iTechSpeak :::...

• Appear in court
• Update your account
• You owe a debt and click on the attachment for details
• Update your American Express / Credit card account

• Don't re-use passwords. One ultra-secure one won't be any good if someone finds it.
• While combining upper and lower case passwords with numbers to alter a memorable word - M4rsin$pace - is often advised, these are more easily cracked than you might think
• The best strategy advice is to create a memorable, PASSPHRASE sentence [don't use these samples]:  I$wimatTHEbeach2016 | "I am a $erious Winner in 2017" is better than "My name is John", and use the first letter of each word with punctuation: "Iaa$Wi2017"
• Consider using a password manager such as 1Password, which generates and stores your secure passwords.

Did you know Twitter engagement rates are higher on Saturday and Sunday? Below is an excellent infographic provided by Linchpin SEO, which provides the clues needed to crack the mystery of how to really engage people on Twitter.  

As I mention to my clients, having a social media presence is not enough. Converting social media presence into "influence" is the challenge. Social media Influence is what really translates into sales leads or referrals for sales conversions.

People do business with people they know, like and trust.  The hard question is how do we get Social media to emulate this basic human interaction. Engaging conversations with people, which makes those people share your value with others.

The question I suggest my clients ask themselves [as they look at each social media platform] is "Are we selling something or sharing something of value?" Sharing value is what people tune in to and VALUE is what people share.

The Linchpin SEO does an excellent job of teaching how, when and why engaging people builds personal and business brands.



Twitter Cheat Sheet , an infographic by Linchpin Infographic Design

• Not having a compelling statement in the "Subject" that makes someone want to open your email.  Hi, hello and hey says nothing to the reader and may even trigger spam filtering, causing your email never to be read. Forbes writer, Kern Lewis's article How To Write A Compelling E-Mail Subject Line covers how to create a sense of urgency.  Also check out 5 Tips for Writing Subject Lines that Will Get Your Emails Opened from Constant Contact.
• Not changing the "Subject" line when the email topic changes.  People can easily think they already read your email, because it has the same topic as a previous email you sent or they sent. Now your new topic gets deleted, without being read. Bye bye to that totally awesome idea you had.
• Using email to initiate a series of back and forth conversation volleys, when a single phone call is more expeditious.
• Introducing new topics in the email "Body", which are unrelated to the topic in the "Subject". 
• Using email as a word processor for lengthy sharing of information. Keep emails short and to the point.
• Bad timing on business email sends. Since business people constantly receive email, Saturday or Sunday may not be the best time to send emails.  By Monday, your email could be pushed so far down and out of sight by the 50-100 emails delivered after your email.  Just because you send an email during the weekend does not mean other people read emails during the weekend. Everyone has different work habits.  Send email when you know there is a good chance a person is in their office AND cleared out their "Inbox".
• Not paying attention to geographic time zones.  Consider your reader's local time zone, when timing an email send. Your email sent at 9AM might be 9PM to your email reader. Better to write an email in draft mode. Then send the email during your reader's local business hours
• Sending email to people in different cultural work environments. Again, consider timing email sends mentioned above. In many Spanish speaking countries, work stops at 2PM and resumes at 4PM.  In Europe, weekends are definitely considered mini holidays. Relaxing and spending time with family is a priority on weekends, especially in France.
• Disregarding country holidays. Keep a world holiday calendar handy.  Time email sends accordingly, to increase the chances of your email being opened and read.