Tag: Social Media Presence

Social Media

How To Protect Yourself On Social Media

Social media can be an excellent people finder tool if somebody wants to be found. The challenge is that it can also be a dangerous place. Many people don't realize that hackers use social media accounts to steal identities and perform other criminal tasks. Everybody should take it upon themselves to understand how to protect their information. 7 Ways to Protect Your Social Media Presence From checking your connection to having a strong password, choosing settings, and making intelligent decisions, here are the seven top ways to protect your social media presence. 1. Check Your Connection Is Safe Hackers can add malware or trojan horses to your account if your PC isn't protected by anti-virus protection. These innovative virus-like programs can steal your login details. Be mindful of accessing social media pages over a WiFi network in a coffee shop or internet cafe. It's easy for hackers to access sites via these open networks. 2. Use a Creative Password Some bots can guess passwords based on commonly used ones. Never use a person's date of birth or mother's maiden name, as they're easily worked out. A creative password that's harder to hack consists of lower and uppercase letters, numbers, and special characters, with no recognizable words. Consider a password security app that generates random passwords for each login. An extra level of protection is to enable two-factor authentication, for example, a site password and a one-time password (OTP) on your smartphone. 3. Manage Privacy Settings The default setting for any new social media account is 'public.' This designation means that anyone can see anything posted, and somebody doing a Google search for your name could bring up the post. Popular settings are private, friends only, or custom. Think carefully about your intended audience. 4. Approve All Tags Friends love to tag each other, which is one of the social media's many benefits. However, not everyone wants the world to know what they're doing at any given time. Most social media apps have an option for the person to allow or reject a post that includes them. 5. Don't Automatically Accept Friend Requests Many people like to build their friend lists on social media platforms, but there is a danger. Accepting a request from a stranger could open the door to the site being hacked. Always check the profile of the person making the request; if it's brand new with only a profile picture and nothing else, it may be a bot. If a request comes through from someone who's already a friend, it could mean they've been hacked. Before accepting it, contact them via another medium to confirm the new page is legitimate. 6. Think Before You Post Before clicking the 'post' button, ask the question, 'Would my grandmother like this?' If the answer is 'no,' reconsider it. Many people believe once something is deleted from the internet, that's the end of it. Sadly, this isn't true; things can be recovered. Future employers may discover images and comments that paint a person in an unflattering light, so make wise choices. 7. Don't, or Delay Sharing Location Data 'Check-in' is a popular feature on many social media apps. While it's fun to let everyone know where you are, it also tells others with bad intentions. For example, checking into a shopping mall can let a stalker know where to find you. Alternatively, it can also let burglars know you're not currently home. Most smartphone cameras have a GPS function that stamps the image with the date, time, and location. A photo can give that data away even if you don't use the 'check in' function. Take the Time to Get Protected As hackers get better at accessing people's social media accounts, users can take steps to limit the chance of something happening. Always be sure that the pages are being viewed on a secure network. Use strong passwords that aren't easy to guess, and manage the settings early to decide who can access what. Be vigilant about being tagged and accepting random friend requests. Think carefully about what gets posted, when, and from where. Do these things, and there's a fair chance a hacker will move on to an easier target. Read Also: The Most Common Reasons Why You Cannot Log In To a Website What Are Some Best Practices To Prevent Phishing Attacks? How To Prevent A Ransomware Attack

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Oh, Crop! Killer E-commerce Mistakes You Need to Conquer

