Andrei Parabellum

Maximize Your
Business with IT 10 Surefire Ways to
Succeed with Technology © Andrei Parabellum 2007
Maximize Your Business with IT Page 2 www.infobusiness2.com

Table of Contents
Introduction 5
File & Printer Sharing 7

Email Marketing 64
5 Simple Ways To Avoid Getting An Avalanche of
Spam 65
Maximize Your Business with IT Page 3 www.infobusiness2.com
Internet and Web 71

Generating More Business with Search Engine Advertising
& Optimization 73

Generating More Business with Visitor Tracking 75
Generating More Business with Internet Marketing 76
Enhancing Service to Existing Customers 77
Backup & Disaster Recovery 79
The 3 Most Expensive & Deadly Computer Disasters
That Wipe Out Small Business Owners … And How
To Avoid Them 84

Why Small Business Are Especially Vulnerable To These
Disasters 89

Auto Body Shop Shells Out $20,000 To Clean Up A
Virus 90

Two Failed Hard Drives Costs Health Products Company
$40,000 and 9 Days of Downtime 91

Property Management Company Spends $9,000 And


Buyer Mistake #1: Not planning for future needs 120
Buyer Mistake #2: Not buying an open system 121
Buyer Mistake #3: Not getting enough voice mail 122
Buyer Mistake #4: Not buying a system that can be easily
maintained in-house 123

Buyer Mistake #5: Paying for technical support 124
Buyer Mistake #6: Not buying next generation features
125

Buyer Mistake #7: Not choosing the right vendor 126
Bonus Tools 127
Free and Open-Source Software 129
Automation 130
Project Management & Collaboration Tools 131
Remote Access 133
Network Faxing 134
Unified Messaging 135
Video Security 136
Biometrics and Time & Attendance 137
5 Things You Should Know Before Buying a New
Computer 138
Consumer Awareness Guide To Choosing An
Honest, Reliable, and Competent Computer Repair
Shop 140

The Five Most Costly Misconceptions About Computer
Maintenance and Repair 144



With thousands of products and vendors to choose
from, and dozens of new offerings being introduced
every day, many businesses find themselves asking:

• What are these solutions, and how can they
help me?

• How do I put together an effective
technology strategy that will align with my
business goals?

• How much do these products cost, and what
type of return on investment can I expect?

In this book, I will try to answer these questions and
more by highlight existing, new, and emerging
technologies. Each chapter will provide an in-depth
look into specific category, discuss its uses and
benefits, and offer some vendor recommendations.

At the end, you will have gained vital insight into
available tools and technologies, as well as an
understanding of how each one can add value to your
organization. This information will enable you to put
a successful technology plan into place, so you can
improve the way you do business and increase your
competitive edge.
Maximize Your Business with IT Page 7


But sending documents back and forth can be time-
consuming and redundant, and can result in
information latency (a file may be updated between
the time it is sent, and the time it is opened and
viewed). It can also cause communication to become
inaccurate and ineffective.

Additionally, the use of email to distribute large files
to multiple recipients can negatively impact the
performance of your IT network. That’s why
Internet analyst Gartner predicts that, by 2009, email
will be replaced by more cutting-edge collaboration
tools in at least 50 percent of all US companies.

One way in which businesses can improve the
timeliness and availability of vital corporate data is by
creating a shared folder that allows authorized users
to retrieve, view, and edit files. These folders can be
set up on a central server, a dedicated workstation, a
network-attached service device, or your own
desktop.
Maximize Your Business with IT Page 9 www.infobusiness2.com

In order to keep the data contained in shared folders
secure at all times, you must grant authorized users
the appropriate permissions to access, edit, and delete
files as needed. Additionally, you must implement a

If all of your users and their computers are connected
to the same network, there are three ways to share
documents and files:

1) Peer to peer
2) Servers
3) Network attached storage (NAS)

Peer-to-peer sharing is the easiest option. All
Windows computers, by default, allow users to share
any drive, folder, or file with any other user on the
same network. To do this, you simply go to
Windows Explorer
®
and right-click on the drive,
folder, or file you wish to share. Then, choose
Properties, select the Sharing tab, and click on Enable
File Sharing.

Don’t forget to assign users with the appropriate
access privileges. Consider prohibiting them from
editing or deleting your files. Accidents are more
common than you might think, and if another user
unintentionally overwrites or deletes your document,
you won’t be able to recover it.

Faster, more reliable, and more secure file sharing can
be accomplished by dedicating one computer for the
sole purpose of housing shared data. This will make
documents and information readily available to

privileges. They can be conveniently purchased at any
computer or office supply store.

Well-known manufacturers of network storage
devices include Adaptec
, Iomega , and NetGear. For
product feature comparisons, pricing, and availability,
check Best Buy
, CompUSA, Staples, Office Max, or
Office Depot
.

