MyOrderDesk by PagePath » General Information

Staying Connected!

Michael Herz — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:00:59 +0000

As you can see from my previous posts I’m all about staying connected while I am on the go. Here’s another great way to stay connected.

If you can not always be in front of your computer but you need to be connected to your email at all times because the world will crumble without you; then take it with you where ever you go. Having a desktop or laptop computer does not mean you have to always be in front of it to get your email.

Your cell phone is the one thing that you take everywhere you go. Depending on the phone you have you can get your email delivered right to the palm of your hand for as little at $10 per month (10MB). If you are a heavy email user that gets lots of files sent to you an unlimited data plan can be added for $30 per month.

Now here’s the technical part your cell phone is typically setup by default to use something called IMAP but more than likely your email client on your computer is setup to use POP which means what happens on your phone doesn’t happen on your computer. Changing the setup of your email client on your computer to use IMAP instead of POP can help to resolve that issue. So when you delete a message on your cell phone it will be deleted off of your computer at home and vice versa.

There are other more sophisticated email setups that can be applied when using corporate email such as ActiveSync and BlackBerry that keep your email, calendar, and contacts in sync between your phone and computer in real time.

Don’t let the stress of not being able to leave your computer get you down, go mobile!

Mike Herz is in Tech Support and Sales at PagePath Technologies. PagePath was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Plano, Illinois. PagePath’s MyOrderDesk is an eCommerce solution that combines, Web-to-Print, automated proofing, pricing, reordering and more. It seamlessly integrates into a printing organization’s existing website or can be used as a standalone site. MyOrderDesk is known throughout the printing industry as the leader in Web-to-Print software.

Benefits of a diversified customer base in printing

Joe Kern — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 20:09:55 +0000

Sometimes a small printing company gets lucky. They land a big contract that promises to increase their business by one-third or more.

Here are some situations they have to deal with:

They have to hire more help and do it almost immediately, which means training costs. If the new customer sells out to another company or quits the contract for some other reason, they will have to let these people go, a painful process that also makes unemployment insurance costs skyrocket.
The lucky print company may spend so much time on the new account that other customers get less-satisfactory service and, as a result, take their business elsewhere.
The print company becomes so involved with the new customer that it fails to keep its advertising program up to date. It isn’t attracting the type of customer that was the mainstream of their business before.
At Yale School of Management, Professor Constance Bagley says that when you get a big new account, “You can’t stop being scrappy. You have to constantly be thinking that things can change dramatically in 60 to 90 days.”

Quoted in INC., Bagley says big companies are constantly looking for value. You have to figure out your immediate needs and address them. Keep the information flowing, especially information about their costs and their competitors. Talk with the R&D department and the new customer’s leader.

If you do well on this contract, you can use the experience to attract new clients of the same kind.

Joe Kern is Vice President of Marketing/Customer Service at PagePath Technologies. PagePath was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Plano, Illinois. PagePath’s MyOrderDesk is an eCommerce solution that combines, Web-to-Print, automated proofing, pricing, reordering and more. It seamlessly integrates into a printing organization’s existing website or can be used as a standalone site. MyOrderDesk is known throughout the printing industry as the leader in Web-to-Print software.

Always view email as suspect

William — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 12:48:14 +0000

If you’ve been an email user for any period of time, you’ll have received your share of spam. Most are easy to identify, but some may have struck you as odd or a mistake. For example, on more than one occasion I’ve received notices from various banks telling me I had to update some information. Now I’ve gotten many emails from my bank, but the problem here is that I was never a customer of any of these banks that claimed they needed an update from me.

This type of email isn’t technically spam, but is known as a “phishing” attack. It’s purpose is to trick customers of those banks into providing their login details. They do this by designing the email to look like it’s from the bank but instead of the link in the email taking them to the bank, it takes them to a website designed to look just like their bank. The difference is when the customer tries to login they’ll most likely be presented with an error message telling them to try again later but in fact their user name and password will have been forwarded to the scammer running the fake site.

There are a number of software packages that purport to block these attacks, and while they can help they shouldn’t be relied on for truly sensitive information. Whenever I receive a email tied to an account with sensitive information (bank, broker, credit card, insurance, etc.) I skip clicking on any links within the email and instead manually navigate my browser to their home page in order to login.

This is just one example of a “phishing” attack. If you’d like to learn more about it, check out this Wikipedia article.

William Jens is a Software Developer at PagePath Technologies. PagePath was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Plano, Illinois. PagePath’s MyOrderDesk is an eCommerce solution that combines, Web-to-Print, automated proofing, pricing, reordering and more. It seamlessly integrates into a printing organization’s existing website or can be used as a standalone site. MyOrderDesk is known throughout the printing industry as the leader in Web-to-Print software.

