J3media, Inc.

The Dubious April Worm

2009-03-31T12:19:00.002-06:00

You may have heard news circulating about the April 1 worm. While it may not be just a timely prank, it shouldn't cause you undue worry. Maintain your virus safety basics by making sure your anti-virus software is current, scan regularly, don't open fishy e-mail attachments, do your research. If you find yourself extra nervous, download the removal tool from Symantec:

http://www.symantec.com/norton/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2009-011316-0247-99

Note: Symantec lists it as W32.Downadup, which is an alias for Conflicker. Its also interesting to note that they haven’t labeled the Downadup removal as the Conflicker April 1 worm removal so they can sell more products. My favorite is the page to download the tool with the April 1 worm Norton anti-virus Ads on the right side ROFL!

Copywriting for the Web

2009-03-11T17:09:00.003-06:00

We've heard it before: in the online world "Content is King". The quiz below can help you evaluate the effectiveness of your website copy. You might be surprised!

Take the Quiz

Yellow Page Advertising

2009-03-03T09:21:00.001-07:00

According to Bizreport.com, almost a third of local business searches are conducted on the internet. Search engines, not the Yellow Pages, are the primary source for those looking for local services. Jay Ehret wants you to think about this when you invest in the Yellow Pages.

The internet provides the most cost effective marketing solution right now. You will get a better return on your investment by keeping your web site up to date and making sure it can be found.

Ehret suggests you improve your presence in local Google searches by:

Claiming your Google business listing

Doing some basic search engine optimization

Using Google Adwords and local pay per click advertising.

Keep the Yellow Pages ad, but remember it's effectiveness is going to diminish as more people turn to the internet for local searches.

Preserving an old School

2009-02-23T15:05:00.003-07:00

We really enjoy being apart of the Smiley Building from theater/plays shows to the kids running up and down the halls. Its a wonderful environment, and we look forward to seeing the old school stay alive!

Thanks Charles and Lisa!

-JoshT

Google Asks Users to Drop IE 6

2009-01-03T16:26:00.003-07:00

Google is asking IE6 users to download and use either Firefox or its own browser, Chrome. According to TG Daily, IE6 users are greeted with a message prompting them to “get faster Gmail” when logging into their Gmail accounts. The rationale behind the move makes sense. Gone are the days when browsers simply served up web pages. Web browsers are now clients for web applications like Gmail, Google Docs, and numerous other services. To run these applications, browsers must support the latest web technologies and standards. Something IE 6 doesn’t do.

If you are still using Internet Explorer 6, do yourself a favor and download Firefox or Google’s Chrome Browser. You'll have a much more enjoyable browsing experience.

Flash 10 - Welcome to the stone age

2008-12-31T13:34:00.003-07:00

The latest and greatest flash release from Adobe is a complete failure. It renders wonderful education and entertainment sites such as youtube to less useful than a paperclip.

After installing Flash 10 and checking some of our sites I realized that every site had issues. Every site that uses flash videos, or other widgets would pop the message "Additional plugins needed, please install flash". Of course this issue only applies to Firefox, IE on the other hand seemed to behave appropriately, playing the much desired interactive media.

Without that form of media the internet was just not the same. Flash really does bring life to our world.

After this little trip of aggravation at this newest release it was quick to uninstall Flash 10. Luckily I kept the flash 9 installer :P

j-3media.com/flash9

State of the Twittersphere

2008-12-28T20:31:00.007-07:00

Hubspot has released its "State of the Twittersphere Qtr 4 2008 Report".
According to Hubspot

5,000 to 10,000 new user accounts per day were opened on Twitter during the fourth quarter of 2008.
70% of all Twitter users joined in 2008;
20% of all users have joined in the past 60 days.

Whether Twitter goes mainstream like Facebook or MySpace remains to be seen. Twitter users are still miniscule compared to these two social media giants.

So what is Twitter?

Twitter is a microblogging tool.
Twitter is kind of like a chat room, but you choose who you follow, and who follows you.
Twitter is an instant messenger, but messages are archived and searchable.
Twitter is a human powered news feed.
Twitter is a social networking site, but you don't spend hours setting up and maintaining your profile.
Twitter is a content syndication tool. Web sites such as twitterfeed.com will automatically post your rss feeds to your Twitter account.
Twitter is a photo sharing tool.
Twitter is a PR/Marketing tool.
Twitter is portable. You access it via the web, through your phone, or from desktop applications like TweetDeck.

