in my hands. Ah, that new shoe smell. Mmmmm… They were every bit of what I remembered. I flicked off my flip flops and slipped on the shoes. Too small.

Too small? How can this be? I tried them on in the store? My left foot is a full size smaller than my right, so I wondered if maybe I could just grin and bear it. But I came to the realization that this was utter folly. I’d have a black toenail in no time. So I wrapped them up just as they arrived and sent them back.

As if the pain wasn’t enough, we made our semi-monthly trip down to Greenville today and guess what? The very same shoes were on the sale rack and for only $19.99!!! In a frenzy I combed the sale racks, even the smaller sizes (you know how people hide things just in case they want to come back later in the day). They had every size except the 9-1/2’s.

Serves me right.

If the world gives you a “perfect pair of shoes”, buy them. However you define that perfect pair. Missed opportunities leave a sour taste in the soul. If the door opens, step in, and ask questions later.

Great design in daily objects is often overlooked because the object is so well designed that it flows seamlessly into our spaces. Case in point, my $3.99 alarm clock made by Equity. It has everything an alarm clock should and nothing that can’t be done by another type of appliance.

It’s battery operated so power outages aren’t a problem. It has a big snooze button front and center for easy pounding in the wee hours. The snooze button also acts as a light so you can view the time while staring at the ceiling counting sheep. Otherwise, no light to keep you awake and drain the battery. Unless you like the soft glow of your alarm clock’s digital readout you might find this to be your favorite feature.

There’s only 5 other buttons on the top of the device to set the hour and minute for either clock or alarm. And one final switch to turn the alarm ON or OFF. So simple you don’t need instructions. This is great for those mornings you decide you want another 30 minutes to sleep and need to reset your alarm without thinking.

All in all, this is the perfect alarm clock. And since it only cost $3.99, I won’t feel bad if it goes flying across the room on one of those mornings I wake up on the wrong side of the bed.

So the next time you reach for your Bic ballpoint pen, your Mr. Coffee, a paper clip or rubber band, pause a moment to thank the makers for these objects. All of which are so simple and beautiful in their concept and design that we don’t realize their genius.

You’ve discovered the Meridian Design blog written by me, Heather Gordon. I am the founder, creative vision, and head grunt behind all of the work Meridian Design has produced over the last 12 years.

Topics for this blog will include:

• search engine optimization & web marketing
• print and graphic design issues
• web userability
• new software and important updates
• digital diversions and other online time wasters
• client spotlights

I encourage you to subscribe to this blog and get the word on a range of topics that will be of interest to many of my clients. When you find a post that discusses something you’d like to know more about, please post a comment so I know I should turn that topic into a newsletter.

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