management

Teamwork in the Mobile Information Age

October 26, 2017 by Jason Tweed Leave a Comment

Teamwork in the Mobile Information Age

In 2013 Michael Rapino and Jason Tweed formed Mediastead. By design, we wanted to run a highly efficient but highly professional web design and marketing agency without the burdens of overhead expenses like office space. Theory is always more elegant than practice.

In 2017 Mediastead is still very lean and efficient but we’re building an infrastructure and a foundation that will hold up in the test of time. Virtual offices aren’t always what they’re cracked up to be, but you can learn a lot by finding solutions that keep your teams mobile.

Here are a few tips for integrating teams on the go and operating remotely, while still maintaining the integrity and structure of a high-performance workplace.

Purchase Mobile Devices for your Team

If you are like most companies your data is now spread across multiple devices, and many of them are owned by your employees, not by your company. A few years ago the trend was BYOD (Bring your own device), where companies will allow employees to do their work from their home computer, personal cell phone, etc. The employees were happy and the company is saving money. Sounds like a win-win.

Unfortunately, experience has shown that this win-win creates more headaches, and possible data breaches or lapses in security.

Purchasing cell phones or laptops for your employees that are dedicated to work tasks gives the business owner more control and is still much cheaper than renting office space.

Not every employee is going to want to carry two cell phones, but that’s actually a good thing for you. Allow your employees to use their work cell phone for personal use, and it saves them money and makes you look like the hero. Additionally, it could improve employee retention. You’re much less likely to quit a job if you’re going to be forced to buy a new cell phone and plan.

Yes, there is the old “but some like iPhone and some like Android”. It doesn’t matter. The device itself can be picked out by your employee. Give them the choice of several devices and let them choose the one that best fits their personality and their work-related tasks. Today most tablets and laptop computers can also be used as virtual mobile phones.

You will incur additional expense, so maximize your value. Make sure that you have a good process in place to make set up easy and convenient for your employees and your IT vendor.

There’s an App for That

There are thousands of apps that can give your phones and other devices an amazing array of functionality. This creates two challenges.

All your employees must be using the same apps in the same way.
All the apps must work well together.

This is been a big issue for our business as we’re growing. We use different applications for email clients, task lists, project management, CRM, billing, and a wide array of social media clients. (And this doesn’t even include applications we set up on behalf of our customers.)

The mix of applications we use is constantly evolving. At the same time, our goal is to create consistency.

Mediastead currently uses G Suite, formerly Google’s Apps for Business, so one requirement before adding an app to our process is that it be compatible with G Suite. Social sign in through G Suite is a huge plus. Additionally, we look for applications that are integrated with each other. For example, our CRM has integration directly with Mailchimp and LinkedIn. These cross-app integrations are extremely important.

Don’t be afraid to purchase pro versions of good apps. Many apps are available for free, but there is a pro version that allows you to access additional features or connect multiple accounts. There is a natural tendency to try to work around paying for something to use a free version. We have discovered that most of the time the companies that build these apps have a good understanding of the value they create by integrating certain services. If an app is good and well integrated, it’s almost always worth what you are asked to pay.

Beware of free apps. Many applications are free, but this puts your business at risk in two ways. Every free application has to pay for itself in some way. Yes, some are supported by advertising, but some are supported by unseen sources of income such as data mining. Some quality apps are frankly are not supported, and they eventually disappear. Every day dozens of new apps are available for Android and iPhone, and every day dozens of old apps fade into oblivion. We have first-hand experience from one of our most valuable apps that offer truly unique functionality was simply not profitable and the developer shut it down.

Enough theoretical advice; how about practical advice?

Well if you’ve read this far in the article, you deserve a bonus. Here is a list of some of the apps Mediastead has used, either internally or with our customers. We will stop short of saying that we endorse these apps, but there’s no garbage on this list. You’ll have to give them a try and figure out which combinations work best for your business.

Email Clients

Outlook 365 (Part of Microsoft’s Office 365 suite.) Good desktop platform and reasonably good web interface. The downside is the annual subscription.
Gmail App – Gmail’s web interface is very lean and high quality and their proprietary app works very well on both Android and iPhone, better than the default Mail apps.
Mailbird – free desktop client, and a Pro version that is a pay once lifetime license.

