Website Help, Marketing Help, Computer Help, Tutoring

So you have a really good product or service and you want to get it out there. For many the thought of online marketing and getting website traffic is really scary. Can you imagine yourself running a blog, a newsletter, a website, a Facebook business page, a Squidoo lense, writing articles, participating in forums, and still being able to answer hundreds of emails, phone calls, follow-up on leads, and get all of your work done? Well now you can with the Spennyforhire Business-O-Matic Machine. Just kidding.

What I would like to talk about today is Online Marketing for the rest of us. All those people that want to do business but don't want to put in the countless hours. After all, you probably got into business so that you could quit your day job, have more time, and do what you love more then being stuck in traffic. The truth is, it is not as hard as it all sounds. You just need to decide the types of online marketing you are going to do regularly. It doesn't have to take a lot of time. You just have to be consistent.

People think, "But what am I going to write about. I am not a writer. I can't even spel!". You actually have all kinds of things to write about. You happen to have a product or service that you believe people want or need. You are not going to be marketing your business, you are going to be marketing your product or service. Marketing in this case is just another word for talking. By engaging the community through blogging, newsletters, forum posts, articles, and press releases, you are putting the word out about your product of service. Not only that! It will get organic traffic and it will be around a lot longer then any ad.

  Ads are great and they have there place. With a good ad, you can get more hits in one day then you did all month. The problem is that ads expire and they take work to develop. Why not make the work last longer! Did you know that some forum posts stay posted for over 20 years : ) Now I know you are saying, "Spenny I don't have time. I know I need these things but I am lucky to have time to myself and I am not going to waste it blogging or writing!!!" Well the good news is that if done properly, they will write themselves. Imagine how much more time you will have if you didn't have to spend so much time working, marketing, marketing again and again.....How about all of the time you spend answering questions about your product or service. Your new articles will also act as information sheets!

  All you need is a tiny little marketing plan and some continuous action. If you really want to cut corners, you could write a tiny article, post it on an article submission site, plop it into a newsletter, paste it into your blog, plaster it onto your new Facebook business page, and post it into a few forums. There. Your done. You will likely get quite a few hits with a very minimal amount of effort. If you need help with an graphics, logos, templates, or any of the technical tasks associated with the marketing ideas discussed in this article, call Spenny. I will help you get all set up and organized and help you prepare all of your marketing materials if you need.

For more info and the services spenny offers, please visit joomlajobbie.com

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Guide Objective:

• Keep as many printers out of the land fills as possible.
• Save people from having to buy a new printer.
• Help people regain control of their printers.
• Save people money on ink
• Help produce better quality prints
  

There are a number of reasons why your printer can stop working.

Problems And Solutions:

• Loose cables - Solution: Check that cables are securely fastened to the back of your computer and printer
• Ink is dried up - Solution: Use the print-head cleaning utility within your printer software. Refer to your printer manual for info
• There is a document stuck in the printer queue - Solution: Go to your print queue and cancel all other documents. Once the queue is cleared, try the print again
• A service your printer relies on has been disabled - Solution: Take a look at your windows services to see if all of the services are set to automatic. When you find one, check its dependencies to see if it relies on anything else that is turned off.
• You are out of ink in at least one of the cartridges - Solution: If you don't have colored ink and just want to print black, try clearing the warning and continuing on. Instead of pushing cancel, try pushing enter : )
• There is a problem with the software you are trying to print from - Solution: Can you print fine out of another program? Try printing out of notepad. If the program you were using is the culprit, try getting an update for the program.
• Your computer has lost communication with the printer - Solution: If it is a network printer, confirm the IP address of the printer. Also confirm that you can ping the printer of computer it is connected to.
• The printer software on your computer has become corrupted - Solution: You would likely get an error message indicated that this is the case. If so, reinstall the software. If you don't have the CD any more, you can download the drivers and application from the manufactures website.

Blurry, grainy, streaky, banding, wrong colors
If the print quality is suffering, try running the print-head cleaning utility. This just might fix the problem. However, you may have to run it several times before the quality improves.

