October 2013

Who Else Wants To Win A $50 Gift Card?

The Grand Prize Winner of last month’s Trivia Challenge Quiz are….
AMelissa Rench and Debbie Brown from Up & Open Imaging! They were the first to correctly answer my quiz question from last month and won a $50 Gift Card from Best Buy: Which of these American historical events took place during the month of September?
The correct answer was d) All of the above.
Now, here’s this month’s trivia question. The winner will receive a $50 gift card to Best Buy!
What is the most expensive object ever constructed?
a) The Empire State Building
b) The International Space Station
c) The Panama Canal
d) Mount Rushmore

Call us right now with your answer!

214-329-1349

Last Night I Startled Out Of Bed In A Cold Sweat, Heart Racing, With Fear Racing Through My Mind… And YOU Were The Reason For My Panic!

Was I having a nightmare? Was I just watching too many reruns of The Twilight Zone? Maybe taking the Halloween spirit too far? No – it simply occurred to me that you might not have a solid backup and disaster recovery plan in place!
And if your server data was erased, corrupted or destroyed because of a hardware malfunction, system crash, fire, flood or some other random, unforeseen disaster, you might not be able to be back up and running again FAST!
The Thought Of That Happening Scared Me Half To Death!
And quite honestly, it should scare you too! Just imagine what would happen if your server went down and you…
… Lost all accounting documentation and history…
… Lost all the work files you’ve spent YEARS developing…
… Lost the work files and documentation you desperately need to service your clients…
… Lost all the e-mails you’ve saved and couldn’t access your inbox…
Can you even put a price tag on it? Probably not, yet so many business owners aren’t 100% certain that they could be back up and running after a disaster or are purely hoping that their current backup system is working and storing a usable copy of their data.
Want to know for sure if your data is safe? Our FREE Data Security Analysis will reveal the truth… Since Halloween is this month, I’m treating all of my friends, clients and prospective clients to this $300 service at no charge. That’s right… FREE! Go to www.rangersolutions.com/halloween2013 for full details and to sign up today!

10 Easy Ways To Eliminate E-mail Overload

E-mail driving you crazy? Every time you delete one, do five more show up? Are you finding it impossible to answer every e-mail you receive? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you’re not alone!
Some people are even declaring e-mail bankruptcy — they dump every e-mail in their inbox and start over. If that’s not an option for you, then here are 10 tips to reduce e-mail overload.

Get a good spam filter. Even if it saves you just 10 minutes a day, that adds up to over 59 hours a year.
Cancel subscriptions to unwanted mailing lists, and opt-out of LEGITIMATE e-zines. But be careful! Trying to opt-out of spam e-mails will only alert the sender that they have a LIVE address. Also, make sure you are careful to check the “unsubscribe” or “opt-out” box when purchasing items online.
Ask your friends to remove you from joke groups or chain messages. Simply explain your situation and, if they are good friends, they’ll take you out of their message group.
Don’t post or publish your e-mail on web sites. Spammers will steal it and put it on their lists.
Don’t respond to every e-mail you receive. Yes, it’s okay NOT to respond to some e-mails. If it’s group e-mail, don’t respond with “okay” or “:)”— it’s not necessary unless the sender is specifically asking you a question or requesting a response.
Be succinct. Restrict your messages to a few sentences. If you can’t, pick up the phone or talk in person. This will avoid the back-and-forth of e-mail conversation.
Take advantage of subject lines. If possible, put your question in the subject line, or your message. If that’s not possible, make your subject line very descriptive so the recipient knows what your message is about. Here’s another tip; create a set of codes with your coworkers and place them in the subject line to help them process and prioritize messages. For example, use “FYI” for informational messages. Use “AR” for action required and “URG” for urgent messages.
Block time to answer your e-mail and fight the temptation to check your e-mail every few minutes. You will save yourself a lot of time and be far more productive.
Respond to messages when you open them so you only read them once. If the e-mail requires an action step, schedule the action step and delete it from your inbox.
Set time aside in the morning and the evening to process your inbox. Shoot for a completely empty inbox. File messages you need to keep and set reminders for messages that require you to follow up.

Get to Know: Luz Hernandez

Luz was born and raised in Houston, Texas but graduated from high school in Sulphur Springs, Texas. She attended and graduated from Abilene Christian University with a Bachelor’s in Marketing and a Minor in Spanish. While at ACU, Luz was the Senior Marketing Intern for Aramark and aided with promotions for ACU Dining throughout the campus community. She served as event coordinator, responsible for student engagement programs such as Football Tailgate parties, Christmas Feast, and fun Valentine events (like the Newlywed Game). Now as the Marketing Coordinator, Luz is applying her skills in the Tech world. A few fun facts about Luz: plays the violin, can tap dance, lived in Oxford, England, and her favorite Halloween movie is Hocus Pocus.

