ND Idea Week Celebrates Innovation and Entrepreneurship with an Amazing Schedule of Events

Having worked with ND Idea Center companies in the past we had high expectations for Idea Week (April 21 to 29) but reviewing the schedule of events and guest speakers this event goes above and beyond.   

Idea Week events include Ted X UND, the 89th Annual Blue & Gold game, a Tech Expo, Maker Faire.  Keynote speakers include Daymond John, CEO of FUBU and a regular on ABC's "Shark Tank" plus Tony Hsieh, CEO Zappos, and world renowned violinist, Itzhak Perlman.  

And there's more: Comedian Gavriel Iglesias and his "One Show Fits All World Tour", plus a McCloskey New Venture Competition, Patti LuPone, and the Thomson Reuters MBA Tech Innovation Challenge. Some entertainment events have a modest charge associated but registration for Idea Week is free. 

Here's a link with more info and a complete calendar of events: Idea Week Details 

Idea Week and the Idea Center are both important regional resources for supporting innovation and entrepreneurship here in the Midwest. Click Idea Center for details.  

What Does the Chrome 64 Update Mean for Your Website?

The latest Google Chrome update (Chrome 64) includes a number of helpful improvements and security features, some of which will impact what your visitors will be able to see on your website. Here's a quick overview of what we see as the "big three" features:

Advanced Ad Blocking: Google is trying to kill (or at least maim) the many kinds of annoying spam advertising that's so pervasive online.  Chrome 64 has more advanced pop-up blocking that will remove auto-play audio and auto-launch tabs and windows. The intent is to make advertising less intrusive and improve UX (user experience) as we browse the online world.

What Chrome 64 Means for Your Website: Google is tracking websites that violate the new Chrome 64 ad standards. If you're site is in violation these will be reported by means of the Google Ad Experience Report. Site owners will get notification of the issues and will have 30 days to correct the problems and re-submit the site to Google for review. Failing to correct matters for 30 days will result in Google proactively filtering the ads. Then there's the impact on the site's SEO visibility; it won't be good. 

Improved Security: One of the more than 50 bug fixes in the Chrome 64 update will disable the Shared Array Buffer which plugs a hole that could allow the Spectre and Meltdown bugs access to your computer. This will help to address the security problem Intel discovered (or at least admitted) a few weeks ago. Speaking of security, remember, Google is also flagging websites that not HTTPS compliant.

Availability: Chrome 64 is being made available for Mac, Linux and Windows, but Windows 10 users will need to download the Fall Creators Update to take full advantage of the some of the new features.

How to verify if you have Chrome 64: Click the three little dots at the upper right corner of your browser; scroll down to Help, then roll over to About Google Chrome. You should see Version 64.0.xxxx.xxx. If not, there's a Get help with Chrome link right there.

Questions? Call us.

Four 2018 Website Objectives Illustrated

Analyzing recent client discussions it's clear most business owners are focused on one (or more) of four objectives in 2018: They want a website update that (1) helps them stand out from the competition, (2) is mobile responsive and optimized, (3) is SEO friendly to improve organic search visibility and (4) is secure and hacker resistant; (HTTPS at the minimum).

The newly redesigned Better Business Bureau website illustrates several important design principles in achieving the first objective. (Full disclosure: Precept has been BBB Accredited for many years; I'm also a former member of the BBB Advisory Board.) Key elements: 
 
On a high quality, relevant photo background, the tag line "Start With Trust" is prominent. This is core to the BBB Unique Selling Proposition (USP). It also provides emotional context that resonates with their users.

The message is reinforced with text explaining the tag line: "An ethical marketplace where buyers and sellers trust each other."  Under that are a pair of search boxes: "Find" (the service you're looking for) and "Near" (your location). The search results include both BBB Accredited and non-accredited businesses.

Immediately below the photo are boxes that let you file a compliant, leave a review, or explore tips and resources for consumers and businesses. Navigation to the rest of the site is "mobile inspired" via a "Menu" drop box at the far upper right. The overall design is clean, simple and intuitive without sacrificing the information payload required to be truly useful.