Bad Colors - The colors are off
If the colors seems to not be set right, you can try a few different thing to see if it resolves the problem. If your print was coming out with too much red in it, go back and check your original picture closely to see if in fact there was a lot of red in the image to begin with. If this is the case, you would then have to do some color correcting within a photo editing suite such as GIMP or Photoshop.

Things you can try:

• Check that you have selected the appropiate paper type in the printer settings. For ex: if you are using photopaper, one of the photo-paper settings will need to be selected
• Do a print cleaning to ensure none of the printhead nozzles are clogged
• Check your ink levels to make sure you are not just running out of one of the colors. Maybe you printed a whole bunch of Valentine hearts and now your out of red ink.
• Check that you are using the right ICC profile recommended by your printer manufacture

Should you just go buy a new printer?
It depends. If you find that you are do a serious amount of printing, you may want to look into a lazer printer. The ink cartridges last a lot longer but are more expensive as well. If your printer is fairly new, and you just need it for regular home use, then buy a new printer all of the time is not really necessary. Using the steps mentioned earlier, you should be able to get the old boat anchor working again. If you can still buy ink for it, and I am sure you can, then you should be good. If you are in need of some extreme quality, and your ten year old printer is just with never produce what you need your print to look like, then I guess it is time to break down and buy a newer model. However, keep old betsy around. If you keep your old printers running, you can use them printing text, invoices, and things not requiring super quality. Keeping your old printers around will also actually same you big time in ink costs. Some older cartriges tend to hold more ink depending on your printers model.

Making your ink last:
If you only print once in a while, then imagine how long it will take to use up the ink of 2 or even 3 printers. Not only do you have both black and color cartridges sitting in each of the printers, but you can play with the settings to use less ink. f your printers are all set to extreme quality, then they are going to lay down the maximun amount of ink per print. For most prints, you should adjust your settings to the lower quality settings. One strategy is to have a printer for high quality prints such as photos and one for text and daily use.

Final tip:
Be sure to keep your printer turned on at all time. This will ensure that the printheads will not dry out. When a printer is left on, it will do a cleaning from time to time by iteself keeping the printheads safe.

Depending on your approach, backing up your files, emails, or your entire hardrive can be a time consuming nightmare. Most people are not even aware of all of the different things that should be backed up let alone how to do a backup. Every situation is different and so should your method to secure your files in case of a melt down.

Here's a quick look at some of the types of backups solutions that can be performed:

• Backup of your entire Operating System
• Hardrive Duplication, Cloning
• Backup to CD/DVD, USB / Memory stick
• Backup to External Hardrive
• Backup to a second Internal Hardrive
• Automated Scheduled Backups
• Synchronisation

Top 10 Things To Backup?
1) Pictures
2) The entire Operating System
3) Partition Tables
4) Computer Registry
5) Boot Files
6) Most Important Drivers and Software Installation files + Product Keys
7) Email Messages, Attachments, and Contacts 
8) Documents, Databases, Working Files, Accounting data files
9) Saved Game data 
10) Bookmarks and favorites

Backup Strategies - Separating your operating system from where you store your files
You never know when you operating system or hardrive will fail. If all of your data resides on the same hardrive as your operating system, there tends to be an increased risk of data loss. But just because you have your data on a separate partition or a separate hardrive all together, it doesn't guarantee that it is completely safe.

Here is an example of an effective backup strategy:
Hardrive 1 – Operating System (Connected)
Hardrive 2 – Data / Files / Pictures (Connected)
Hardrive 3 – Clone of the Operating System (Disconnected)
Hardrive 4 – Backup of Data on Hardrive 2 (Connected or Disconnected)

If Hardrive 4 is left connected, then it is easier to synchronize or schedule automatic backups but it is not as safe as being disconnected. For ex – I lightening strike would affect all connected drives.

