Whoa, I bet you clicked on the link to come here because you thought Homeland was having some awesome sale??? EVERY DAY is an awesome sale when you compare our prices to the prices in the following post:
http://www.iheartchaos.com/post/10489506835/best-buy-ads-from-1996-look-like-they-might-as-well
You likely buying your computers at half the cost of those listed in the ad.
Remember when RAM was that expensive? What about CRTs, or whole computer systems? It’s been ages since we sold a notebook with the same price tag on it as in the Best Buy ad from 1996.
Have a great weekend, and be glad you don’t have to put one of those big flip phones up to your head still!
Most of you probably wonder why Homeland Secure IT doesn’t advertise… Or maybe since you have never seen any kind of ad, you haven’t thought about it at all! hah
The number one reason we don’t advertise is because we have a very strong & established base of amazing clients and so many terrific friends and family who believe in us so much that they do an incredible job of spreading the word of what we offer! That’s the main reason. There are other reasons, such as the fact that I don’t believe the majority of people who want to buy a Cisco ASA 5505 security appliance or license Trend Micro Anti-Virus are going to pick up the newspaper or phonebook to find us.
I know for a fact that the IT people that we work around don’t get the idea to get a backup solution from listening to top 40 radio, etc. So, in short, advertising in those ways has not been very attractive for us.
But, I couldn’t pass this one up… @BigJonEvans is available for rent. That’s right. This crazy guy over at http://www.youbrand.me/ is allowing us to tattoo our logo on his forehead for a day, as well as streaming a live video where he will discuss some of our products and services, and making a short promo video. But wait, that’s not all, he’s also going to introduce himself as “Homeland Secure IT” for an entire day. And, because we acted right now, he’s throwing in a video of him lip syncing to a song!
I can’t afford a billboard on I-85 that says “Homeland Secure IT offers computer, network and server support, service, repair, sales in Greenville and Upstate SC”, etc, and frankly I don’t think the system administrator at XYZ corporation would read it and give it a serious thought, but I CAN afford Jon’s forehead for a day! While not quite as big as a billboard, I think more people may see it!
All for the low price of 9 dollars! Now that is advertising money well spent. Advertising with an impact! (The price goes up one dollar each day, so reserve your spot NOW)
Tomorrow, SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY! That’s the day you can watch @BigJonEvans talk about Homeland Secure IT and wear our logo. For more information, HEAD on over to Jon’s website at www.YouBrand.Me or follow him on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.
If you have a business or cause or something that you would like the world to know about, this is certainly a fun way to increase awareness =)
Have a great weekend and prepare for the snowpacalypse that is coming!
Oh and Jon, I love your current project… That’s using your head!
If you are reading this blog post, you probably know that I am pretty involved in Social Media. Some may say I am addicted to it!
I am active on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, FourSquare, Plaxo, and still have a MySpace account, though I don’t really use it that much. I haved tried out Google Buzz, FriendFeed, and several business only SM sites. (Heck, I have even checked out Chat Roulette and Omegle – but that is an entirely different story)
Out of all of these, one that I fail to see the value in for a computer service, repair and sales business like Homeland Secure IT is FourSquare. Don’t get me wrong, I love it. I use it constantly, and get very frustrated when it isn’t working like I think it should. But I use it for personal purposes. If you have not played with FourSquare, it is a geolocation based social media “tool” that lets you “check-in” to a venue or location when you get there using your GPS equiped smartphone. Assume you go to Starbucks for a quick Dark Cherry Mocha Frapp – you “check-in” and now the whole world can see what you are doing. You can brag to Twitter & Facebook that you have disposable income you can spend on yummy coffee.
Same thing goes for attractions like amusement parks, ball games, and stores like say, “Target”. If you check-in enough times, you become the “Mayor” of that venue!
Here is where the value of FourSquare comes in… Assume you check-in and become mayor of XYZ Sandwich Shop. You have been announcing this for a while, everytime you visit there. The whole world has seen you were there, giving free advertisement to XYZ! But, if XYZ is smart, they will reward you for your loyalty and offer a free sandwich when someone becomes Mayor, and maybe a free drink every time the Mayor visits after that. A very cheap price to pay for this type of advertising.
Many places, especially restaurants, will offer specials that popup when you check-in near their venue. These will show up as a “SPECIAL NEARBY – Check out the great ribs at ABC BBQ”, which can help bring new business into these places. And still other places will offer you a free entree when you visit several of their location. FourSquare itself offers “Badges” for accomplishing certain feats, such as checking into three Starbucks locations.