Project Management and Task Lists

Asana and Trello are two of the best robust project management applications. They both work well on desktop as well as mobile. The downside is that they have too much power for some businesses. Balance the time it takes doing your tasks with the time it takes organizing your tasks. Both have free and Pro versions.
Wunderlist – A terrific free task list that’s simple, but still has lots of features. It’s also a great app if you want to organize personal and work tasks in the same app. Shared lists work well for teams, or even sharing a grocery list with your spouse. It works great on PC and mobile.
ToDoist – This nice task list software is great on mobile devices. It’s also very well integrated with lots of other programs which gives an advantage in some situations. The downside is currently there is no PC version, just a web application.

Office Suites and Bundles

Office 365 – Microsoft Office has gone from your desktop to Software as a Service. While many consider Microsoft software a necessary evil, give Office 365 a chance. A relatively inexpensive annual fee (as low as $69) means your office software is continually updated and well integrated. Most of us have had the frustration of discovering that Office 2007 doesn’t support new functionality, but we don’t want to pay a high price to replace software that does 99% of everything else just fine. Now you’ll always have the latest version, at a price that is below your previous Microsoft investment. Additionally, a $99 license can be used on up to five PCs, and mobile devices are free. For 100 bucks a year a small office can’t beat the value.
Zoho – This (mostly) free office suite has lots of software beyond core applications. They have a CRM, accounting software, email services and more. Our only hesitation is that this service is largely web-based and occasionally experience frustrating lag.
G Suite – Google’s robust platform offers virtually everything Microsoft Office has, however, there are some incompatibilities and its web-based. The biggest advantage here is a robust administrative platform for businesses. It’s a better way to secure data if your team works remotely. The downside is a $5.00/user/month fee which can add up. It’s a great platform for mobile offices, but if your team works mostly from an office, Office 365 may be a better choice and more economical.

More Specialty Applications

MailChimp – Much simpler to use email newsletter client than the venerable Constant Contact. Additionally, it’s extremely well integrated with many platforms and apps.
Robly – As simple as Mailchimp with several unique features that marketers love, however, it’s not as well integrated (yet), but it’s growing on us.
Slack – An Instant Messenger program that’s great for business teams. Most people use text messages, Facebook, Snapchat or other instant message programs for their personal life, but slack allows you to segregate work-related tasks in an effective way. Granted there are no filters that turn you into the puppy dog, but you should be working anyhow.
Skype – The venerable VOIP software has its ups and downs, but it’s probably the most consistent video/voice/IM platform around. A subscription version also connects Skype to land the mobile lines. It can be a virtual telephone replacement. The bad news is that it’s the bastard step-child of Microsoft, so sometimes it’s development seems to be more reactionary than proactive.
Mobizen – This software connects your Android or iPhone to your PC, giving you the ability to manipulate your phone right on your desktop. As a person with disabilities, it’s been a godsend for Jason Tweed, but generally, it has some pretty unique features that are valuable to anyone who prefers the PC platform. The free version has one drawback, the phone must be connected by USB cable to the PC. An inexpensive paid version can connect wirelessly.
Adobe Creative Cloud is the Software as a Service version of the popular suite that includes Photoshop, Illustrator, Premier, and Acrobat. They are still the mainstay of the digitally creative professionals, however, for those of you who prefer to dabble, try Gimp for images, OBS Studio for video, and Google docs to create PDFs. Each is available for free and quite robust.
QuickBooks Online, Xero, and Wave Accounting are all quite good business accounting packages, or if you’re looking for something easier to use or more focused on your personal finance, try FreshBooks or Mint. [Update:4/9/2018 – a pretty comprehensive guide to small business accounting software is available from our friends at Cloudwards.net]

Do you have a favorite application? Send it to us!

In our new monthly feature, Michael’s Toolbox, Michael Rapino is going to give you some great tips and honest reviews of productivity, business, and creative applications.

Not Your Typical Web Design Company

Mediastead builds great websites. However, what sets us apart is that our websites integrate with your marketing and your business. Your website should be a tool to help promote your business and run it more efficiently.