The ColdFusion open source community is alive and well

2008-12-21T09:29:00.004-07:00

ColdFusion is often given a bad rap because it's not an open source language - neither is ASP and Java. However, there is a strong open source community among ColdFusion developers.

Brian Rinaldi maintains a list of ColdFusion open source projects on his blog.
Other open source ColdFusion projects are available from riaforge.org
Charlie Arehart maintains a comprehensive list of both open source and propietary ColdFusion resources at http://www.carehart.org/cf411

There are too many open source ColdFusion frameworks for me to list. Go to Charlie Arehart's resource page for a complete list of frameworks available.

The latest open source ColdFusion content management system to become available is Sava CMS , listed as one of the 26 best content management systems.
Finally, Adobe's CF8 server is not the only ColdFusion server out there.
There are free and open source alternatives:

Blue Dragon: http://www.newatlanta.com/products/bluedragon/open_source/overview.cfm
Smith Project: http://smithproject.org/
Railo: http://www.railo-technologies.com/en/index.cfm
(not really open source, Railo follows a model similar to MySQL)

Cfopen is a ColdFusion open source initiative aimed at promoting open source ColdFusion application servers. It's mission:

Spread information, enable developers, encourage growth all as it relates to open source ColdFusion applications, compatible with open source CFML processors

ColdFusion is alive and well. With Adobe planning it's next ColdFusion release in 2009, and more releases planned for 2010 and 2011, you can be assured that ColdFusion will not be going away any time soon. Follow what's happening in the ColdFusion world, both open source and otherwise, by going to coldfusionbloggers.org. There you will find 454 ColdFusion related blog feeds aggregated into one spot.

10 Things NOT to do in 2009

2008-12-19T08:39:00.002-07:00

This is a great article on how to navigate the current treacherous economic waters:
http://www.talentzoo.com/news.php?articleID=1441

Links really do matter.

2008-12-18T08:10:00.003-07:00

Findability by Google and other major search engines is always a top concern of our clients. Web sites built with intuitive navigation, and that employ best practices for linking, image alt tags, and headers will be easily spidered by Google and other major search engines. Therefore, one thing we can not emphasize enough to our clients is the importance of good linking strategies in designing and maintaining their web sites. Easy to find links within your site make it easy for search engines to crawl your site. Links from other web sites to your web site make it easier for people, and for search engine spiders, to find your site.
Google has published an excellent series on how to use linking strategies to make your site more user and search engine friendly.

Do you tweet? There's more to Twitter than you think.

2008-12-17T21:47:00.002-07:00

If you've been wondering what Twitter is all about, here is an article on the ten most creative uses of Twitter. Some uses are really clever, others are just silly. Like, do you really need Twitter to remind you to water the plants?

Major Security Hole in Internet Explorer

2008-12-17T07:14:00.003-07:00

Another major security issue has been found in Internet Explorer. You may read about it here.
To protect your self switch to a different web browser like Firefox.

Writing good meta tags

2008-12-16T09:14:00.002-07:00

Found this article on writing good, google friendly, meta descriptions:
http://www.newebia.co.uk/blog/index.cfm/2008/12/16/Writing-Title-and--Meta-Description-Tags-For-Google

Security is critical for online shoppers

2008-11-19T11:37:00.002-07:00

If you are selling products online, it is vital that you ensure your site is secure. This article discusses this issue in more detail. If you would like to find out how to make your site secure, please contact the J3media team.

You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours...

2008-10-27T13:04:00.005-06:00

An easy and FREE way to increase your website's visibility and promote positive relationships with your clients, customers, and partners is to participate in a link exchange. Ask that a link to your website be placed on their site, and in exchange, you will add a link on your website to their site. This time-honored idea of referrals and word-of-mouth (or word-of-web in this case) advertising still proves to be one of the best ways to gain new customers.

Click on the link for more information and how to obtain links from customers.

Webinar for Online Merchants

2008-10-15T10:20:00.003-06:00

As the holidays approach and online shopping increases, this Webinar by Trustwave and the Merchant Risk Council will educate you on the importance of Extended Validation SSL certificates to protect you and your loyal customers. Please visit the link below to read more about the Webinar and to register.

https://trustwave.webex.com/trustwave/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=359478956

Date and time: Thursday, Oct. 23, 1:00 Central Daylight Time (Chicago)

The web and your business

2008-09-24T10:06:00.005-06:00

In August Josh T and Joel presented to the San Juan College Enterprise Center about the "web and your business". Download a PDF outline of our presentation here.

Are You Targeting Your Ideal Market?