All that said, our business does not have foot traffic nor visitors, so offering a “Free Virus Cleanup” to a mayor would be silly. I believe I am the only person to check-in to our location in the months that I have been using it. But it does bring up a pet peeve of mine. Today I was ousted as Mayor of a local coffee shop – BY THE OWNER OF THE PLACE. Wow, that doesn’t do anything to help with loyalty. My suggestion to places that want to check-in themselves, create a second venue, call it XYZ Sandwich Shop STAFF, and let the staff go crazy checking in!
I would further suggest that business owners who can benefit from FourSquare’s power of (free) advertising, take advantage of it the way it was meant to be used. Offer Mayors a treat, some recognition, and encourage them to remain the mayor and others to try and oust the current mayor. 4sq is both a FUN, and a very useful business tool, when used properly.
BTW: If you can think of a way 4sq can be used to promote our computer repair business here in Greenville, and increase loyalty, well I’m all ears, but until that happens, I will be trying to take my place as mayor of every great business in the Upstate! Watch out Mayors, I’m coming for you…
BTW: Have fun, it is only a game! (But seriously, I’m coming for you)… Also check out other geolocational based SM tools / toys like Gowalla, Gypsii, BrightKite, Loopt, etc…
Mailing List Mayhem
Let’s assume you are managing a mail distribution list with more than 50 people on it for a church or business and currently you are handling it in Outlook. Why not assume it is for a newsletter or bulletin…
Some of the problems you face are as follows: ( AKA the Top 10 Reasons to Switch to Email Marketing)
10. This is just too confusing and time consuming (see reasons 9 through 1 below)
9. Sending large emails with pictures or PDF attachments to dozens of people can slow your mail server to a crawl and take all day to send.
8. You have to manually add and remove each recipient, which is time consuming and is prone to human error (typos, accidental deletion of the wrong people).
7. You have no way for people to add themselves via a link on your website.
6. Subscribers are not verified, they have not opted-in. (Read more about the CAN-SPAM Act).
5. You have no way to see if your email was actually OPENED, or see which links were clicked on in your email.
4. Your mail distribution list likely has only the email address of each person and no idea of who happygirl1977@gmail.com really is.
3. You do not have a list of which addresses are bouncing, unless you compile it yourself from the actual bounced messages.
2. If you are sending newsletters, you may be just constructing your email inside Outlook and it may be text based, with no real consistency in appearance.
And the number one issue faced by those using Outlook to manage a mailing list/newsletter: You are sending a large number of emails from your account, which may appear to recipients and mail servers to be junk mail, which could ultimately result in your mail ending up in the spam folder, or worse, certain mail servers could see traffic from you as unsolicited email and flag your IP address as suspicious, resulting in the inability to send to that domain again until it is cleared up. In some cases, you could be blacklisted and placed on a real-time block list (RBL) and that would affect all mail sent from everyone at your business or organization to many mail servers around the world. (Those types of problems can take a while to get cleared up, and some RBLs hold you hostage and make you pay a fee before removing you).
The solution to these nightmares is to make a small monthly investment and use one of the many mailing list managers that are designed for email marketing and newsletters. They address all of the issues above, and give you an easy template based interface which allows you to create well structured newsletters, and send them to your subscribers without fear of blacklisting, and without the hassles of manually editing distribution lists. You can place a signup button and form on your website, and anyone who is interested can subscribe themselves to your list!
As an added bonus, you can see how many of the emails went out, how many were opened, which links were clicked on and other analytic information that will assist you in determining what content is “interesting” to your subscriber base. You also see how many bounced, without having a dozen bounce messages in your inbox!
You are probably thinking that this must be expensive and there is no way you can afford it. Quite the contrary, you can get started for FREE by signing up for an evaluation. After the trial period, you can then subscribe for a few dollars per month. I personally opted for MadMimi (see link below) because it is the most affordable, however, any of the three are awesome!
If you would like to subscribe to our mailing lists, or see what the subscription form looks like, click here:
Subscribe to our mailing lists
Try these out for free:
One last thing – Using these solutions you do not have to have a Publisher, or even Office loaded. It does not matter if you are on a Microsoft Windows machine, Apple Mac, a netbook or even a tablet or pad computer, you can create your newsletter with just about any computer with a web browser!
If you have questions or need some assistance, just let me know, I will do what I can to help!
IRS Tax Code Section 179 can save your business lots of money!
Time to upgrade your server or servers? Need new computers for your business? How about upgrading all your firewalls to the latest technology? New VoIP phone system? CCTV Cameras? Notebooks for all your field reps?
Congress extended the amount that small businesses may write-off for capital expenditures in 2010 to $250,000, and that means this may be the best year ever to upgrade your infrastructure!
Business Equipment:
Business owners who acquire equipment for their business, such as computers, servers, network & security equipment and other tangible goods, usually prefer to deduct the cot in a a single tax year, rather than a little at a time over a number of years. This deduction is known by its section in the tax code, a Section 179 deduction.
