The browsing habits of your target market have changed. No longer are your customers doing research about your company on the internet, they are now doing research on a company they choose to work with on their mobile devices.Whatever your target market, there is one device they are likely to have by their sides all the time, everywhere; their mobile phones. By 2015 it is estimated that mobile web browsing will take over traditional desk-top browsing. Even more so, browsing on tablets like the iPad have already taken over browsing on a mobile. Why having a mobile website is impor-

tant to your customers:1. It’s a fast and highly eff ective platform for providing automated con-tact information and targeted contact. 2. Mobile allows for easy direct communication. Mobile technology gives your customer the ability to tap a butt on and have the device call your business immediately or allow for direct GPS navigation to your business if your site supports this feature.3. More and more smart phone mobile devices are in the hands of your customers today and they no longer use their devices for phone service alone.Ensure that your website is mobile friendly:

1. Your website may not be viewable on a mobile platform in its current format. It’s fairly easy to get a mobile website up and running that supports mul-tiple platforms like iPhone, Android and Blackberrys.

2. If you use Wordpress as a content management system (CMS) you

The Bulletin... by mail: Information from the Ajax-Pickering Board of Trade

Welcome to the November edition of the Ajax-Pick-ering Board of Trade’s Bulletin... by mail. Every

day we use technology in our day-to-day business opera-tions and, to be sure, this has been the case for years. We know, however, that technology is a moving target. Are you up-to-date? What are the trends coming down the pike? With smart phones, tablets, and other innova-tions and gagetry, it can be overwhelming to keep it all straight. For business, it’s important to keep abreast of these changes, and to continue to meet the needs of a demand-ing customer base. Not everyone’s customers will be in the same tech demographic and some take longer to adopt and adapt to new technologies than others. The experts assembled in this edition will help you to navigate the near future with confi dence and make sure that you’re not gett ing left behind or overspending on tech fads that really don’t matt er to your bott om line. This month we are covering mobile web browsing, QR codes, when it’s time to upgrade your PC or when it’s bet-ter to just replace it and Google + 1. Please enjoy this edition of the Bulletin…by Mail and take note of some of the excellent ideas put forward in the fol-lowing columns to help you ensure that your business is tech healthy.

UPCOMING EVENTSSave these Dates! Go to www.apboardoft rade.com

for more information!

November 17th, Benefi ts of Membership Orientation

Lunch & LearnOPG Information Centre

November 24th Business Opportunities Breakfast:

Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games Durham College Whitby Campus

December 8thAGM and Christmas Lunch

Ajax Convention Centre

November Edition, 2011

”Memory is one of the least expensive upgrades and provides the biggest bang for the buck in terms of performance impact”

Should You Replace or Upgrade Your Computer?

Your Windows desktop or laptop computer

has served you well over the years, but lately you’ve noticed it’s not performing as quickly as it used to, it takes forever to start up & shut down, it seems slug-gish when opening appli-cations, and it sometimes crashes unexpectedly. In the worst case, these symp-toms may mean it’s time to think about buying a new computer or your existing system may simply need a few upgrades and a tune-up.

Like homes or cars, your computer can last you for many years, but it needs to be properly serviced to maintain peak per-formance. The four key components which impact your computer’s perfor-mance are: Processor/CPU, Memory, