Why Labor Unions Need Member Data Systems
Many large organizations – specifically labor unions – struggle trying to keep their member data updated and accessible. Without a centralized database, the most up-to-date vital pieces of information often find their way into a collection of personal spreadsheets and sticky notes rather than somewhere useful.
But what makes a centralized database somewhere useful in the first place? Let’s take a closer look at a few of the benefits and let you decide for yourself.
Easily Remain Compliant with Ever-Changing Government Policies
It’s no secret that our government changes the rules – frequently. Labor unions in particular have witnessed Right-To-Work laws changing the way they collect dues in a growing number of states since the 1940s. A centralized database can help to highlight which members live in Right-To-Work states. This then allows leadership to enact separate collection policies depending on each state’s individual requirements.
Audit Trails
Whether you’re selling books or tracking dues payments, a clear and complete audit trail can be a life saver in the case of a government audit, but there are less obvious benefits as well. Not only can member systems track financial information, but also any changes to the member data itself. Need to know when a member’s address changed? An audit trail can provide not only when, but also who – and in some cases why.
Data Integrity
A centralized database means that every member has exactly one record. It becomes much simpler, for example, to update a member’s address if there is only one record to update. Imagine if an organization stored member data in a collection of spreadsheets or locally stored Access databases. It might take hours to locate and update every instance of a member’s address. 
Even then, it throws the door wide open for mistakes, causing endless frustration for the unfortunate member who can’t seem to get a bill mailed to the correct address.
The example we’ve seen time and time again is when an employer sends over a spreadsheet of their current union employee data. The local must then go through the spreadsheet and look for edits. Local reps seldom send these edits on to the district or national level. This lack of data integrity creates wasted postage for returned items and an even bigger issue of member disconnect.
Consistent Member Experience
Maintaining an internally accessible member database fosters a much more satisfying experience for members throughout your organization. Union reps can store notes on a member’s account which the next person who assists that individual can see. Members end up feeling far less frustrated when they don’t need to re-explain themselves with every interaction.
Web/Mobile Integration
Most modern database solutions allow for integration with your website or mobile application. Data gets fed directly into the database where it becomes instantly available to the entire organization. Once set up, member data systems accept updates directly from the web – often from the members themselves.
Additionally, union reps can collect and update member information at special events and trade shows this way using nothing more imposing than a tablet. Our company recently did this for a union client at their constitutional convention. Dozens of members discovered that their contact information was out of date with their union. Members simply updated their information on the tablet. Within minutes, their contact information synchronized across to the national, district and local levels.
Easier Training of Office Staff
With a single data entry and maintenance system, the learning curve for new hires is greatly reduced. The “write this in this notebook”, “make sure you forward this onto”, and “what was that spreadsheet named” headaches go out the window. Just login, update the information and everyone has access to the same updated information.
Security
It may seem counterintuitive, but it is actually much more secure to have one centrally located source of information accessible throughout an organization. In the same way it is easier to patch a hole than a net, having one point of failure allows you to build multiple layers of security around it, knowing your members’ data is safely stored within. 
In case a breach does occur, damage control can immediately kick into gear since the audit trail and server logs tell us exactly what happened.
Although it may be easy to imagine that centralizing the data and making it accessible (to the right people) online makes it a target, the alternative often falls to far less attractive options. In spreadsheet offices, for example, it is not uncommon practice for sensitive data to end up on laptops. Employees then transport these laptops off premises, and into a world where laptop theft occurs every 53 seconds. Furthermore, when laptops go missing, it’s often difficult or impossible to know what exactly was on it. Organizations can easily lock a staff member’s account out of a central database in case of laptop theft.
Yes, We Need a Member Data System
If you found yourself nodding your head yes while reading this article, then it likely is time to move forward with a member data system. Appletree MediaWorks is an experienced firm in this field. We offer a flexible member data system product to our union clients. Our employees are union members too, so we understand your organization’s needs. Whether you’re a small local or a national union, Appletree Media is happy to help you get your member data organized with an affordable solution that will grow with your organization.
Don’t miss the 2nd article in this series where we discuss systems to integrate with your member data system. These include: member dues, certification tracking and contract management.
Blue Light Insomnia: Is Your Phone Keeping You up at Night?
Today it has become more and more common to hear about someone feeling tired even though they got enough sleep. Your smartphone may be to blame. Our electronics tend to distract us from going to bed, disrupt our sleep with constant sounds, and hurt our health with their blue light.
According to PEW Research “44% of cell owners have slept with their phone next to their bed because they wanted to make sure they didn’t miss any calls, text messages, or other updates during the night.”
It’s not just our smartphones but also tablets, e-readers, and laptops causing these problems. Not to worry, there are some solutions to help you get a better sleep without ditching your electronics.
The Harmful Blue Light
What is blue light?
The electronics you commonly use emit a blue light. There are 3 color lights: green, red, and blue. Out of the three, blue light affects your brain and eyes the most while red light affects you the least.
Affects:
Melatonin Suppression – Blue light is very similar to the sun which suppresses a chemical melatonin in your brain, keeping you awake. At night, your body naturally produces this melatonin to help you fall asleep and sleep soundly.
When you use your blue light emitting devices even a couple hours before bed, it messes with those melatonin levels and makes it more difficult to fall asleep. It also reduced the total number of REM sleep minutes which is considered to be the most restorative form of sleep.
Why is this such a problem? Not only do you feel tired throughout the day, but there is a long list of health problems that come with bad sleep.
Bad Eye Health – Studies have shown that blue light can cause similar eye damage as UV light (the light the sun produces). While we know not to stare at the sun, we spend hours staring at our electronic devices.
Some eye health problems it can cause are macular degeneration and eye strain. Health problems specifically linked to exposure of blue light at night are cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and increased risk of depression. (BlueLightExposed)
Photo light spectrum
VIA bluelightexposed
The Solution
While the most obvious solution may be to stop using your devices as much, especially at night, it’s not the most practical, solution for most of us. Instead, there are ways to lessen the blue light your electronics give off.
F.lux
This is software that changes the temperature of the screen depending on what time of day it is.
Electronic compatibility: Computer (Windows, Mac, and Linux) and jailbroken iOS devices
Orange Glasses
These are glasses that are tinted an orange color to filter out the blue light on your devices. This is a one-time fix for all your devices.
Electronic compatibility: All
Sleep Shield
This is a screen filter from the US that also cuts down the blue light emission from your device.
Electronic compatibility: iPhones, iPads, Macbook, Samsung Phones, and Kindle Fire
Ocushield
This is a screen filter from the UK that cuts down on the blue light emission from your device.
Electronic compatibility: Computer, iPhones, Samsung Phones, iPads, and Macbooks (Versions may vary)
CF.Lumen
This is an app that uses a custom driver to control which colors are displayed, making the screen easier to read while lessening blue light emissions.
Electronic compatibility: Android devices
Twilight
This is an app that gradually changes the temperature (red tint) and brightness of your screen through the day. You control what levels it eventually reaches.
Electronic compatibility: Android devices
Lux
This is an app that adjusts brightness automatically which affects its blue light emissions.
Quick Fixes
- Use the lowest brightness on your device at night.
Lower brightness means less blue light - When using apps on your phone check to see if there is a night mode.
Night mode filters out blue light - Use a smaller screen.
The smaller the screen, the less blue light
Distraction From Going to Sleep
Not only does your device’s blue light make it harder to fall asleep but being distracted by social media, emails, games, and surfing the web on your device can keep you up way past bed time.
According to Lookouts Mobile Mindset Study “54% said they check their phones while lying in bed: before they go to sleep, after they wake up, even in the middle of the night.”
It may be difficult to change these habits but there are some practical guidelines to follow:
Set an End Time – Give yourself a time to stop using your electronics. This means using will power to stick to your time limit.
Do Not Disturb – This is a feature on iOS devices allowing you to turn off calls, alerts, and notifications. Having less notifications will make it easier not to use it.
You can also schedule a time for this to turn on automatically and enable exceptions in case there’s someone you don’t want to block, even temporarily. Most phones have the option to set it so that if someone calls you twice within 3 minutes, the second call will still get through.
Blocking Mode – This is Android version of do not disturb. This built-in feature gives you the option to:
- Block incoming calls
- Turn off notifications
- Turn off alarm and timer
You can also set a time for this to automatically turn on. You can also set allowed contacts for those you do not want blocked.
Turn Off Sound/Vibrate – Silencing your phone or even setting it to vibrate can make it easier not to use your phone.
Disruptions to Sleep
While you are sleeping the light and sound from notifications can wake you up and disturb your sleep. “And four in ten adults and teenagers said there had been occasions when they checked their smartphone in the night after it woke them up.” (DailyMail)
A lot of solutions are similar to the solutions to stop it from distracting you.
Keep Your Phone Away From Bed – Have your phone either in another room. Many use their phones for an alarm so that may not be an option. Another solution is to keep it on the opposite side of the room.
Worst thing that can happen is you actually have to get out of bed to turn off your alarm but that should be easier with a distribution free sleep.
Turn Off Sound/Vibrate – Silencing your phone or even setting it to vibrate will limit the chances it will wake you up in the middle of the night.
Do Not Disturb – This is a feature on iOS devices allowing you to turn off calls, alerts, and notifications. Having less notifications will limit the chances it will wake you up in the middle of the night.
You can also schedule a time for this to automatically turn on. You can also set allowed contacts for those you do not want blocked. Also you can set if someone calls you twice within 3 minutes the second call will be allowed.
Blocking Mode – This is Android’s version of Do Not Disturb. This built-in feature gives you the option to:
- Block incoming calls
- Turn off notifications
- Turn off alarm and timer
As with Do Not Disturb, you can set schedules and exceptions for this mode.
Choosing the Best Web Browser for You
Since there are so many available, you may have a difficult time choosing the best web browser for you. Since they each have unique advantages and disadvantages, it can become overwhelming to find exactly what you’re looking for. Therefore, we put together this handy guide to help you find the best web browser (for you).
Things to consider
When choosing a browser, you should decide which factors are most important to you. Since everyone has their own priorities, certain considerations will be more important to you than someone else. You should probably choose 2 or 3 aspects to focus on, rather than expecting a perfect match on every point.
- Speed
- Customization
- Extensions / Addons
- Bandwidth
- OS Compatibility
- Device Compatibility
- Developer Tools/Needs
Google Chrome
Google Chrome is probably the more secure web browsers around. Chrome offers extras such as: Site verification, On-page translation, Incognito Mode, and multiple tab organization.
Speed – Chrome has fast boot up and loading times.
Customization – Chrome lets you customize your dashboard
Extensions – Chrome offers a variety of extensions
OS Compatibility – Chrome supports most Windows, Mac, and Linux systems.
Device Compatibility – Chrome Mobile supports some Android phones, iPads, and iPhones. Chrome does not support Blackberry or Windows phones.
Developer Tools/Needs:
- Good support of HTML5
- Each tab is a self contained process. This means that if one page starts to lag, Chrome can isolate the problem rather than crashing outright.
- Chrome offers developer tools for programmers
- Plugins are easy to code using only HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox has a simple interface with one-click buttons. Firefox offers extras such as: Firefox Hello (A video chat service compatible across browsers), and “Crash Protection” for plugins to automatically restart after crashing. Because Firefox adheres strictly to the W3C standards, it remains one of the most universally accessible browsers on the market.
Speed – While Firefox is fast and getting faster, Chrome is still in the lead.
Customization – Firefox has an “Awesome Bar” that learns from your Internet searches and finds content tailored for you. They also offer themes to customize the look of the browser.
Add-Ons – Firefox offers a variety of add-ons
OS Compatibility – Firefox supports most Windows, Mac, and Linux systems.
Device Compatibility – Firefox Mobile supports some Android devices. Firefox does not support iPads, iPhones, Blackberries, or Windows Phones.
Developer Tools/Needs– Add-ons use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Opera
While Opera is known for speed, another cool feature is it’s easy navigation using Opera Mouse.While clicking and holding down your mouse button you can move the mouse back and forth to jump pages, or up and down to scroll. Most noteworthy, it now comes with a built-in free VPN client for secure browsing.
Speed – Opera is the fastest browser because of it’s use of Carakan JavaScript
Widgets – Opera offers widgets that run on Windows, Mac, and Linux desktops
Bandwidth – Opera offers Opera Turbo that uses less bandwidth
OS Compatibility – Opera supports most Windows, Mac, and Linux systems.
Device Compatibility – Opera Mobile/Mini supports most Android devices. Opera does not support iPads, iPhones, Blackberries, or Windows Phones.
Developers Tools/Needs – Widgets have tools for easy coding
Safari
Safari is optimized for Mac users. It features a favorites and bookmarks bar. Another great feature is its reader mode, which can render pages in an easy to read text-only format.
Speed – While Safari is pretty fast, it still lags far behind Chrome.
Extensions – Safari has extensions but not as many – more are coming. While we wait, the ones available so far are pretty useful.
OS Compatibility – Safari is geared towards Mac users but some versions do work on Windows. Safari does not support Linux.
Device Compatibility – Mobile Safari supports most iPads and iPhones. Safari does not support Android, Blackberry, or Windows Phones.
Developer Tools/Needs – Safari uses webkit which may appeal to developers, and it is pushing HTML5.
The Death Of Internet Explorer
Finally, there is a good reason why I left this Browser out of the comparison. Since January 12th, 2016, Microsoft no longer supports any version of Internet Explorer except 11. Consequently, you should uninstall IE from your system immediately. Because Microsoft won’t release any new security patches, exploits will go unfixed. Furthermore, leaving outdated software on your system potentially opens up doors for hackers.
Sources:
All Browser Logos from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Learn more specifics about Device compatibility: Cross Browser Testing.
Developer Browser Cross-Compatibility Tools
How Do I Increase Web Traffic
We get this question the time: How do I increase traffic to my website?
Our staff here at Appletree MediaWorks studies Google’s newest algorithms all the time, because it is our job to increase web traffic for our clients. We have a developer on staff who spends most of her day doing SEO – search engine optimization for our clients. Whether it’s for a union, an organization, or a business, it takes the same steps to get a website in front of a user. No matter how many times Google has changed its formula for showing websites, overall web presence has always been the key.
Web Presence
What is web presence? Is it paying for ads? Is it paying to be listed on a link site? No, your web presence is something you build over time and continue to build every month. A few hours a month grows your web presence exponentially. We see the results with our clients that invest in their online presence and put their time into the 3 areas we’ll talk about. Your website presence is essentially a scorecard for search engines to rank you: the more places your show up as active and useful, the more points you earn.
Build a Useful Website
It starts with a solid website that accurately portrays your organization or business. Your website should be updated every 2 weeks at a minimum. Those updates can include calendar entries, a news webpage post about your organization, or pictures from a recent outing. Website updates don’t have to be complicated or extremely time consuming, but they need to happen to tell search engines “Hey I’m an active website and I’m a good place to send people“.
Google also gives preference to Mobile friendly websites, so if your website is not mobile friendly, now is the time to fix that.
Be Active on Social Media
Next is your social media. At a minimum, get on Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus and make sure your organization’s contact information is complete and accurate. Google has started showing your organization’s Google+ posts along with your contact information when someone is using Google. Take advantage of that!! Facebook is now allowing for tabs to let visitors contact you right from Facebook. Again, take advantage of this free feature.
Also get on the newer social media sites like Alignable.
Drive Traffic through Directory Sites
Finally, get your organization into free directory sites. These directory sites are different from the ones who send out emails about link listing websites. Search engines know about “link farm” sites and penalizes you for taking part. Legitimate directory sites include: Merchant Circle, Super Pages, and Yellow Pages. Appletree maintains a top 10 directory sites list and make sure our clients are on these.
Yes, these sites will try to sell you “for-pay” premium services and it’s your call whether to invest in the premium services. Be sure to ask them what kind of results you should expect and monitor the traffic you receive from their premium services. But at the very least take advantage of the free listings.
Want bonus points? Update your directory site entries periodically too, many allow for photos, news and offers.
We know this is overwhelming and trying to keep up with all of these online sites seems impossible. Don’t be afraid to contact an expert. For less than a cell phone bill, many of our clients invest in our maintenance package of 3 hours a month where our staff spends 3 hours a month to keep up with website posts, social media management, and directory entries to create a strong web presence. This puts our clients at the top of the search engine results and leads to more clients for them.
Responsive Web Design vs Mobile Website
Through 2015, mobile device have been on the rise. According to Statista, in 2015 about 75% of mobile phone owners in the US accessed the Internet using their mobile phone. Everyone wants to do everything on their phones and tablets that they used to do on their desktop.
In 2016, if your website is not mobile ready you need to change that today. Two main ways to make your site mobile is to either have a mobile sub-site or a responsive web design.
Why can’t I run my regular website on a mobile device?
It is possible for your regular online site to run on a mobile device but it is probably not a very good idea. The screen size of the device can dramatically affect the user experience and the overall look of your site.
User Experience Problems:
Your regular site will not be user friendly on a mobile device because everything will be too small. Mobile device users are using their fingers to navigate through your site.
- Small Print and Images – User can’t read the content on your site
- Small Buttons and Menu – User can’t navigate through your site because the buttons and navigation menu is too small to properly touch with their fingers.
Site Design Problems:
Not only can the user not properly use your site but it will also not look very good which can turn away many users.
Design Flaws:
Zoomed out to fit site on screen causing all above user experience problems
OR
Stays at size of desktop which causes only a portion to be on the screen at a time
Mobile Sub-Site
A mobile sub-site is an entirely separate site from your desktop site. It is usually prepended by a subdomain, such as “m.domain.com” or “mobile.domain.com”.
Pros
Better User Experience – Since it is a separate domain, you can very easily customize the site specifically for mobile users.