Hardrive 3 can store either an image of Hardrive 1, or an exact clone. To achieve an exact clone, you will of course need another blank hardrive of equal or greater value. Then you would use cloning software to do a bit by bit clone of Hardrive 1, onto Hardrive 3. In the end, you will have two hardrives that are exactly the same and that are both capable of booting up your operating system.

The cloning method has other uses as well. If you suspect your drive is filling up, or maybe failing due to bad sectors, then cloning your entire drive onto a nice new larger hardrive is a great solution. If your initial hardrive was physically damaged, cloning onto a new hardrive would eliminate that problem all together. Another bonus of cloning onto a newer drive is that the drive you purchase will likely be newer in technology allowing it to run faster. That way you will be able to copy data to it faster as well as allow your operating system to run a bit faster. Cloning also buys you the time you need to do further analysis and repairs to the file system.

To backup the operating system: (Hardrive 1)
To backup your OS, turn your computer off, pull the power cord, wait 30 seconds, and disconnect all other hardrives except your OS drive and a blank hardrive or equal or greater value. Next your would boot your computer using your cloning software of choice. That way when you initiate your cloning procedures, there will only be the 2 hardrives to choose from. One to set as your target and one to set as your source. This prevents wiping out the wrong hardrive. After the cloning is finished, disconnect the original OS hardrive and boot off of the clone. That way you will have tested the clone. You may choose to leave the clone installed and place the original somewhere safe or just leave it disconnected. Never keep both the clone and the Original Operating System connected at the same time to avoid problems.

Now if something ever happens to your system, you can swap out the hardrive and be up and running in 1 min.

To backup your data drive: (Hardrive 2)
You can clone your data drive but it is not as practical since your data drive is constantly being added to. Instead, it is better to synchronize your data drive or partition with another partition that has enough space to hold all of the data it contains. You can also set up an automatic backup that runs once a week or whenever you have done a lot of work. You should always have 3 backups of your most important hardrives or partitions. Each backup should be on a different hardrive.

Why Backup?
You could lose all of the files that you have ever created including documents, pictures, emails, and notes, music, address books, bookmarks, software licenses, saved game data, or videos.
You could lose all of your software, updates, virus definitions, hotfixes, patches, drivers, and not to mention your entire operating system that you may not have an installation disk to replace.
You could lose all of the time it took to tweak your computer, organize everything, get the bugs worked out, install all of the security, the money you put out to have it serviced, and the massive collection of software and games you had all working nicely together.

Why not start fresh?
You will reach a point where starting fresh is no longer really an option. Downtime can really cost you especially if you are running a business. Why not repair the problems and fix the damage. Then prevent the viruses from getting in altogether. If you have a good tested backup in place, you can fix the problems thoroughly and if something goes wrong along the way, you will have another chance of restoring your data or operating system.

You can set up regularly scheduled backups that will allow you to sleep at night once again.

If you need assistance in these matters, please let me know. Thanks for reading. Do you know anyone who could use this info?
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Computer Problems - How to tame your computer
Does your computer have a mind of its own? For many people, daily computing is a nightmare. In order to solve the problems you are having right now, we need to separate them and identify exactly what you are having a problem with. Computer problems tend to fall into one of these two categories:

* Software Issues
* Hardware Issues

Often it is a software related issue that will cause problems with your hardware. In the case of physical hardware failure, the most likely devices to fail are the ones with moving parts such as your fans or even your hardrive.

Now lets look at some of that problems people usually struggle with:

* security related
* Internet connection issues
* Internet browser problems
* performance issues
* gadget/ peripheral related

Its amazing that our computers run as good as they do when you consider all of the different hardware and software that is trying to run harmoniously. From day one, your computer will go through many changes and will need maintenance from time to time. If you are not hooked up to the Internet, then your computer can run pretty much the same for a long time. The problems usually start when you hook up to the Internet.