Let our team create a custom solution that blends your marketing and your operations into a seamless system ready for the mobile information age. Call Jason Tweed at 215-253-3737 today and ask for a free 30-minute telephone strategy session.

The #1 Data Security Risk, Your Employees

October 3, 2017 by Jason Tweed Leave a Comment

The #1 Data Security Threat to Business: Your Employees

Every business runs a certain amount of risk having employees. Retail stores know that employees often steal as much or more merchandise than shoplifters. Logistics companies have to constantly monitor employees to make sure that shipments and packages make it from Point A to Point B. Companies that have proprietary data also have to be vigilant to prevent employees from walking off with valuable data.

There’s a big difference between data security and other types of companies. By and large most employees are good people that don’t intentionally steal. You rarely have to worry about accidental theft or loss for many companies.

If your company, however, depends on data you are at risk for two types of hacking. Normally we think of hacking as teenage computer nerds with mad skills pounding away at keyboards with a rack of supercomputers in their basement. What makes for a good movie is not very realistic. Yes there are organized groups of hackers looking for security gaps in firewalls, etc. but when a particular companies targeted usually the hackers look at the least secure point of entry, your employees.

Ironically, your basic email password, one of the oldest and simplest forms of electronic security, is the most popular attack. Gaining access to an employee’s email means that frequently the hacker can gain access to everything the employee can see, hear, or do.

Three Super Easy Hacks

The easiest way to get it… Just ask. Security firms will tell you that a remarkable number of employees share passwords among themselves or freely give passwords to other individuals that appear to need temporary access. If I’m a hacker I’m just going to tell you a reason that I need your password to “make an adjustment to your terminal” or “update your security software” (an ironic favorite).

The second easiest way… Don’t bother asking, just look around. Additionally people are notoriously bad at changing passwords regularly, or sometimes even changing them from the default. For example most routers off the shelf today use the same home network IP address to reach the administrator settings. Fresh out of the box the router password could be ADMIN. If that doesn’t work, simply look on the bottom of the router. The default password is often attached via a sticker. Setup instructions clearly state that you should change these passwords, but over half of people never bother. Anyone walking through your office, with little or no hacking experience, could look at the bottom of your router and gain access to your entire network in a way that would appear completely benign to the average office administrator.

For those that do change the passwords, they will frequently “hide” the password on a sticky note on the bottom of the keyboard, in a desk drawer, or in a text file on the computer called “passwords”.

Ask yourself if I walked into your office today, would I even need to ask someone for a password? There’s a good chance I’d be able to get into network simply by finding the desk with a router nearby, and 30 seconds later I’m in.

The third easiest way to get a password… Just guess. If I know a little bit about you, I’ll try your kids names, their birth date, the name of your husband or cat, your wedding anniversary or, if you have grandkids, it’s a no-brainer… The first initial of each grandchild. If I have your wallet, I’ll add the last four digits on your Social Security card. Even if I don’t, chances are you have a bank statement, health insurance letter, or something from HR on your desk that has your SS# on it.

So how does an employer protect themselves?

Have a clearly written policy about login or email passwords. Make sure that policy is clear that violation of this password policy is a fireable offense.
Create an environment where no employee is required to give their password to anyone ever, even another employee. Creating tiered access will give each employee access to the data they need, and each supervisor access to their employee data.
Develop a small core of accountable people that have access to everything. In general, these are high-level executives, but sometimes it’s necessary to give IT people broad access. In these cases make certain that your IT people realize that they are responsible for any and all breaches of company data. Data loss will result in unequivocal termination, and malicious data theft will result in criminal prosecution.
If an employee is ever asked to reveal their password, they should report the request up through the chain of command.
Require that periodically all passwords companywide are changed. Most security software today can require people to change their password every 30 days.
In areas where data loss can be particularly harmful, you may consider two-factor authentication or biometric authentication. These systems require additional hardware and software but are surprisingly economical today.

Did you know?
A six character password using only lowercase letters has 309 million possibilities. This may seem like a lot, but a random character generator could easily crack the code in less than five minutes.
And eight character password using upper and lower case letters, numeric digits, and special characters gives you 4.7 quadrillion possibilities. The same random character generator would crack the code in approximately 149 years.

What Equifax has taught us.