Shiny New Gadget of The Month: The Tile

Now it’s super easy to keep track of stuff on the go. The Tile can be used with: laptops, wallets, keys, guitars, bikes—you name it. Download and sync the app and you’ll never have to worry about losing it again! Pre-order this little device and you’ll be able to:

Use Tile on as many things as you want. Add up to 10 Tiles on an account.
Share access to Tiles with friends, family, and trusted coworkers.
Hear the alert notification when your items are triggered to find. If you can hear it, you can find it.
Use the Tile app to remember where it last saw your Tile, so you can easily find it right where you left it.

Pre-order your device today: http://www.thetileapp.com

The Constant Climb Of Entrepreneurship

Today, as I write this, I am sitting on a veranda with the most magnificent views of Jamaica. I came here to speak at the annual Business Summit event in Kingston, and my wonderful host has me staying in a villa at Strawberry Hill. My room sits on top of a mountain (a hill for Jamaicans, a mountain for New Jerseians), overlooking other mountains in all directions. The drive up here was fascinating.
I am not sure if you have ever navigated the back roads of Jamaica. But, for myself, I consider it old hat. (That is, as much as a passenger can say “old hat” when it comes to driving.) I would never drive these roads myself. They are fast, they constantly twist and turn, 18-wheelers careen down them, people drive on the left side (which gives any American driver a heart attack every time another car approaches), and there are mammoth potholes everywhere. If that doesn’t get to you, there’s the fact that mere inches to your left or right are gorges that drop as far as the eye can see… and railings seem to be optional here. Yet with all that, the drives are the most beautiful and invigorating thing you can experience.
During this particular drive to Strawberry Hill I noticed something. Almost every time we completed a turn and the road leveled out, I was momentarily convinced we had finally reached the top of the mountain. But then, another turn would come, and we would start to climb again. We’d level off, I would think that this time we were in fact at the top, and that’s precisely when the next climb would begin.
I couldn’t believe how high up in the mountain we were, yet we always climbed higher. When we reached the summit (I thought) we entered the Strawberry Hill property, and I was assigned my villa. From there I walked up higher! Climbing 30 plus steps to get to my room. I entered. It was gorgeous. I walk onto the veranda to look down. But I h ad to look up. The distant mountains we far higher than I.
Welcome to entrepreneurship. Or a drive up a Jamaican mountain. It’s basically one and the same. The climb never ends for entrepreneurs. There is always a higher summit for us. When you think you are at the top, you haven’t even started yet. You can always climb higher. You must always climb higher.

How To Prevent ATM Skimming

Over a billion dollars are lost each year in the United States through “ATM Skimming” – far more than any losses from bank robberies – and it’s growing at a rate of more than 10% every year.
ATM Skimming is a cybercrime where the criminals steal (or “skim”) your ATM/debit card data when you’re using a typical ATM machine. They do this by fitting a small card reader over the typical ATM card slot, thus capturing your information. Additionally, the criminals install mini cameras above or near the ATM to capture your PIN number. The data is then transmitted via Bluetooth to the cybercriminals somewhere nearby. The average skimming attack usually lasts only an hour or two during peak ATM usage times (i.e. lunch hour or after work). Meanwhile, you have no idea that you’ve just been had and are at risk. These cyber-criminals will then sell the data on the cards to others so that they can either clone your debit card or wipe out your bank account.

5 Tips To Prevent ATM Skimming

Cover your hand as you type. Obstructing the view of your pin from any cameras will render your data useless.
Pay attention to the area around the ATM card slot. If anything looks loose or out of place, pull to see if you can remove it.
Be aware of surroundings. Be extra careful of ATMs in dark or isolated places.
Does the machine look different? If anything looks out of place (extra signage, mirrors, etc.) then avoid the machine.
Notify the bank. If you find or suspect an ATM has been compromised, notify your bank and law enforcement immediately.

The Lighter Side: Happy Cookie Month!

The most popular type of home-baked cookie is the Chocolate Chip cookie.
Over-mixing the dough or adding too much flour can result in hard, tough cookies.
The first animal crackers were produced in the United States by Stauffer’s Biscuit Company in 1871. Nabisco’s Barnum’s circus version hit the market in 1902.
The modern version of the Fig Newton was created in 1891 and is named for the city of Newton, Massachusetts.
The Oreo cookie was invented in 1912.
Ladyfingers are used in tiramisu because the cookies so readily absorb the sweet syrup and liqueur used to make the traditional Italian dessert.
While Italians use the word “biscotti” to refer to all types of cookies, Americans think of “biscotti” as the long, dry cookies that are served with hot drinks for dunking. The name is derived from “bis,” meaning twice, and “cotto,” meaning cooked. Baking the cookies twice results in their hard, crumbly texture.