August 2007 - Volume III, Issue III
  Read our newsletter online, click here

Phone: 415.459.5906
Website: www.BBMediaServices.com
Email: Info@BBMediaServices.com

Articles on Our Website:

Be sure to check www.BBMediaServices.com on a regular basis for articles. We post a list of the latest virus and security threats.

Two Blogs Built
by BB Media:

Just like RSS (see April 2006 -Featured Article: An Intro to RSS), an explanation of Blogs is often much more confusing then it needs to be. Let's back up a moment here. What does this term "Web 2.0" mean? Well the 2001 internet bubble is distinguished from the second generation web boom that is happening now. This new era and every new technology created in it is "Web 2.0." The new technologies (RSS, Social Networking Systems, Blogs, etc.) and Web Sub Industries (Pay-per-click, Organic Search Engine Consultants, Email Marketing, etc.), and their recent reincarnations are referred to as Web 2.0.

In "Web 1.0" we had message boards. Blogs are the next generation where a whole community can post to the blog like a message board. Often times just one person or a small group will post a blog and have a very large readership. These one person or small group blogs function more as online journals.

Definitions from the web:

Web page that serves as a publicly accessible personal journal for an individual. Typically updated daily, blogs often reflect the personality of the author.

A "blog" (derived from the term "web log") can be a stand-alone web site or form part of a larger web site. It's made up of short, frequently updated posts written by the web site owner, or another appointed person. This person is known as a "blogger."

Blog
(n.) Short for Web log, a blog is a Web page that serves as a publicly accessible personal journal for an individual. Typically updated daily, blogs often reflect the personality of the author.

(v.) To author a Web log.

Other forms: Blogger (a person who blogs).

Now blogging is HUGE! According to blog search engine Technorati (www.technorati.com), there are nearly seven million blogs. That's up from just 100,000 two years ago!

So that’s our educational moment for the month!  Next newsletter will feature more information on using blogs to enhance your website, building your business and increase your search engine rankings.

• Get your Web site listed on major search engines, such as Google or Yahoo! Two sites, Search Engine Watch at www.searchenginewatch.com and the Web Marketing Info Center at www.wilsonweb.com/webmarket, offer guidance.
• Join a “banner exchange,” and trade advertising banners with other Web sites. Look under “banner exchange” on search engines.
• Visit sites similar to or related to yours and offer to exchange links with them.
• Write useful articles for other sites and include your Web address.
• Get more online marketing help from such sites as www.zdnet.com/eweek/, workz.com and www.bcentral.com

Brought to you by SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business."

The FSC logo

Green Printing Looks Great!

Pictured above are sample sustainable with "Green Labels" and "Forest Stewardship Council."

Commercial printers can demand better environmental performance from their supply chain without reinventing the wheel.

While a variety of “Green Labels” have proliferated in recent years, some labels can be very involved and even political in their requirements and intent. Confronting a strong agenda by a green labeler can cause disagreement in an organization if not presented in the proper context. Similarly, if too many organizational habits need to be changed in order for a compliance certification, it may cause a program to lose focus or even fail.

Taking a small step is a key to success. Paper products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council can be that first step. If your organization is adopting a new green standard, FSC certification will work into that standard, and compliment it with some strong protections.

The Forest Stewardship Council (http://www.fscus.org/) provides the printing industry with a comprehensive program that identifies and isolates bad players in forestry, pulp and paper production. FSC not only sets stringent guidelines for sustainable yield forestry and habitat protection, but they also audit compliance along the entire supply chain. FSC assures that pulp mills, for example, do not pollute and employ the best sustainable practices. The commitment to auditing and enforcement deep within the supply chain is what makes FSC most effective at environmental protection. Only paper that originates in either sustainable forests or well managed recycling facilities and plants carry a FSC “chain of custody” certificate number.

It’s hard to admit, but true, that we still do cut down trees to make paper. Americans today consume 100 million tons of paper a year. While 35% of our consumption is recycled content, we still make a lot of paper out of virgin wood pulp. Most of the high quality graphics on the market including business cards, letterhead, envelopes, books, magazines, brochures, etc. is made from last year’s timber harvest.

With over 10 million tons of paper coming from imports, it’s all the more urgent to assess our paper supply chain to assure that it is not coming from illegal logging, habitat destruction or dioxin spewing paper plants. If a tree is cut down to make FSC paper, you will be assured that it’s the appropriate tree, and that another tree is planted in its place and cared for in a way that assures habitat preservation and that the paper made from it complies with the best practices in pollution controls. FSC also assures that recycled paper, when used, was processed as advertised and the plant that made it has good environmental controls.