Faster Load Time – Since you can minimize the pages down for mobile, it will load faster than a responsive site.
Cons
Hurts Organic Search Traffic – Since this is a separate domain name, Google can get confused and badly affect your organic search traffic.
Hurts Search Link Equity – Search link equity is the in-bound traffic from links. Any links shared from your mobile site hurts your primary site’s search link equity since they are not added together.
Not Future Ready – There will be higher maintenance and expense to keep up another domain and there will be future reworking.
Responsive Web Design
Responsive web design is all done in the back-end code of your primary site to automatically re-size the site for mobile device users.
Pros
Better For SEO – Since there is only one domain name you do not have to worry about search result problems, complicated redirects, and lost link equity.
Future Ready – There will be no reworking the site to make it mobile since a responsive design is future ready.
Cons
Possible Slow Load – If you have a large site with large pages used on a desktop it will most likely load slow on a mobile device.
Need Different User Experience – Sometimes the user experience on a desktop may not be the same user experience you would like to give them on a mobile device. Most of the time a mobile user has different needs that a desktop user and you might want to tailor your site for those needs.
Chance of Error – There is a higher chance of errors since you need to have the proper code for it to render properly on a different screen size. Bad code can create a poor user experience.
Not sure if your site is mobile ready? Verify your site is mobile friendly here
Do Not Track
In 2010, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had pledged to give Internet users the power to decide if or when websites were allowed to track their behavior called the ‘Do Not Track’ initiative.
This concept allowed a user to opt out of letting any of their online data to be tracked and found by anyone on the Internet. Similar to the ‘Do Not Call’ initiative of 2007, today we still do not see the ‘Do Not Track’ initiative doing what the FTC pledged it would.
Last Month, two members of congress filed a bill called the ‘Do Not Track Online Act of 2015’
This act would “require companies to allow consumers to stop collection of personal information”.
The ‘Do Not Track Act’ prevents privacy abuse and gives back control over personal lives online. People deserve to be empowered to stop trackers who collect and store their personal, private information.” – US Senator Richard Blumenthal
Every online click consumers make provides a detailed and private picture of their personal lives, and Americans should have control over the collection and use of this personal, sensitive information.” – US Senator Edward Markey
Where did the FTC go wrong?
Standard Never Finalized – 5 years later and the industry group have not finalized a standard for how ‘Do Not Track’ would work. Even those working with them to finalize this have given up their efforts.
Relied on Powerful Internet Companies – The FTC relied on powerful Internet companies such as Google, Facebook, and Yahoo. This presents a conflict of interest since these businesses want to track information for use in online advertising.
Unfair Set of Rules – Eventually, a team proposed a set of rules last August that let these powerful Internet companies track their consumers as long as they did not pass it along to any third parties. This caused those third party companies to feel they had an unfair competitive disadvantage.
Loss of Help – Companies such as The Digital Advertising Alliance, Consumer, Watchdog, The Electronic Frontier Foundation, and many more all gave up the efforts that the working group would come to a solution.
Mobile Browser Tracking
Mobile phone carriers Verizon and AT&T are tracking your mobile online web activity. They do this by using “Supercookies” which collect information on your browsing habits. These cookies, unlike ordinary cookies, cannot be deleted by clearing your browsing history. This feature also ignores any ‘Do Not Track’ settings. Using a private browser does not help with this type of cookie.
Verizon Users
Since 2012, Verizon gives this tracked information to marketing companies that send out targeted advertisements based on your browsing habits. Verizon uses a process called X-UDIH to collect this data. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has become concerned about “what this technology allows others to find out about users’ web activity,” because of how insecure and dangerous for privacy it is.
AT&T Users
Similar to Verizon, the information AT&T collects is visible to third parties for targeted ads but they are testing a new way to track customers. They claim to be working on a privacy-protective measure on their tracking.
What Kind of Information is Collected
Web browsers collect 2 different types of cookies. First-Party cookies and Third-Party cookies.
First-Party cookies include:
- Shopping cart items ie. amazon.com
- Log-in name
- Language
- Location
- Preferences/settings
ie. saved places on weather.com - High games scores
Third-Party cookies include:
- Browsing History
- Searches through search Engines
ie. Google.com - Search result from other sites
ie. Amazon.com
Browser cookies can also store your name, home address, and telephone number, but only if you provide it.
Third parties can track social media information such as your name, friend list, and even more.
How to Block Tracking
Browser Tracking Blockers – Chrome and Firefox
- Adblock Plus
- Ghostery
- Do Not Track Plus
- ScriptNo (Chrome)
- NoScript (Firefox)
Mobile Browser
Tracking Blockers and Tips
- Set browser setting to “Privacy Mode”
- Use apps instead of the web
- Dolphin Browser (Android)
Visit our online privacy article to learn more on ways to prevent data collection and online spying
Technology for Christmas
‘Tis the Season to be Jolly and show how festive technology can be. Technology certainly does not ignore the fact that billions of people are celebrating the Holidays. Christmas cheer is being spread within mobile apps, Websites, and Blogs. Even Christmas decorations are redesigned using technology. Also, Google has done a lot to show their holiday cheer this year. Check out some of the ways you can enjoy all this festive technology for Christmas.
Mobile Applications
Did you know that Christmas is also the unofficial Developers App Day?
According to Flurry, 328 million apps were downloaded on Christmas Day last year in the United States. This is not too surprising though. With mobile devices being one of the most popular gifts to give during the holiday season, it is only natural that people will be downloading apps, often sharing them with friends and family.
App developers work tirelessly leading up to the holiday season. This past September, developers were already hard at work polishing their apps for the Christmas rush. Some developers have even added exclusive seasonal content.
App Icon Festive Dress up
I’m sure you have noticed your mobile apps updating their icons to something festive for the Holidays. This is one way app developers celebrate the season.
Here are some popular apps showing off their holiday spirit with a festive new icon:
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Photos from: itunes.apple.com/ and play.google.com/
Top Christmas Apps this Season
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Interactive storybook narrated by Peter Robbins (the original Charlie Brown voice).
NORAD Tracks Santa
Apple and Android Free
Track Santa throughout the world and see what he is doing and how you can help him.
Christmas Story Books
Apple and Android Free
Collections of Christmas stories such as “A Christmas Carol” and “Twas the Night Before Christmas”.
ElfYourself
Android Free with extras to buy
Turn your friends and family into elves and make them dance to a Christmas song.
Talking Santa
Apple and Android Free
Talk to an animated Santa. Tap the screen to make him respond in various ways.
Christmas Radio
Apple and Android Free
Choose from 50 unique Christmas-themed Internet radio stations.
Websites and Blogs
Make your Website Festive
Use WordPress Plugins – Add things easily to your WordPress Site such as Advent Calendars, Countdowns, Holiday Popup Messages, and Christmas animated images to spruce up your website for the holidays.
Don’t have WordPress? Use these ideas to add extra flair to your site with some simple code.
Creating a Landing Page – Create a temporary landing page for your site as just a way to wish happy holidays or to highlight a promotion on your site. Make it easy to to dismiss so your visitors don’t get frustrated trying to bypass it.
Make a Festive Logo – Take your signature Logo and dress it up to make it festive. Use Photoshop, Gimp, or just hand it off to your graphic designer. It does not need to be a big change, just some extra flair your customers will notice.
Don’t Forget Your Social Media – Take all of what you have done and incorporate it into your social media. Change your profile picture to your the festive logo. Change your cover photo to a matching image. Then send out a post telling your followers to check out the changes you made to get more attention and clicks to your website.
Christmas Lighting
Technology Controls Christmas Lights
The new thing is to make a light show on your house with your Christmas Lights. Control when the lights turn on and off and even coordinate it with music. You can do this using computer software or even a smartphone app.
LumenPlay
For the Advanced create a light show using Raspberry Pi
Check out the DIY instructions
How Google Celebrates the Holidays
This year Google has been showing off their holiday spirit with Christmas logos, a Santa Tracker app, and more.
- This holiday season, Google is celebrating with new, festive logos:
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 Winter Solstice December 22 |
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- Google is also famous for hiding Easter eggs depending on what you search. To celebrate the holidays they created Easter eggs if you type “Christmas“, “Kwanzaa“, and “Hanukkah“
- Santa Tracker – You can play on your phone or on your desktop. Play Christmas related Games and Learn about Christmas too.
- Google Spotlight Stories Presents: Special Delivery
- A company named Boston Dynamics, with Google X, used their tech skills to create robotic reindeer to pull a sleigh.
Online Shopping Security Tips for the Holidays
It’s that time of year again when everyone is trying to find the perfect presents for their friends and loved ones. This year’s online sales are sky-rocketing from customers shopping online on days such as Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday.
Customers should consider some of our online shopping security tips before exchanging their personal information and money through the Internet. Learn where to shop online, how to be secure, and best practices to keep yourself safe.
Where to Shop
Use Familiar Sites – Stick to the brands you know like amazon.com, costco.com, or similarly established sites. If you don’t recognize the store you’re shopping at, do some searching around to see if you can find reviews (on a different website) before making a purchase.
Look for slightly misspelled words in the domain name. Often, hackers will register similar domain names and create a doppelganger site to try and steal credit card information from unsuspecting shoppers.
Use Mobile Apps – These days, there is not much functional difference between using a mobile device or a desktop computer to shop online. The best practice on a mobile phone is to use a retailer’s app rather than using the phone’s web browser.
- Learn more about safe mobile shopping.
Be Careful With Email – During the holidays you will probably get several emails promoting holiday deals. This increased traffic can present an opportunity to scammers to send you a nefarious link dressed up in an attractive email. Instead of clicking any links directly from an email, type the store’s URL directly into your browser.
Never give out your credit card number via email.
- Learn more about scam emails
How to be Secure
Computer Protection – First and foremost you need to protect your computer in case malware does leak through. You should also make sure your web browser and operating system are up to date. Software updates contain essential security patches.
Phone antivirus apps
- Android Antivirus Apps
- iOS Antivirus Apps
Desktop antivirus
Check If It’s Secure – Any site that is taking credit card information should have SSL (secure sockets layer) encryption installed. To be sure your connection is encrypted using SSL, take a look at the URL in your browser.
A secure page will start with HTTPS:// instead of HTTP://
Typically, there will be an icon of a locked padlock either In the status bar (at the bottom of your web browser) or in the address bar (right next to the URL). The entire site does not necessarily need to be secured in this fashion, but it is essential on any page where you are asked to submit any personal information.
Give Out Minimal Information – No online shopping site needs you social security number or your birth date. These are two things you should never give out, especially when combined with your credit card information. If this information gets in the wrong hands you might have your identity stolen.
Use Strong Passwords – A lot of online shopping sites require you to have an account. The stronger your password, the less likely someone can hack into your account and use your saved card information.
The best advice for this is to not use the same password for all of your e-commerce accounts. If you happen to get hacked on one site, most likely the attacker will try the same password on other sites.
- Learn more about strong passwords.
Best Practices to Stay Safe
Check Statements Regularly – Many wait to look at their credit card and bank statements until the end of the month. During the holiday season, if you are shopping online often you should regularly check up on your transactions. This will give you time to catch any fraudulent charges. Most banks and card issuers give you 30 days to report any problems. If you don’t notify the bank within that period, you may be liable for any fraudulent charges made in your name.
Skip the Gift Cards – Gift cards are always a common present to give around the holidays. Many sites like to auction off gift cards which end up having little or no funds on them. Skip buying them online and always buy gift cards straight from the source.
Print or Save Receipts – As with in-store purchases, you should receive some sort of payment receipt. Most likely you will receive an emailed receipt with a confirmation of your purchase. It is wise to save these documents in case something goes wrong.
Don’t Shop Online Publicly – If you are out and about, turn off your public Wi-Fi and use the data on your phone or wait until you are using a trusted private network before making a purchase.
Most public networks and Wi-Fi hotspots do not encrypt your data, making identity theft much more likely.
Use The Too Good To Be True Rule – If it sounds too good to be true then it most likely isn’t true. If you are getting an extremely good deal or something for free then it’s almost certainly a scam.
Check out Mcafee’s 12 scams of Christmas.
Sources:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2373130,00.asp
Email Newsletters in the Digital Age
In a digital age, sending out email newsletters instead of paper newsletters has become much more popular. And why not? The marketing potential of cheap, nearly instant communication with interested customers is difficult to overstate.
The content within your newsletter can greatly affect your readership and business. Read on to learn what to include in your newsletter and how to organize it to more effectively generate leads.
Digital Versus Paper Newsletters
Digital Newsletter Pros:
Cheaper – Everyone is looking for a way to save money and sending out an electronic newsletter can cost much less than running a traditional mail equivalent.
Easy Distribution – Email is much easier to manage than paper mail. Email address lists are usually easier to keep up to date than mailing addresses. And with near instant delivery, you can send out newsletters much more frequently than by paper mail.
Better Targeted Audience – Since a user must opt in, you are marketing to a more targeted, engaged audience.
Gain More Audience – A digital newsletter has a better chance of being shared than its paper equivalent. An online share opens your marketing up to a much wider audience, which drives more traffic to your website.
Use of Statistics – Most email marketing services provide statistics including open, click, bounce, and unsubscribe rates. These statistics can help you better tailor your content to your audience. If your open rate is low maybe you need a more interesting and eye-catching subject line, for example.