Under Section 179, businesses that spend less than $800,000 a year on qualified equipment, may write-off up to $250,000 in 2010. The rules are designed for small companies so the $250,00 deduction phases out when a business purchases more than $800,000 in one year. (Companies cannot write off more than their taxable income).
Benefits of a Non-Tax / Capital Lease:
The benefit of a Non-Tax/Capital Lease is that it can take advantage of Section 179: expense up to $250,000 if the equipment is put in use in 2010. In addition, you may depreciate any excess on the depreciation schedule for that asset. Examples of Non-Tax/Capital Leases include a $1.00 Buyout Lease, an Equipment Finance Agreement (EFA), and a 10% Purchase Upon Termination (PUT) Lease. Example: Assume you finance business equipment, put it in use in 2010, and take advantage of Section 179. Your tax savings could be significant:
An example of a typical server installation and how this applies might look something like this:
Cost of equipment: $9,500.oo
Section 179 reduction if expenditures are over $800k: —
Dollar for dollar phase out if over $800k: $9,500.oo
Section 179 write-off amount: $9,500.oo
Regular First Year Depreciation Deduction: -
Total First Year Deduction: $9500.oo
Cash Savings on your Equipment Purchase: $3,325.oo
(Assuming a 35% Tax Bracket, Deprecation 5 years)
Lowered Cost of Equipment after Tax Savings: $6, 175.oo
Tax Code Section 179 & Election to Expense Detail:
The election, which is made on Form 4562, is for the tax year the property was placed in service or an amended return filed within the time prescribed by law. The total cost of property that may be expensed for any tax year cannot exceed the total amount of taxable income during the tax year. Section 179 property is property that you acquire by purchase for use in the active conduct of your business. To ensure property qualifies, reference Publication 946.
This expense deduction is provided for taxpayers (other than estates, trusts or certain non-corporate lessors) who elect to treat the cost of qualifying property as an expense rather than a capital expenditure. Under Section 179, equipment purchases, up to the amount approved for a given year, can be expensed (deducted from taxable income) if installed by December 31st. Non-Tax leases qualify for this deduction in their year of inception. Any excess above the expensed amount can be depreciated depending on the equipment type. Not all states follow federal law. Contact your tax advisor for the specific impact to your business or visit www.irs.gov.
Further Detail:
Reminder: to take advantage of the tax incentives, your business equipment must be put in use by year-end. You should contact your tax advisor to learn about the specific impact to your business.
We can help you maximize this as we offer leasing and financing… Please email info@homelandsecureit.com or call 864-990-4748 for additional information!
Save money on computer service and repair
Homeland Secure IT is looking forward to celebrating our Nation’s Independence Day in July, and to help you celebrate, we are still honoring our 75.oo an hour bench rate for computer service and repair on PCs you bring into our office!
So, stop worrying bout how much to fix that annoying problem, slow laptop, virus or malware infection, or to install some piece of software or upgrade current software. Heck, at this rate, you could have someone else handle putting all those Microsoft Windows or Microsoft Office updates on your computer for you!
Most viruses can be cleaned up in only one hour of time and Trend Micro anti-virus installed. Be sure to take advantage of our low bench rate through the month of July!
For more information, email info@homelandsecureit.com or call 864-990-4748. Most fixes can be accomplished the same day if brought in before lunch!
Homeland Secure IT has more fun giveaways coming! We are going to be giving some silly stuff and some spiffy stuff away to those who are on our mailing lists…
You have to play the game to win… To play, you need only sign up for our mailing lists and/or subscribe to this blog. While everyone in the USA is eligible (except where prohibited by law) our mailing lists are primarily of interest to computer and technology enthusiasts, business owners, entrepreneurs, our clients & future clients of course, friends, family and individuals, mostly in and around the Greenville and Upstate South Carolina area. If you live outside of the local area and cannot pick up the cool stuff you win from our office, then you will be responsible for the shipping and handling costs.
WHAT CAN YOU WIN? Just what are we planning to give away to those who subscribe? In no particular order: A wireless network / IP surveillance camera complete with night vision, Trend Micro Anti-Virus, APC & Eaton UPS, free computer service & support, gift cards to various places around the Upstate and more! (Who knows, maybe a cool Android device, or netbook, etc)
We will announce the giveaways as we start them. The next one will be for July 2010.
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS? Because we want to increase awareness of our products and services, but we also want to have fun and to give something back to those who support us!
HOW TO ENTER: On our blog simply enter your email address & click on the subscribe button on the right-hand side where it says “Follow Me” to subscribe to this blog, which will be emailed to you each day there is new content, or you can sign up for either one or all of our mailing lists. There are currently two mailing lists, the “NewsBytes” ML which has minimal traffic, no more than once per week, and the “Secure IT Alerts” mailing list, which has only postings that regard to security, such as vulnerabilities and patches – traffic varies on that list. (There is a form below)
HOW WE SELECT A WINNER: At the time of the drawings, ALL lists are combined together and a name is selected randomly using a random number generator to get a number that corresponds to a name on that list.