Maximize Your Business with IT Page 12 www.infobusiness2.com
In addition to files, you can also share printers. This
can help you significantly reduce costs and waste by
allowing multiple users to utilize a single printer,
instead of purchasing separate printers – and the
needed toner and ink – for each individual computer.
To share a printer, simply go to your Control Panel,
click on Printers, choose the one you want to set as
your dedicated shared printer, and set user access
privileges.

Maximize Your Business with IT Page 13 www.infobusiness2.com

www.infobusiness2.com
Dear Fellow Business Owner,

If you are like most small businesses, you acquire
desktop computers, phone systems, and software in a
random, “buy-it-when-you-need-it” fashion as your
business operations demand it.

But at some point, this patchwork of stopgap
technology you’ve acquired is going to end up costing
you more in downtime, system errors, breakdowns,
and other problems than it would to rip out and
replace everything.

If you’ve suddenly become aware that you’re at that
stage of growth in your business, then you want to
stop purchasing more software and hardware in a
willy-nilly fashion and get serious about planning for
your future growth and business operations so you
don’t end up with a big pile of expensive hardware
and software spaghetti that doesn’t meet your
business needs. One Big Secret To Saving Money

One secret to saving money on IT costs is to strive
for as much uniformity and connectivity as possible
across your business network - and the first place to
start achieving that is through the use of a server.
Maximize Your Business with IT Page 16 www.infobusiness2.com
12 Signs That Your Business Is Ready For A
Server

1. You have two or more computers that need
to share office equipment (printers, fax
machines, scanners) and resources (Internet
access).

2. You have irreplaceable files and data residing
on more than one computer that need to be
secured from loss, corruption, or
unauthorized access.

3. You need (or would like to have) secure
access to your computer files while traveling
or working from home.

4. You need to back up critical files on more
than one computer, and you would like to be
able to restore accidentally deleted files or
previous versions of your files.

5. You need CRM (customer relationship
management) software and accounting

various files and data on various computers
on your network.
Maximize Your Business with IT Page 18 www.infobusiness2.com
The Concept of the Slight Edge All master craftsmen demand excellent tools to
complete their work. They know that the best tools
allow them to focus on creating their next
masterpiece rather than being sidetracked, frustrated,
or limited by the tools they are using. The
computers, software, and office equipment you use
are the tools you use every day to create your greatest
masterpiece: your business.

If the technology in your office is not simplifying
your business and making it easier for you to get
more done with fewer employees, it’s costing you a
lot more than the price of a server. While there is no
shortage of white papers on the topic of ROI (return
on investment) for upgrading technology, you and I
know that this is truly a hard cost to quantify;
however, there certainly IS a cost, and depending on
your business operations and how you use the


Each of these little things adds up to significant
employee hours saved over the course of a year. Then
there’s the cost-savings of outsourced IT support. A
properly configured and maintained client-server
network is far easier to support and troubleshoot than
a patchwork of computers that are loosely connected.
All of this translates into higher revenue from your
technology investment and should land on your
bottom line.

Maximize Your Business with IT Page 20 www.infobusiness2.com Antivirus
Solutions
Maximize Your Business with IT Page 21 www.infobusiness2.com

Computer viruses are sometimes impossible to avoid.
We all know somebody who has experienced a
catastrophic loss due to a computer virus.

exist within your organization.
Make sure every single one of your network
components has an antivirus solution that will
Maximize Your Business with IT Page 22 www.infobusiness2.com
automatically update itself daily, so you are always
protected from any new and emerging viruses.

This can help you avoid a lot of trouble, and spare
you hours of work (and many unnecessary headaches)
in the event of a virus strike.

There are countless antivirus packages available.
Many of them, such as the Avast Antivirus Home
Edition, are free. Avast also offers packages designed
for business use. Other popular solutions include
AVG
, McAfee, Norton Antivirus, Panda, and
Kaspersky
.

Maximize Your Business with IT Page 23 www.infobusiness2.com
Special Report:
Consumer Awareness
Guide:


Cyber criminals lurk everywhere and are
constantly finding new ways to harm you. Even
legitimate websites have sophisticated methods of
snooping into your private information using cookies
and spyware. If you want to make sure you aren’t
their next victim, read this guide and discover:

9 Computer scams, threats, and rip-offs that you
MUST be aware of.

9 Surefire signs that you are infected with spyware,
malware, and viruses.

9 Sneaky, underhanded ways cyber criminals access
your computer, and how you can stop them dead
in their tracks.

9 The absolute worst type of program to install for
your computer’s health; go to these sites and
indulge in these seemingly innocent activities and
you’re practically guaranteed to get infected with
vicious spyware and destructive viruses.

9 The single biggest cause of expensive computer
repairs – and how to avoid it.

9 7 Simple steps to keep your computer safe from
pop-ups, viruses, spyware, malware, and
expensive computer repair bills.

wanted to arm my customers with the facts so they
could avoid problems and expensive repair bills.

The information in this Guide will not only
educate you as to WHY you are experiencing these
problems, but also what you *must* do now to guard
against the unethical actions of these cyber criminals.