Here are some possible culprits:

* unwanted programs and services might get installed
* you could get an update that might render a program useless
* an update may cause your computer to get a blue screen of death
* your computer might get attacked by spyware, malware, or other viruses
* a program you install could conflict with existing hardware or software

What if your computer was working just fine yesterday
If you are sure you never installed anything or changed any settings, then one of the culprits mentioned above is likely to blame. There is a reason for every computer problem. The key to finding the solution is to look for clues and learn all that you can about the problem. Clues can be obtained by changing the problem slightly to see if there is any improvement. Another way to find clues is to look on-line for people who had similar problems. Even people with completely different hardware and software can provide you with an idea as to what maybe causing the problem.
What if your computer will not turn on any more? There are so many reasons why this might happen but here are the ones that seem to happen the most:

* an important system file gets corrupted
* the hardrive is starting to fail
* the computer has a bad virus or several
* the power supply has failed
* a fan quit and is causing the computer to overheat and shut down

Luckily there is an really good chance that these problems can be fixed relatively easily. Even if your hardrive is failing, you could have it backed up using a technique called hardrive cloning or imaging. In this process, everything would be copied to a new hardrive. The faster you deal with a failing hardrive the better. If you suspect such a failure is imminent and occurring, have your tech run a hardrive integrity check. It is good practise to check from time to time anyway even if everything is running fine.Conclusion:
There is always a way to fix a computer problem. Even the most stubborn problems have a solution waiting to be discovered. If a program is always giving you grief, it might be time to look for an alternative. If after reading this article you find yourself still fighting through it, I will be happy to assist.

Automation
Now more then ever it is critical to have the systems in place that will automate at least some of your business processes. Through automation you will be able to sit back and watch your business more closely and where it may be getting hung up. One way of identifying what may need to become more streamlined, is to be aware of what is stealing all of your time. Perhaps you are spending 4 hours a day emailing or losing an hour a day looking for files you just created recently. Identifying time stealer's is a great way to give you back your day. Once you have found the culprits, it is just a matter of finding the right manager for the job. There is a solution to every problem. For example, if your phone is ringing off the hook and everyone is asking the same similar questions about your business, you provides all of the answers on a FAQ page on your website.

Method to the Madness
In the past I have seen people with tuns of lists and tasks scattered all over their computer, but no way of prioritizing or merging them together. There are many free online services and software based managers to aide you in this process. With the ability to rearrange, manage completed tasks, and set scheduled times for completion, you will begin to make sense of where all of your time is being spent. Another good way of making sense of your day is to use a calendar or agenda. Don't forget about your cell phone either. Now a days, most cell phones come equipped with a task reminder/agenda keeper. If you are still having trouble pin pointing the timer stealer's, have your friendly neighborhood technical advisor come by to anylize the problems and make a few suggestions.

Organization
Are you able to find your files in seconds? With a little work, you can create an organizational system to meets your exact needs. With something finally in place, you are sure to shave thousands of seconds off of looking for those missing documents. There are some great search utilities available as well that can make finding your files a snap.

Emailing
Ever wonder how other people manage the massive amount of emails coming down the pipe? Sometimes you will need to find an old email or don't have time to read all of the ones coming in. Some other issues emailers are faced with are things like how to backup their contacts, emails, and attachments in such a fashion that they are easily retrievable for the average user. Since every email program is different and since many use online email solutions, the exact methods very from client to client. Learning your email program well should prevent you from waking up one morning and finding that all of your customer emails addresses and emails are gone. Email masters know that they can same massive amounts of time by using the emailing programs organizational features to speed things along.

Free Online Tools
There are services popping up everywhere online that allow you create the perfect virtual office to meet your needs. Many of the tools are completely free or offer a limited free account. There are excellent collections of online productivity applications out there. Wherever your business will take you, these apps provide many of the tools you need for your business while away from the office. To find out more, think of what you need when you are away and then look up an online version of the program you need.

The right skills for the job
People have great visions of what they would like to accomplish, yet many lack the skills to achieve them. There are many ways of obtaining these skills such as online remote training, tutoring, tutorials, and forums. If you lack the time or motivation, it may be time to call in some relief. You can have someone get you started in the right direction or do the entire task for you. A lot of the time it is cheaper to have a person come on board then to continue the struggle alone.

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