Wait, People are Actually Doing This?If you don?t believe that tattoo marketing is real, then ask one of the seventy employees of Rapid Realty to roll up their sleeves. This New York-based realty company offers their salesmen and saleswomen a hard-to-pass-up incentive in order to get them to ink the company logo on their body–a fifteen percent lifetime pay increase and the title of ?brand ambassador.? As you can see, by adding a personal touch to the logo, some of these ?brand ambassadors? are able to make their tattoo look almost cool (almost). Tattoos: A Permanent Marketing Solution…From a marketing perspective, these are advertising dollars well spent. A tattoo is as permanent as it gets. Keep in mind that one of the main goals of a marketing campaign is to have it engage your audience, and as anybody with ink will tell you, a tattoo is one of the best conversation starters there is. ?So, what?s your tattoo mean?? A question like this asked to a Rapid Realty ?brand ambassador? is sure to lead to an engaging conversation about real estate that could lead to a sale. In addition to making for a great marketing technique, tattoos will let you know which of your staff are the most committed to their job–or the most desperate for a pay raise. Granted, getting a tattoo of one?s place of employment is the ultimate example of selling out, but 1) It will make a worker think twice about leaving (employee retention), and 2) When it comes time to leave the company, the money accrued over the years for getting the tattoo should more-than cover the cost of getting it removed. …Or, a Sign of Desperation?In today?s competitive environment, it?s becoming more difficult to have your message break through the noise of competing messages. Therefore, outside-the-box ideas like tattoo marketing actually make sense, on some level. In fact, even political campaigns are becoming desperate enough to pay to get their candidate?s logo tattooed on supporters? bodies. Take for example this face tattoo of the 2012 Romney/Ryan US presidential campaign logo on Eric Hartsburg?s face. He essentially turned his face into a billboard and made himself a cool $5,000. What do you think, is it worth it? What are your thoughts? Would you consider getting your company?s logo inked on your body? Do you think your team would be willing to become a tattooed brand ambassador for your business or does the thought horrify you? Share your thoughts in the comments.

If you?ve ever tried to clean your keyboard following a spill, you know it can be a frustrating and time-consuming process. Here?s how to best approach cleaning your keyboard following a spill. The first thing you?ll notice is that it?s awfully hard to Google the phrase, ?How to clean soda off my keyboard,? when there?s liquid seeping deeper and deeper into the recesses of your keyboard. A sugary substance will be especially bad for your keyboard, making the keys stick and rendering it useless. Instead of worrying about how you?re going to fix this issue, be sure to bookmark or print out this five-step action plan for cleaning your keyboard following a spill. Power Off Your Computer and Disconnect the KeyboardFirst of all, you should make every effort to ensure that you power down your computer as soon as possible, and disconnect the keyboard. Most modern keyboards are USB-connected and can easily be disconnected, but older keyboards have the round connector, which could cause damage to the motherboard if removed without powering down the machine first. Act quickly, because if the liquid seeps into the keyboard?s circuits, it could cause even more problems (unlike Coca-cola?s spilt-soda-on-computer scenario). Flip the Keyboard Upside Down and Give it a Good ShakingWhile it makes sense to go rummaging for a towel immediately following a spill, this time should instead be devoted to flipping the keyboard over and giving it a good shaking. This helps to keep the liquid that has gotten into the keyboard from seeping in too deep. Wipe Down Your KeyboardLetting the liquid flow out of your keyboard is a crucial first step, but it won?t solve all of your problems. Use a dry cloth to wipe up your mess, and try your best to get between the keys. Don?t take any keys off quite yet. Focus on cleaning rather than detailing. Let it Dry OvernightNext, find a dry place to let your keyboard sit upside down overnight. When you come back to it the next day, look for any additional moisture that may be left and give it a wiping. Check for StickinessBefore plugging your keyboard back in, test it one last time for stickiness. If you spilled a sugary drink like soda, you?ll probably still run into some trouble, regardless of how well you cleaned it up. Depending on how bad it is, you may have to remove the keys and clean underneath them. Computer Hope has some suggestions concerning how to do this: Removing a standard keyboard key is simple. Start by pressing down on the key in front of the key you want to remove and insert a flat object such as a car key… or a small flathead screwdriver below the key. Once below the key twist it or push down until the key pops off. If you want to remove more than one key, repeat this process until all keys are removed. After carefully removing the keys, use a Q-tip to finish the cleanup. With the keyboard now completely cleaned, plug it in and see how it works. If you caught the accident before it could cause too much damage, you might have been able to save your keyboard. If the spill was too large, your keyboard is probably a hopelessly sticky mess. You won?t know […]