You can check it out at www.BBB.org.

Want to discuss your website objectives for 2018? Give us a call. 

10 Minutes to E-Commerce Success - eBook Gift for Our Clients and Friends

My friend and conversion expert, Grant Segall, has just released a new e-book called "10 Minutes to E-commerce Success". And, yes, I’m one of the featured interviews. I was so impressed with all the content, I arranged for our clients and friends to get a copy for free.

It features 10-minute interviews with leading experts who spell out their single best business strategy or tactic to grow your e-commerce business.

My interview on developing a killer strategy is the book's opening chapter. In it, I explain how an approach based on Porter's Five Forces analysis can be used to drive sales and outsmart your competition.

    

Other chapters include:

> The "entrepreneur trap" that Dave Hermansen of StoreCoach.com says all serious e-commerce business owners should avoid.

>Shark Tank alum, Brian Lim shares his one secret to sustainable growth. Without this, even a high-converting website can suffer serious problems and stunt the company’s growth.

> Kristin Marquet of The Haute Rebel reveals which social network she uses to add hundreds of leads and subscribers to her e-commerce store every month. Hint: It’s not Instagram.

Plus business-building advice from more than a dozen other leading experts including (in alphabetical order): Mark Dorsey, Damien Elsing, Michael Epstein, Danielle Lewis, John Logar, Thom O’Leary, Rishi Rawat, Michelle Stinson Ross, Harris Siddiqui and Robin Smith.  

You can get a free copy of this e-book by clicking here: 10 Minutes to E-commerce Success

At just 10 minutes per chapter this eBook is a concise read that's well worth your time.

Enjoy!  

What You Can Do Now to Avoid a KRACK Attack

A recently discovered vulnerability in Wi-Fi encryption is the tech industry's latest worry.  It's being called KRACK (for Key Reinstallation AttaCK), and it's capable of affecting many types of wireless devices, with potentially disastrous results.  While most of the major platforms like Windows and MacOS have already been patched, there are millions of IoT devices that are unpatched and vulnerable, notably most Wi-Fi routers.

KRACK  targets the third step in a four-way authentication “handshake” performed when your Wi-Fi client device attempts to connect to a protected Wi-Fi network. The encryption key can be resent multiple times during step three, and if attackers collect and replay those retransmissions in particular ways, Wi-Fi security encryption can be broken.

This devastating flaw in Wi-Fi’s WPA security protocol makes it possible for attackers to eavesdrop on your data when you connect to Wi-Fi. KRACK affects the Wi-Fi protocol itself—not specific products or implementations, and “works against all modern protected Wi-Fi networks,” according to Mathy Vanhoef, the researcher that discovered it. That means that if your network devices use Wi-Fi, vulnerability to KRACK is highly likely.

What happens when Wi-Fi security is broken?  For starters, the attacker can eavesdrop on all traffic you send over the network. “This can be abused to steal sensitive information such as credit card numbers, passwords, chat messages, emails, photos, and so on,” Vanhoef says.  But it gets worse.  The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team also issued this warning as part of its KRACK security advisory, per Ars Technica: “The impact of exploiting these vulnerabilities includes decryption, packet replay, TCP connection hijacking, HTTP content injection, and others.” HTTP content injection means the attacker could sneak code into the websites you’re looking at to infect your PC with ransomware or malware.  This being the case, websites that aren’t HTTPS on a site wide basis (which is most of them) are the most vulnerable.  So if your website has not been upgraded to use HTTPS secure page protocol on a site wide basis, it would be a good idea to schedule this in the near future.

Experts warn that KRACK attacks will largely be opportunistic. Imagine bad guys driving by or walking around your facility scanning for Wi-Fi access points to break into and create mischief of all kinds. By example, I can see eight different Wi-Fi networks from our offices here in downtown Buchanan; apparently, the opportunities for Wi-Fi hackers will be more than plentiful.