If you want to contribute to the mission of FSC, then insist on certified paper and display their logo on your printed items if possible. If you’d like to learn more about how to buy green, or if your printer refuses to act, then by all means give me a call. You can learn more about FSC, their mission, their history, and a list of certified paper suppliers at http://www.fscus.org/

Andy Foster
American Solutions for Business
5214F Diamond Hts Blvd. #527
San Francisco, CA 94131-2175
415-206-9769 office
415-520-5812 fax
andyfoster415@sbcglobal.net

Contact the Cartoonist

Fritz Wall
FritzCartoons - Custom Cartoons

(415) 652 - 3722
fritz@fritzcartoons.com
www.fritzcartoons.com

Cartoons: Humorous Entertainment That Sells

A friend of mine once said, ³Humor is a very funny thing.²

The fact is, humor is a great icebreaker, a way to get your customers' attention, entertain them, and is universally accepted.

Whatever the subject matter, good humor can lighten the tension between a salesperson and a customer before any sales pitch has even been made.

With direct mail solicitations, Web sites, e-mail blasts and newsletters, you literally have a few seconds to reach your customer before he or she throws your sales pitch into the trash or deletes it. A funny cartoon can reach that customer and invite them to read on.

Cartoons can be entertaining with funny characters, hilarious subject matter, a great drawing style, and a well-written punch line. If the cartoon hits a nerve with the customer they may post it in on their wall or cubicle.
It¹s even better when they pass it on to their friends.

Fritz Cartoons can help you reach your customers on a funny level. We can write the joke or take your ideas and put them to ink. Make Fritz Cartoons a part of your next marketing campaign.

For more cartoons, please see www.fritzcartoons.com.

Everybody's on the WiFi bandwagon. It's so hot now that the City of San Francisco is about to get wireless. Ehem, woo, hoo. If I sound a bit underwelmed it's because I am. You see, there's a problem now. The problem is everybody is on WiFi.

Consider a typical situation. Mine. My apartment complex is so wireless I can't get a good signal going from the living room to the office, 25 feet away. There's so much wireless stuff around I should wear aluminum foil over my head. Cordless phones, cell phones, my neighbors WiFi, heck even his wireless headphones--it's all polluting the airwaves.

I got tired of rebooting my WiFi router. I got tired of rebooting my WiFi print server. I got tired of rebooting my laptop.  I got tired of handling support calls for our contractor who's laptop didn't always plug-and-play on our WiFi. What was I to do? What I needed was a wired network, just like the downtown office, but how was I going to convince my landlord to let me run 50 feet cables in my apartment through walls so I wouldn't break my neck going to the bathroom?

I'm a tech guy. I solved this problem. And you can to in 10 minutes. I bought a Linksys PLK200 kit. What's that you ask? It is two little boxes that plug into power outlets in your wall. One box you have to plug in near your DSL modem/router and the other one in the room where you're sick and tired of WiFi. I plugged the other one near a mini hub in the office (that little box where all the network cables go into). Getting wired at that point was easy. I just connected the provided network cables in the only hole they could plug into. One went into a one PLK adapter and the DSL modem's LAN port. And the other one went into the the other PLK adapter and an available port on my home office's mini hub. That's it. Done. I killed my WAP that I had for the office and said "buh bye."

Printing, prints. Surfing, surfs. No more calls from home to trouble shoot the network. End of headache. The cost after shipping is about $180. you can buy more adapters (up to 16 total) if you want to go nuts for a larger home. The range is 300 meters so if you house isn't bigger than a football field you should be golden.

Spread the word! Go out and buy Powerline AV product! I chose Linksys but Netgear, D-Link and other vendors make them. The more we buy the lower the price will get and the sooner we'll be able to clear the airwaves and take back our Internet.

Click here for info from Linksys!

And I did.

Peter Priel
President & CEO
Tierra Technology
petep@tierratechnology.com
 (415) 386-2866 ext. 1

Resources & Policies

Referral Directory
http://www.bbmediaservices.com/directory.shtml
We have started a directory of services at our website.  We only put trusted referrals on the list – professionals with whom we have worked.  It’s a great place to look up real estate agents, chiropractors … you name it. 
Payment Policies
Beginning January 1st we will start charging late fees on invoices.  Here is a review of our complete payment policy.
Every invoice is due upon receipt.  
Balances 30 days past due are subject to an annual finance charge of 18%.
A late fee of $15.00 will be assessed on payments not received 30 days after invoice date.
If payments are returned by a bank (checks or credit cards), the client will be responsible for bank charges, as well as a $25 return payment fee and interest from 30 days after the original invoice was due.
The rates are subject to change.  Clients will be notified 30 days in advance of rate changes.
Referral Program
Our business is 95% referrals.  We would like to thank and reward existing clients for their referrals. 
If you make a referral to us that results in a signed contract, we will take $30 off of your next bill.  If you make a referral that results in a wedding website, we will take $10 off your next bill.

Credit Card Payment Reminder:

We accept credit cards for the payment of invoices. This is an easy way to have your bills automatically paid, especially for quarterly hosting. The online form and printable form are at:

www.bbmediaservices.com/
cc-payment

Services

BB Media Services offers affordable custom website design, website development, graphic design, computer consulting, and internet marketing.

Our Contact Info:

Mailing Address:
369-B Third Street PMB #311
San Rafael , CA. 94901
Email: Info@BBMediaServices.com
Phone: 415.459.5906
Fax: 415.329.1478