What we know now is that the Equifax hack used an unpatched server bug to navigate through millions of financial records. However, it’s reported that to gain access to the server, the hackers needed an employee password. When tracing back to its origin, investigators discovered that an individual with high level of security in an office in Brazil had failed to change the default username/password combination. Username ADMIN/Password ADMIN. They probably kept it simple so it would be easy to remember and share among other people needing temporary access. Worse, the individual was in charge of branch security, and potentially toppled a multibillion dollar organization.

How to Create Strong Passwords

Here are some guidelines you can use to teach your employees how to create a strong personal password. After that, the responsibility lies with the business owner to create and implement solid security protocols regarding employee login access and email.

Do: Passwords should always be a minimum of eight characters.
Do: Use at least one capital letter.
Do: Use at least one lowercase letter.
Do: Use at least one numeric value.
Do: Use at least one special character (i.e. @,!,?,&,$,%,*, +, >, <)
Don’t: Use the name of your pet, your child, or your significant other
Don’t: Use your first name, last name, or initials
Don’t: Use the words “password”, “admin” or your company name
Don’t: Use your birthday, your anniversary, or your child’s birthday

If your organization would like to learn more about website or internal data security, don’t hesitate to call the Mediastead team and ask for a free data security consultation.

Solidify or Simplify?

June 12, 2014 by Jason Tweed Leave a Comment

Are you in control of your business processes? Do they control you?

Ultimately every business can be divided down into a series of processes. Ordering inventory is a process. Payroll is a process. Recruiting, hiring and training is a process. Shipping and receiving is a process. And yes, building your website is definitely a process. Each of these are simply a series of steps.

Some things that are essential for business are more difficult to put in a process. Abstract concepts like communication, innovation, design, and management are more difficult to fit nicely in these boxes we call processes.

How much is too much? How much is not enough?

Let’s look at a simple illustration. Grocery shopping is a process. But even within that process, there can be many smaller processes.

Let’s go deeper. The process of traveling to and from the grocery store.

Too little

You’re in a new town. The future’s bright. You feel like a young entrepreneur with unlimited potential. Now, you’re hungry.

If you don’t know how to get to a grocery store, you could spend an extraordinary amount of time finding one as you wander through the town.

When you arrive, you have no idea whether this grocery store is better, worse, closer or further from your home than other options or, for that matter, whether other options even exist. You spent $100. Did you get a good deal?

Now that you found the grocery store, you have to find your way home. Is the path you took the most direct? Are there shortcuts to your destination?

Too much

You need a tool for this process. Perhaps, a GPS. Perhaps, a state-of-the-art GPS. Now there is very little uncertainty.

Not only is the state-of-the-art GPS able to give you the shortest path between you and the grocery store. It provides you with lots of other data. It provides you a detailed path up and down every aisle. It can give you detailed information about how to get from your automobile to the refrigerator in your home.

This may be perfect.

Unfortunately the process this involved require specialized system and specialized tools. You had to purchase the GPS from another company for $200. Now the cost of your grocery store trip has tripled.

Yes, you can reuse the GPS next time you go to the grocery store, but after a trip or two, you’ll know the path by heart. Now you have a $200 paperweight.

Just right

I would go to Google maps and search grocery stores near my home. My wife would go to Facebook and get input from other local grocery shoppers.

Between the two of us, we would find the best store and closest store. Now we have great information, clear direction, and no extra expense.

The best part is, this simple concise process can be used anywhere in any town. We can take the process and teach anyone to use it with a little or no training.

A Bigger Picture

Now your trip to the grocery store is a military supply chain. A full battalion of soldiers depends on getting a supply convoy back and forth. The convoy must move through hostile territory and an enemy mine field.

Suddenly you need a process that includes satellite imagery, aircraft reconnaissance, well-trained infantry and vehicles that can resist enemy fire.

Now your grocery store trip costs $1.5 million, but it’s critical that every step of the process be extremely detailed. Furthermore, the process must be implemented flawlessly.

A trip to the market or a military operation?

Chances are your business isn’t as simple as a trip to the market nor as complicated as a life-and-death military operation.

Look at your business and your processes. Ask yourself these questions?

Where in your business are wandering without direction? Can you create a process for clarity?