LOOPHOLE ALERT: There is one flaw that can be used in your favor… If you are on multiple lists and subscribed to the blog, your name is going to be in the list multiple times, increasing your chances of winning.
Sign up now using this form:
We would be honored if you would help us get this cool graphic for use on our website and publications!
We are often told we offer the best computer repair, sales, service and support in Greenville and the Upstate, but the Greenville News is currently looking for people to participate in their poll for the “Best of the Upstate 2010″ and we would be honored if you would take a couple minutes of your time and vote…
Here is the link to the poll: http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22AM8P6RVZN
What’s in it for you??? You can win a $500 dollar Visa gift card just for voting in 10 categories!
The category that we fit into is #34 Computer Store/Service Provider… We are not listed there, so you would have to write in: Homeland Secure IT, LLC
Please consider writing in or selecting these other great places:
#22 Bartender
Brad at Thaicoon Ricefire (We love this guy, super nice, and does a great job)
#28 Carpet Cleaners?
McAbee’s Custom Carpets (This is Pamela’s family owned business)
#34 Computer Store/Service Provider?
Homeland Secure IT, LLC (US! Wouldn’t you know it!??!)
#45 Jewelry Store?
Julie’s Jewels & Gifts (Julie is awesome – she can get anything for you if she doesn’t have it, or she can have it made)
#50 Mexican Restaurant?
Cancun of Piedmont (This is a client of our’s… Best Mexican food in Piedmont. Oh wait, the ONLY Mexican food in Piedmont!)
Thank you for your support!!!!!!!!!!
Microsoft Office 2010 is Available NOW
Microsoft has released Office 2010 and it will be coming pre-installed on computers immediately. Should you buy a new computer from us or any other vendor, why not compliment that awesome new Microsoft Windows 7 operating system with the new Office 2010?!
The pre-loaded version will operate in a fully functional demo mode to give you an idea of how great this new office is, and when you are ready, you need only purchase the registration card, which does not include the software installation CD, just a 25 character product key on a card (PKC, or Product Key Card is the official name). You key that in and your software is registered.
Homeland Secure IT is a Microsoft Partner & Microsoft Small Business Specialist! We can provide your registration cheaper than some other retail outlets. I will list the retail prices below and explain the versions that are available for registration. Please email info@homelandsecureit.com or call us at 864-990-4748 for your cost.
Versions of Microsoft Office 2010:
Microsoft Office 2010 Home & Student – Includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote – Retail $149
Microsoft Office 2010 Home & Business – Includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook – Retail $199
Microsoft Office 2010 Professional – Includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher and Access – Retail $349.99
Registering the version that comes loaded with your new computer will save you LOTS of money over the full retail versions! The entire suites retail for $279.99 for Home & Business, and a whopping $499.99 for professional! In addition to the savings, you are obviously doing something good for the environment because you are eliminating all of the packaging materials involved with the retail purchase!
Should you wish to purchase a full retail suite, or open licensing, please contact us for details! We also offer installation and upgrade support, computer repair & service, etc.
The Best of the Upstate voting is going on, where you pick your favorite places in the Upstate, and those who are most popular win fame and fortune! Okay, maybe not fame or fortune, but the winners do get a little publicity and recognition…
If you would like to participate go to: http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22AM8P6RVZN
You can win a $500 dollar Visa gift card just for voting in 10 categories!
You just fill out some information about yourself (if you want a chance at winning) then select the best places in the Upstate of SC!
Please consider writing in or selecting these places:
#22 Bartender
Brad at Thaicoon Ricefire (We love this guy, super nice, and does a great job)
#28 Carpet Cleaners?
McAbee’s Custom Carpets (This is Pamela’s family owned business)
#34 Computer Store/Service Provider?
Homeland Secure IT, LLC (US! Wouldn’t you know it!??!)
#45 Jewelry Store?
Julie’s Jewels & Gifts (Julie is awesome – she can get anything for you if she doesn’t have it, or she can have it made)
#50 Mexican Restaurant?
Cancun of Piedmont (This is a client of our’s… Best Mexican food in Piedmont. Oh wait, the ONLY Mexican food in Piedmont!)
#55 Best NEW Upstate Business
Homeland Secure IT, LLC (Hey, it’s us again!)
Thanks again for your support of Homeland Secure IT, we really couldn’t do it without our awesome friends, family and clients! Sure, we could still offer the best computer service, repair & network support in Greenville and the Upstate, but what would it matter without you!?!
Thank you so much for your help! BTW: If you have a business you would like someone to vote on, please respond to this post…
John