One of the most lucrative and fast-growing industries is the e-commerce industry. It has risen in popularity over the years due to the convenience and accessibility it provides for the consumers, and even for the sellers themselves. A lot of people have been trying to start their businesses from home, yet they don't know where to start, and they have no idea about the wide variety of industries they can invest in or the right tools they should use. Aside from knowing what to do with your new venture, you also need to know the common mistakes and blunders you can commit. Lapses, no matter how small, can be highly detrimental to your business. But as worrying as it all sounds, don't worry. You can learn how to spot, avoid, and remedy these mistakes with this simple guide. Without further ado, here are five mistakes you need to avoid to keep your e-commerce business bug-free and in full swing. Mistake #1: Forgetting Your Market One of the biggest and most common mistakes online entrepreneurs make is forgetting what their market looks like or who their target audience is. Aside from spending most of your time and effort in honing the perfect product, without actually creating a need for your customers, you also have to know your customer demographic. Wouldn't it be ideal to have customers before creating a product, rather than having a product beforehand and then looking for clients? All of your efforts will be rendered fruitless. Know how to target your audience or your buyer persona. A buyer persona is a representation of your customer's demographics, such as age, gender, profession, and social status. To paint you a clearer picture, if you're a designer in the print industry, you need to know your target audience before you begin selling. You won't sell cheap business cards to upper-class professionals looking to spruce up their portfolios just as you wouldn't sell overly-priced prints for low-quality products. Mistake #2: Lack of Social Media Presence The regular person owns at least five social media accounts. And on average, we spend about an hour and 40 minutes browsing these sites. Can you believe that the number of online shoppers in the United States alone will reach 224 million in 2019! Numbers aside, the stats are telling us to leverage social media in getting our brand out there. Say hi to social media. Brands are using social media marketing for some highly useful and practical reasons. Some even devise different loyalty program for their avid followers on social media channels. Some of these are because it provides: Low-cost solution. Social media platforms are an excellent way to get bang for your buck advertising and brand exposure. Customization. From Facebook Insights to Google Analytics, you can customize your pages to your heart's content and receive detailed reports on your customers' demographics and browsing behaviors. Excellent customer service platform. According to a recent study by Venturebeat, 51 percent of the respondents say businesses need to be available around the clock. If e-commerce brands are now adopting customer service chatbots with 24/7 messaging services, so should you. If you’re still not convinced, you can think of your social media accounts as your company’s very own affordable business cards, showcasing your brand and the services you offer virtually. Mistake #3: Neglecting Mobile Optimization Mobile is everywhere, and the world is accessing the internet through their smartphones. With 80 percent of internet users owning a smartphone, failing to recognize the need for mobile optimization, could mean losing half of your potential e-commerce market. Poor user experience can negatively impact your conversion rates. If you shift your focus on creating the ideal mobile user experience for your customers, you can increase your brand reputation and customer retention, and avoid losing 61 percent of your clients due to the poor website experience. As an internet-based entrepreneur, use whatever tools you have at your disposal to provide an optimized user browsing and shopping experience. Bank on your best assets and give yourself an advantage over your industry rivals. Mistake #4: Faulty Shipping Flexibility When you first decided to run an e-commerce business, I'm guessing you did for the flexibility it gave you in doing your daily tasks. You didn't have to meet people face to face, and you could make your timetable to suit your needs. You can now do all of your work at home, and nobody would have to see you in sweatpants. The same principle goes for your consumers. All customers like to have options, especially when it comes to shipping. According to research, only 1 in 4 online shoppers complete a purchase? 44 percent of cart abandonment cases are due to high shipping costs, and a whopping 93 percent of online shoppers say they'll buy more if they got free shipping. Free shipping can increase sales and improve customer loyalty. According to a study from E-tailing, 73 percent of purchasers consider unconditional free shipping as a decisive factor in shopping online. But like all other business aspects, weigh the pros and cons of your business before making a decision. Mistake #5: Failing to Measure Performance If you want to succeed in the competitive world of e-commerce, you need to know how to gauge and evaluate your performance. Take note of your business habits, particularly regarding expenses and marketing. Use your business plan as a roadmap to help you steer your way throughout your business venture. Check your statistics regularly. Update your ledger and see if your business is thriving or failing. Look at your consumer insights and keep up with the masses' latest trends. Be as specific as you can with your data. Don't inflate your figures and understand the areas you lack to improve them further. By monitoring your performance, you are helping your business achieve greater heights compared to passive management. And the good news is, there's always room for improvement, be it for you or your business. Takeaway As John Sagel said, "What we do know now is that the 'E' in e-commerce doesn't stand for 'easy.' Opening an e-commerce business can be overwhelming and nerve-wracking, but it can also be a highly worthwhile and profitable venture. There is no guarantee of overnight success. However, you can set yourself up for the best chance at succeeding. To do so, grasp the basics, learn from seasoned entrepreneurs, and watch out for their mistakes to avoid committing them yourself.

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