Where in your business are the processes slowing efficiency, hurting productivity, or increasing costs? Can you simplify the process?

What business processes are essential for your success? What business processes don’t add significant value? What business processes protect you from risk?

Solidify or Simplify?

There are no right and wrong answers. An accounting firm, a restaurant, a manufacturer, and the medical practice are going to have very different answers to these questions.

Your most important processes need to be solid. Look at ways to solidify these critical roadmaps and systems.

Lesser important processes need to be simple. Make them as simple as possible. Focus on working the process rather than the process itself.

Take a quick snapshot of each element of your business and ask yourself, solidify or simplify?

Managed Marketing for Veterinary Practices

May 3, 2013 by Jason Tweed

Work IN your business, not ON your business

Try Managed Marketing with Mediastead. Finding balance between serving clients and promoting your business can be tricky. Too busy with customers, your marketing suffers. Slow your marketing, your cash flow suffers. Marketing is what we do best. Working with animals and their owners is what you do best. Let us help you get back to work.

Veterinarians, Vet Techs, Groomers, and your staff have something in common. None of them chose the work they do because they love marketing.

We love marketing. We’re weird that way.

Below are a handful of reasons why Managed Marketing from Mediastead is a great solution for your veterinary practice, animal hospital or other pet care specialty.

Save Time – Marketing requires time and creativity, two things often in short supply in a busy practice.

Better Budgeting – Managed Marketing means no more riding the cash flow roller coaster.

Save Money – Your biggest expense is your staff. Managed Marketing can grow your business without growing your payroll.

Trackable Results – Marketing is both an art and science. Creativity creates the spark, but ultimately good marketing is measured in dollars and cents.

Increased Owner Equity – Brand building increases the value of your business beyond the balance sheet. Marketing campaigns create profits, but brands build businesses.

Obviously, the big picture of Managed Marketing is attractive, but let’s take a closer look at what exactly Managed Marketing means, and the impact it will have on your daily operations.

At Mediastead, we believe in the power of Web-Centric Marketing™, where your website acts as the cornerstone of your overall marketing efforts.

Step one is to update and evaluate your website, or create a new web presence from scratch. Having a unique custom website is critical to setting you apart from others in your field.
Next comes strategy. Mediastead will help you create an annual marketing strategy and budget using online and offline resources to plan out your year.
Strategy turns into action. The Mediastead team will create online newsletters, email campaigns, direct mail campaigns, special events and promotional products and manage all the logistics. It’s like marketing on autopilot after the initial stages.
Tracking and evaluation are critical to success. Not only will Mediastead help you grow, but we can prove it. Over time, we will track total marketing expenses, return for your investment, and the cost of continued growth. As your business grows, your marketing engine will scale to your current needs.

Call Mediastead today for a free telephone consultation. Our experts can outline a plan appropriate for the size and scope of your practice, and provide you with a quote.

Call the Mediastead team at 215-253-3737.

Three Pillars of a Successful Pet Service

May 1, 2013 by Jason Tweed Leave a Comment

Veterinary services and other pet care companies have three principal functions. Unfortunately, many of these small companies struggle to find and keep the balance.

The three pillars are:

Marketing
Management
Service Delivery

Most business owners tend to favor one of the three pillars. In the other two areas, they may lack knowledge, experience and even motivation.

As your company grows, make sure your hiring decisions balance your business.

A vet may be very good at service delivery or even customer service, but they should hire talented people to manage the office and develop their marketing.

Another owner may run an efficient practice and manage staff well, but needs help when it comes to delivering for their customers.

Finally, a great sales or marketing person can bring in customers, but making sure the business is profitable and the customers are happy is another challenge.

As an owner, you can’t wear every hat and expect your company to grow. At the earliest stages, try to identify your strengths. Rather than try to improve areas of weakness, consider hiring new talent or even outsourcing.

Many business functions can be managed by specialists. Hire a marketing team to promote your business. Hire payroll companies and recruiters to staff your business. Hire financial experts to streamline profits. Finally, bring the staff you need to keep customers coming back for more.

Smart owners don’t do it all. Smart owners find people to get everything done.

Well balanced business sets the stage for unlimited growth.