2008-07-24T09:06:00.001-06:00

by Chris Marlow

In the world of business, there are two dynamics that are constantly in motion, and they are...
1) A problem for which a solution must be found (owned by the client), and
2) The solution to that problem (owned by the service provider).

It's the degree to which you can solve that problem for that client that will determine how easy (or hard) it is to capture the work and land the client. That's why sophisticated marketers focus on finding the "#1 pain" of their market. They know if they can correctly identify a target's #1 pain (that thing that keeps them up at night), they can then provide the service that will solve that pain.

For any service provider, the first marketing challenge is to find the target market that's right for them. If you pick wrong, a market that doesn't have a strong need for what you have to offer, for instance, you'll struggle to land clients, perhaps unaware that the problem lies in your misunderstanding of what it is they really need.

Let me give you a real life example. Lynn is a lawyer-turned-copywriter who knows the legal field very well having worked in it for many years. Therefore, would it not be a good idea to specialize in helping law firms with their marketing?

In our work together, we certainly had to consider the market. But upon close examination, we determined that using her new copywriting skills to help law firms was not her ideal market.

Lynn's research, intuition, and past experience told her that law firms generally do not place a high value on copywriting, and that the largest categories of law are dominated by individual practitioners who might find it hard to pay the rates she wants to charge. What's more, she had lost her passion for law, which is one of the reasons she decided to change careers and become a copywriter.

Yet she was getting some business from this trade. So we decided to target a market Lynn could get excited about, the self-improvement (SI) market. For now, Lynn continues to help her local law firms as a "sub-niche" until she has a full roster of SI clients.

The lesson is, when you target a market, run through a checklist to see if you're really well-matched for it. Here are five starter questions to ask yourself:

1. Does this market really want and need what I have to sell? To what degree?
2. Do I understand this market's #1 pain and can I articulate my solution to that pain in a powerful way?
3. Do I enjoy this market and will I enjoy it five or 10 years from now?
4. Can this market help me achieve my financial and business-building goals?
5. Will this market need my help long into the future or is it susceptible to change?

Keyword Articles: http://www.keywordarticles.org

Chris Marlow publishes a free newsletter for consultants who want to land the high quality, high value clients.

Quality Product Photos Increase Sales

2008-07-22T08:04:00.002-06:00

The right photos can capture the attention, perceived value, and sales your products so richly deserve. So says Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, the editor of Web Marketing Today. If you sell products on eBay, for example, or any sell any products online for that matter, the quality of the images will very likely affect the bidding or purchasing interest of viewers. Dr. Wilson's article has some excellent examples about how the image affects the perceived quality of the item. Read more...

website caches

2008-07-10T13:14:00.002-06:00

Did you ever know there was an update to your website or a favorite but you couldn't see it?

The only way to see these changes is by clearing your browsers cache, which is a pain. What really needs to happen is the page needs to be forced to reload.

The two weapons to pick up are a couple of simple keyboard shortcuts.
Ctrl+Shift+R (firefox only)
or
Ctrl+F5

These will force reload a webpage which includes reloading any Style or Javascript changes! This is great because normally when you cleaned your cookies/cache from the browser it would log you out of a website. The shortcuts reload the page without interruption.

Meetups and Tweetups

2008-07-08T09:00:00.002-06:00

Good networking leads to positive business growth, so why not learn to use social media tools to create and attend networking events? Your customers want to be connected and your business can use Web 2.0 tools to connect. This week's ColoradoBiz Magazine has an excellent article on how companies like Zappos are leveraging the social media trend. You can also use tools like Twitter or Meetup to learn new skills, like how to publish a book or bring an invention to market.

The Social Media Goldmine

2008-07-03T09:22:00.003-06:00

No matter how small your company, social media can be a goldmine. Those are the words of author Rebecca Cole in ColoradoBiz Magazine. Still, she urges businesses to be careful of assuming that using social media and web 2. 0 tactics will be all you need to do. Some cautions:

Always remember the importance of face-to-face communications.
Create a strategy for how and why social media is used in your company.
Don't forget to use social media yourself.
Use keywords in your press releases.

Savvy companies take advantage of social media. If you're among those savvy companies, remember - just like when you undertake any marketing endeavor, make the commitment to do it right so that you don't waste time and money.

When .com is not enough

2008-06-26T12:53:00.003-06:00

Soon you may have the option of all kinds of new names when registering domain names. Some options might be related to location, such as ".nyc" or industry, such as ".bank", or a company's brand. Or there may be new domain names written in other languages, such as Arabic. That's because the main agency that oversees the internet agreed to relax rules which have been restricting the options.