What should you do to avoid a Wi-Fi based KRACK attack? Simple: don't use Wi-Fi to connect your computers, printers and peripherals. Hardwiring your network is the sure way to avoid a premises based KRACK attack. 

For businesses that requires the use of a Wi-Fi network at some level (public access for instance), it will be important to verify that your hardware manufacturer has been proactive in analyzing the vulnerability, creating the appropriate patch, making it available for your specific device, and then providing access for security patching.  Once the required patches are applied, it will be important to check for patch updates as the bad guys will keep upping their game; (it's an arms race).  At this moment in time, there are patches for approximately a couple dozen devices.. Feel free to contact us if you need assistance in this regard.

Can Amazing Customer Service Be a Source of Competitive Advantage?

Can Amazing Customer Service Be a Source of Competitive Advantage? 

A recent discussion with one of our clients brought this question into focus. The client is College Pathways USA, and for them, amazing customer service isn't just a plaque on the wall, it's the reason the company exists. It's also intrinsic to their competitive advantage. 

Explaining the genesis of the company the founder said, "As college administrators, we struggled with our desire to give students the time and service they needed because we were stretched so thin. We launched our company to provide an amazing, personalized service to help students enter and succeed in college."

Illustrating their services she continued, "For one of our clients, the family and even the high school were unaware of the programs that were available to their high school student. With our help and advocacy, this student was able to earn 12 college credits that transferred to her college for free."

She added, "Her parents were thrilled, not only for the free credits, but also for the opportunity for their daughter to begin her college experience while still at home. Now she can choose to graduate early (and save thousands of dollars), or to take a lighter credit load during her sports seasons. We’re proud of her, and we enjoy keeping in touch because amazing customer service builds special relationships with our clients."

And those clients tell their friends. From our perspective, seeing the steady growth of College Pathways USA confirms the value of amazing customer service as an important source of competitive advantage, even in a market with larger, well financed, entrenched competitors. A    

Coincidentally, October 2 to 6 is national Customer Service Week, in honor of which author Shep Hyken is offering his book, "Be Amazing or Go Home" in eBook format at no charge. (You can get the hardcover version for $24.81 if you're a Prime member.) 

His book outlines seven customer service habits that build trust with customers, employees and family members. He makes an important connection between gratitude and being Amazing.  Here's a link where you can download a copy on Amazon:

Be Amazing or Go Home

The free eBook is available this week only.

Enjoy!

My VOBox is a Case Study in Perseverance

Our latest website build project well illustrates the importance of perseverance in turning an idea into an operating business. Case in point: My VOBox is the product of three years of planning, programming, testing, refining, retesting, and repeating the process while knocking down multiple technical, legal and security issues, one after another. It could be an HBR Case Study on perseverance as the key prerequisite for building a business.

The My VOBox concept sounds simple: Scan every piece of your incoming mail (both the outside of the envelope and whatever is inside) and make it available anywhere, anytime, by means of a secure, web portal. It's a solution ideal for road warriors, full time RVer's, truck drivers, snow birds, or anyone inconvenienced by a daily trip to a PO or mail box.

And while the concept sounds simple enough, execution turned out to be quite another story. That's where the founder's perseverance (and "fire in the belly") ultimately turned adversity into opportunity.

Strategically, the new MyVOBox.com site is the marketing "front end" of the business where we'll focus our long-term SEO and related marketing efforts to build brand awareness and drive targeted traffic to the top of the funnel. It's where the service is explained through an Infographic, screen shots, an FAQ page, with info on subscription plans and special offers. Choosing one of the subscription levels takes you to a separate, secure website where subscriptions, payments, log ins and web portal access functionality are segregated behind a robust firewall.

Looking at the MyVOBox website visitors see no sign of the three years of "blood, sweat, toil and tears" that went into turning this simple (but great) idea into viable business. But working with and getting to know hundreds of business founders over the years, I can't remember a single instance where they didn't point to dogged, never-give-up perseverance as a (or the) key factor in their success. My VOBox is the latest example and our nominee for an HBR Case Study.