Fake winnings, dead debts, false bills: How to recognize scams

jimatpagepath — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:33:08 +0000

A few days after the funeral, a “collection agency” calls and says your deceased mother or dad owed $500 and it’s up to you to pay the bill. This scam takes advantage of people who are still in grief.

Elderly people are often targeted. When threatened with legal action, they may rush to settle. Another goal of the con artist is to obtain bank account and Social Security numbers. Unless you are a cosigner, you are not responsible for the deceased’s debt and you should not pay, whether or not it’s a legitimate bill.

Police say con artists are ramping up their old false winnings game. In difficult times, people are eager to win at something. Some will send thousands of dollars to “pay taxes in advance” to receive lottery winnings.

After getting the money, the con man disappears.

One type of improper “bill collection” may be initiated by legitimate companies. It involves accounts that are settled for one reason or another. But five or six years later, the company sells a list of old debts to a collection agency for pennies on the dollar. In one case, a cardholder’s brother asked to borrow his card so he could use it “just to check into a hotel.” The brother charged $3,000, moved to another city and couldn’t be found. The card company settled for $1,500. Six years later, a collection agency came after the former cardholder for the balance. In spite of the threats, he insisted the account was settled. He never heard from the collector again.

Other cases involve smaller amounts of money.

A collector called to say a woman owed $55 in bank charges on an account that had been closed for several years. He said he could ruin her credit by reporting that she had a bounced check and never paid for it, which wasn’t true. Though some people would be bullied into sending money, this woman was not.

The AARP Foundation offers advice about fraud. Call 1-800-646-2283 for information.

Jim Dummer is the Sales Manager at PagePath Technologies. PagePath was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Plano, Illinois. PagePath’s MyOrderDesk is an eCommerce solution that combines, Web-to-Print, automated proofing, pricing, reordering and more. It seamlessly integrates into a printing organization’s existing website or can be used as a standalone site. MyOrderDesk is known throughout the printing industry as the leader in Web-to-Print software.

Your PC and your business – Keeping it lean and mean

Phil — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:30:32 +0000

Let’s face it, you almost need a PC in order to run a small business these days. From communicating with clients in email to managing your books, a computer is a necessary evil. Yes I called it an evil because your computer lives in a very hostile environment- the Internet. A computer basically does what it is told and unfortunately thousands of unscrupulous people are telling it to do bad things. How do you keep it safe? There are many ways, but I’m going to focus on one area- the web browser.

There are a handful to chose from but they pretty much do the same thing- allow you to surf the web. And what you have to be careful of are the multitude of add-ons and plug-ins and tool bars available. There are some that I would consider a necessity: Adobe Flash, Adobe Acrobat, Java, Microsoft Silverlight to name a few. These allow you to access the content on almost any web page you visit.

For your business PC this should be good enough. But alas, there are tool bars for almost every search engine, plug-ins that let you play games or stream music, plug-ins which offer to optimize your PC or Internet connection. These are not required in a business environment, so don’t install them! Not only could they slow your PC down, they could also cause conflicts with other programs or even be malicious. I have been called several times to help friends and family that somehow have downloaded viruses or spyware. They usually masquerade as anti-virus programs or toolbars that will make searching easier. If you are running your business from a PC it’s best to keep it lean and mean and only run the software you require.

Phillip Grandsard is a Software Developer at PagePath Technologies. PagePath was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Plano, Illinois. PagePath’s MyOrderDesk is an eCommerce solution that combines, Web-to-Print, automated proofing, pricing, reordering and more. It seamlessly integrates into a printing organization’s existing website or can be used as a standalone site. MyOrderDesk is known throughout the printing industry as the leader in Web-to-Print software.

Preventing Data Loss – Not with Backups, but with Restores

William — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:00:17 +0000

Hopefully by now everyone recognizes the importance of doing periodic backups. Many of us learned the hard way by losing something we needed. It may have been due to an accidental deletion, equipment failure or something worse. Several years ago around Christmas, my father’s metal stamping company suffered a major fire that took out the entire office space but left most of the manufacturing area untouched. He and the rest of his staff spent much of their holiday time scrambling to get temporary office space setup and figuring out how they were going to do business. They knew enough to backup their data. Unfortunately, they left the backup tapes in the office. They did have a plan to send tapes offsite, but human error stepped in and the most recent tape was left onsite. Eventually they were able to rebuild most of their data but this is the last thing you want to deal with in a time of disaster.

My point here is that your backups don’t protect your data unless you can do a restore. With that in mind, ask yourself a few key questions.

When was the last time you tested restoring critical data and when is it scheduled to be tested again?

Who’s responsible for this and can you see the results?
Do you know how long it will take to get your critical data back in working order?

Are your backups treated like the invaluable resources that they truly are?

Are they rotated offsite in a secure fashion (ideally encrypted in case of theft)?
Do you keep backups over a period of time in case you need to recover data from long ago? Not all data loss is immediately apparent and even backup tapes can fail.

What is your restore plan if critical equipment is missing? For example:

Backup system is unavailable (e.g., broken tape drive).
Equipment using that data is unavailable (e.g., server hard drive failure).
Physical location is gone (e.g., fire, flood, etc.).

Don’t put blind faith in the “Backup Success” message generated by your backup software. Setup a process to periodically verify that your most critical data can be restored and build a plan to address the various scenarios that would require data restoration (e.g., file deletion, equipment failure, catastrophes).

William Jens is a Software Developer at PagePath Technologies. PagePath Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Plano, Illinois.

PagePath’s MyOrderDesk is an eCommerce solution that combines, Web-to-Print, automated proofing, automated pricing, reordering and more. It seamlessly integrates into a printing organization’s existing website or can be used as a standalone site. MyOrderDesk is known throughout the printing industry as the leader in Web-to-Print software.

PagePath Technologies is “Doing it Right!” Are You?

Joe Kern — Tue, 05 May 2009 15:03:28 +0000

Ok, it is time for us to brag a little, and challenge a little. PagePath Technologies has been working very hard lately on developing tools and resources that will help those in the Print and Graphic Arts Industries, and we got noticed.

HubSpot TV, a weekly live videocast talked about PagePath Technolgies’ recent launch of TwitterPrint.net. See the video below.

Our challenge for you today is two-fold:

First and foremost, what are you “doing right”?
Have you thought outside the box recently about your sales and marketing efforts
Have you reached out to your customers today and figured out how to better SERVE them.

Second, have you joined twitter yet, or increased your Social Media Marketing presence? If not, we can help. Within the next few weeks, PagePath will be launching our Private Social Media Coaching Sessions. Watch here for details.

Oh, and by the way, you can watch the full episode of HubSpot.TV on the web here, or subscribe via iTunes. Great people, great content! Special thanks to @KarenRubin (follow her on twitter, she can use it) and @MVolpe (follow him too) from HubSpot.

Apple, Microsoft and Palm to offer new operating systems

Joe Kern — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:47:56 +0000

This will be remembered as a landmark year for computer operating systems. In 2009, Apple’s new Snow Leopard system is slated to debut, and Palm will offer an all-new smart phone system called Palm WebOS.

Those with a first look at Snow Leopard say it tweaks the original Leopard operating system, with significant improvements of interest to developers.

The official release of Microsoft’s Windows 7 will affect more users. It will show up in new computers this fall, and Vista upgrades to Windows 7 should be available at about the same time.

The new system solves many of the compatibility and performance problems of Vista. When Vista was first released, it didn’t work properly with accessories, such as printers, until vendors made software fixes.

For Windows 7, developers were told to enforce a rule that “if it works in Vista, it will work in 7.” Upgrades from Windows XP, however will not be supported, according to Business Week tech expert Stephen Wildstrom.

The Wall Street Journal’s Walter Mossberg is enthusiastic about 7. Even in test form, he says, it “leaves Vista in the dust,” and is a pleasure to use.

It has fewer nag screens than Vista and is faster. Mossberg says it could be a serious competitor for Apple’s current Leopard system. He doesn’t know how it will compare to Apple’s coming Snow Leopard.

Windows 7 has flashy, multitouch screen navigation. Borrowing from Apple’s OS X, it has a simplified task bar at the bottom of the screen. It shows a single icon for every program you have open. There is a simple option that let’s you put an icon into the taskbar.

Vista’s Mail, Calendar, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker and Address Book programs are removed. To get similar free programs, you have to download them from Window’s Live service or alternatives from another company.

Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Joe Kern — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:00:59 +0000

Let’s honor a man who made a difference. Watch the whole speech here.

Constructive forgetting can help you remember important matters

Joe Kern — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 20:21:08 +0000

Scientists have discovered that when you want to remember a fact, the prefrontal cortex of the brain becomes very busy. It has to sort through a lot of irrelevant information.

Once it has edited out all the clutter, the prefrontal part of the brain is free to do more important things, such as make decisions.

Thomas Cook, CEO of Cognitive Research Corp., says one of his favorite prescriptions for better memory is “knowing what and when to forget.” Quoted in Prevention, he says our daily overload of information is just filled with too much stuff. He recommends:

For appointments, meeting dates, birthdays, and events, list them on your calendar so you won’t have to keep them in mind.

Keep telephone numbers, even for family members, stored in your cellphone, computer, or on an easily accessible paper list.

When reading the newspaper, decide to remember only what is important to you.

At a meeting or party, learn only the names of people you want to see again.

Block unpleasant memories. Lingering memories of childhood trauma, emotional rejection, or workplace slight can interfere with mental sharpness.

When such a memory rises, replace it immediately with a happy one. Remember a joyful time in detail and try to relive it. Without reinforcement, the unpleasant memory will fade into a distant corner of your mind.

These steps could lead you toward brain fitness and a greater ability to remember what you need to know.