While some say it's a huge step forward, other complain it will be a pain in the neck.

A BBC report says it's likely to be a pricey option.

According to an article in The New York Times, we will probably begin seeing the new names next year.

Buy and Sell Websites

2008-06-24T10:39:00.003-06:00

Sometimes our clients will ask us what to look for when considering purchasing an existing website. Just like buying any business, you need information to know whether it's a good deal. How many visitors does the site attract? How does it attract them? How many of those visitors are converted to buyers?

Then, there's the concept of selling your website. Is it worth it to try? How do you go about doing that? Whether you're buying or selling, here's a great resource: http://marketplace.sitepoint.com/

Free Press Release Analyzer

2008-06-16T10:48:00.003-06:00

Writing media releases is all about being journalistic and persuasive while not making outlandish claims. And these days, releases are for much more than just traditional media. They might go:

on your own website

in email blasts

in a marketing campaign

to online media sources

to bloggers

on media release distribution websites

HubSpot's Press Release Grader evaluates your press release and provides a marketing effectiveness score based on a variety of factors.

Sorry, did you say something?

2008-06-13T14:02:00.000-06:00

When it comes to the difference between writing for TV and writing for the web, Jacob Nielson sums it up this way: lean-forward vs. lean-back.

In a nutshell, people watch TV to be entertained. They read newspaper stories, usually in a relaxed setting. They surf the net to go places and get things done.

Web content must be brief and get to the point quickly, because users are likely to be on a specific mission. Read Nielson's blog post.

CFdocument Coldfusion 8.01 update HTML to PDF bug

2008-05-27T17:14:00.000-06:00

The new ColdFusion 8.01 update has some very nice fixes and additions, such being able to send a document from a variable instead of saving and then attaching it. Alas, nothing is perfect.

In one of our projects, we turn HTML into PDF's using the cfdocument tag set. Before the update to 8.01 the HTML being sent to the PDF formatter worked perfectly.

The string of HTML that cfdocument was choking on looked like this:


<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="700">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>test
 <br /><br />
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

Specifically, the issue is with the double br's. With just one br it worked, but with both it would throw the following error.

"java.io.IOException: Parsing problem occurred during the rendering process of this document."

This is the simplest example, there may be other quirks rendering HTML to PDF.

I highly recommend reading through the release notes to learn more about the update!

http://www.adobe.com/support/documentation/en/coldfusion/801/cf801releasenotes.pdf

How to Avoid Photo BLOAT

2008-05-22T11:21:00.000-06:00

Don't you hate when you receive an email with an image attached and every time you try to print it, it takes about 4 pieces of paper because it's so huge? Guess what happens if you try to upload that same image to your website? Not good! How about when you go to a website that has a lot of images and ....... it......takes......forever......to.......load.......UGH!

The problem, in a nutshell, is that the images are too darn big. Here's a free online tool for resizing your images:

www.picnik.com

The site offers the ability to resize as well as fix, crop, rotate and more. It works on Mac, Windows, and Linux and does not require any installation or downloading.

Today's New York Times has a great article on this topic. Read more...

Protect Your Domain Name

2008-05-02T14:48:00.000-06:00

Some companies are just not ethical. It's sad, but true. In the past 6 months, two of our clients have been hurt by unscrupulous companies and several others have been contacted. A few things to look out for:

1. The domain renewal scam. An official looking document shows up asking you to renew your domain name. The letter usually shows up several months in advance of the renewal date, encouraging your to renew now to "protect" yourself from losing that domain name. When you pay the invoice and renew the name, the domain gets renewed, but not in your name. It's transferred to the jerks who initiated the scam.

2. The domain name theft. You're searching for a domain name on the website of an unethical company and the next thing you know, the company registers the name for which you just searched. What happens? You can still register the domain, but ONLY from THAT unscrupulous company - for a premium price, of course.

3. The domain name theft Version 2. It's nearing time to renew your domain name registration, but you figure you'll get around to it one of these days. The next thing you know, some company snatched it and you've lost it. It's not that common, but it happens.

Tucows, a legitimate company for which we are resellers, offers these suggested ways to protect yourself:

1. Enable WHOIS Privacy. This is the absolute best protection, stopping the renewal scam dead in its tracks as there is no way for the scammer to contact the Registrant directly.

2. Make sure your domain is locked. A locked domain can't be transferred.

3. Know your Reseller and Registrar. Don't assume someone will take care of this for you. You should keep on file all the information about where and when you registered your domain name. You should know your username and password as well. Keep it somewhere you'll find it when you need it.