A study by Exact and Pb7 Research shows that the cloud has the potential to be an invaluable asset to businesses, claiming that the cloud can potentially double profits and help them achieve an additional 25 percent revenue growth compared to businesses that haven?t adopted cloud solutions. The study is based on 750 interviews with small businesses, all of which have less than 50 employees. 51 percent of all respondents claimed to use at least one form of cloud computing software, while nearly 30 percent of small businesses in the United States admitted to using three or more cloud applications in the workplace. In other words, most businesses are adopting the cloud and using it to improve the way they operate. When asked why they chose to implement cloud solutions, businesses gave these top five reasons: Security: 32% Lower IT costs: 26% Low maintenance requirements, less physical infrastructure: 23% Easy mobile access: 23% More productivity and efficiency for end-users: 21% Additionally, when asked to rate certain aspects of the cloud on a scale of 1 (low) through 5 (high), the average results were: Easy to use: 4.0 Easier to find information: 4.0 Easier to share information: 3.9 Increased productivity: 3.9 Easier to add and remove users: 3.8 Before integrating a cloud solution, it?s important to consider the reasons you want to take advantage of it. What goals are you hoping to achieve, and how will the cloud going help you reach those goals? These are questions that absolutely have to be answered if you hope to reap any benefits from your cloud. White Mountain IT Services can help your business make an educated decision concerning the future of your cloud infrastructure. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to learn more.

Take, for instance, this worst-case scenario of how easy it might be for a hacker to impersonate one of your Facebook friends. If you have your profile set to public, anyone will be able to see the posts on your wall, your personal information (phone number, address, email, etc, if you opt to share it), any pictures and videos you?ve posted, your interests, and plenty more information. Hackers, scammers, or worse, can use this information to either locate you in the physical world, or contact you through a digital environment. All it takes is a misstep on your part to allow them to get away with this deplorable behavior. To avoid these unnerving possibilities, try these three tips to lock down your Facebook account: Examine the Privacy Checkup ShortcutClicking on the padlock icon in the top-right portion of Facebook will display privacy shortcuts, which you can take advantage of to perform a number of different functions. By clicking on the Privacy Checkup button, a friendly bipedal blue dinosaur will guide you through a short process. You?ll be required to set your default post status (public, private, etc), which apps can access your account, and your profile information. Afterwards, you can see how the public or specific users will see your profile, allowing you to tweak your settings in order to ensure your own privacy. Besides the privacy checkup, you can also use the shortcuts to access other settings, like who can contact you via inbox or friend request, and how you can get someone to leave you alone. At the bottom of the drop-down, you can access even more privacy settings. Enable Login NotificationsBy enabling these notifications, you?ll be informed of new logins on your account. The way this works is that you can enable the alerts to come to you in the form of ordinary Facebook notifications, like if someone commented on a post; through email, which requires that you provide Facebook with your email address; or through text messages, which also requires some prior setup. You can also view where your account is currently logged in, and you can end any current activity on signed-in devices. It will also tell you which devices specifically are accessing Facebook, as well as the operating system and physical location. If you notice any suspicious activity, you can easily click End Activity, which will give them the boot and give you some time to change your password. Use Two-Factor AuthenticationFacebook?s version of two-factor authentication involves sending a pin number to your smartphone as an additional means to keep your account secure. You can also access the Code Generator application on your mobile phone, which gives you a security code that lets you access your account. This helps keep your account open to you, and only you. In today?s security-minded world, it?s more important than ever to ensure that all of your online accounts are optimized to allow for maximum security from hackers and other suspicious activity. It doesn?t take a genius to navigate Facebook and find out all about you, so take a proactive stance on defending yourself and the people you love by spreading the message about online security. Want to help lock down your friends and family? Share this article on Facebook!

Why a Network Might Perform PoorlyIt?s actually much easier than you might think for a business to hit their network?s maximum capacity. If your business has experienced unprecedented growth recently, this usually means that there will be more strain on the network than originally anticipated. More users accessing the same applications across the same old network will inevitably cause some problems down the road, especially if nothing is done to facilitate and accommodate the increased traffic. Other times, however, a network might just be suffering from old age. Hardware that?s been around the block a time or two might not hold up the way it used to, and your access to information could suffer because of it. This is why it?s so important to monitor your business?s infrastructure and ensure that any malfunctioning hardware is promptly taken care of. Indicators of Poor Network PerformanceIf you feel that you might be losing some productivity due to poor network performance, consider these telltale signs: Poor application performance. If your employees are having trouble accessing important applications, one problem might be due to an overloaded network. If a network is trying to process too much traffic, applications will load slower, and therefore, won?t be as useful for your productivity as anticipated. Ask employees. Nothing helps you understand the current state of your network better than asking the end-users. Perhaps you?ve run into a couple of issues yourself, but either way, you need to confirm that there?s a problem with not only your own network access, but all avenues of your organization?s network access. Slow network performance in general. You know there?s something wrong with your network when it takes several minutes to load files that are stored on it. Get a Network ConsultationThe problem with managing a network is that it?s an exceptionally knowledge-intensive task. You don?t want just anyone managing your entire network infrastructure. Instead, you should have skilled professionals like those at White Mountain IT Services take a comprehensive analysis of your network infrastructure. We have the ability to point out bottlenecks in your network infrastructure, potential resource hogs that are bogging it down, and other troublesome flaws that might be hurting your staff?s ability to get its job done. Give us a call today at (603) 889-0800 to schedule a network audit and consultation.