Digital Newsletter Cons:
Easily Ignored or Lost – Amongst the barrage of emails people receive on a daily basis, your newsletter can easily be overlooked.
Viewed as Spam – Your subscribers’ email provider might tag your newsletter as spam. It’s a good idea to encourage your subscribers to add your newsletter’s FROM address to their address book. This prevents email programs from flagging your newsletters as spam.
What should be in your Newsletter
90% Educational and 10% Promotional 
– Promoting yourself too much can be a major turn off. If your newsletter constantly makes a subscriber feel pressured to buy, they will likely unsubscribe.
Instead, include content that educates the subscriber or has relevant information that ties in with the items/services you are promoting.
Creative Subject Lines – A good subject is the first thing people see. Interesting subject lines entice users to click. Read some tips for creating a good subject line.
Another option is to use the same subject line each time you send out your newsletter. This may seem boring but can build a sense of familiarity with your subscriber base so they do not accidentally delete your messages.
One Main Call to Action – Most of the time you will have many call-to-actions within your newsletter, but make sure to highlight only one of them so as no to overwhelm your readers.
Straight Forward Design – Stay away from long paragraphs and bullet your information. This makes it easier to read and keeps your audience interested.
Shares, Links, and Unsubscribe – Include an easy share button. Many times if your audience likes your content they will want to share it.
Have links to your website and any other websites you may have a partnership with.
Always give your readers the option to unsubscribe. If your unsubscribe feature does not work, it will frustrate your subscribers and probably get you blacklisted for violating the CAN-SPAM Act.
Contact Information – Have your business contact information prominently displayed in your newsletter.
Photos – Have a balance between photos and text. Having too many of either can make your email look like spam. Try to spread your photos out and link them back to a relevant web page.
Let Appletree Mediaworks Help you
Need help designing, managing, and sending your newsletter?
Let Appletree Mediaworks take care of your newsletter. We will work with you as often as needed to gather content, design the template, manage your email list, and schedule your newsletter. We stay up with all the latest technology trends and laws so you can focus on running your business.
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Safe Harbor Rule Invalidated, How it Affects You
The Data Safe Harbor Rule
The Safe Harbor Rule was established in 2000 between the European Union (EU) and the United States (US). This agreement allowed businesses to legally funnel information across the Atlantic. Such data is normally transferred during global commerce, email correspondence, and even social media communication. Europe has stricter privacy guidelines to protect its citizens than the US does. Under the Safe Harbor agreement, US companies could “self-certify” that they met Europe’s stricter privacy standards in order to gain access to European markets.
In early October, the European Court of Justice ruled that the US approach to domestic surveillance was not up to European standards. Basically, this happened because the court was concerned that the US would compromise the data of European citizens swept up in our country’s growing mass surveillance machine. Consequently, this ruling made the Safe Harbor pact invalid virtually overnight.
The Safe Harbor Agreement 2.0
The European Union and the Unites States will be meeting on December 17th to create a new agreement for the Safe Harbor. They plan to conclude this agreement in January of 2016. The EU would like to see some changes in the new agreement such as:
- Privacy watchdogs to challenge US companies’ handling of EU data
- European citizens should be able to complain directly to national authorities about data protection
What Does an Invalid Ruling of Safe Harbor Mean?
This affects businesses and consumers from both the European Union and United States. Over 4,000 companies rely on the Safe Harbor for their data transfers, including:
- Facebook
- Microsoft
- Adobe
- WeightWatchers
Effects on Companies:
This affects any US-based company doing online business in the EU.
Many companies that relied on the Safe Harbor “Self Certification” will now have to obtain independent certification.
In Europe, EU standards from 1995 are now being used to determine whether a company’s data sharing is permissible. As of now, the EU operates under the Data Protection Directive. This requires that companies only transfer data to countries that offer adequate privacy protection.
For More Information: With Safe Harbor now “Invalid,” Companies Must Change Data Practices
Effects on Consumers:
Consumers in the US might not notice a substantial difference. European consumers may be cut off from US companies for a time, depending on how stringent the new rules become. It may take some time before US based companies have made the necessary adjustments to do business with the EU again.
Microsoft’s Solution
Microsoft has stated they will be storing data in a German company, Deutsche Telekom, for their European cloud computing customers. Microsoft will not be able to access the data without permission of either the customer or the company.
This solution may be too expensive for many companies. As a result, the US has started offering customers and partners the opportunity to enter into ‘data processing addendums’. However, these are only a temporary solution. Consequently, many companies are awaiting to hear what’s in the new Safe Harbor Rule.
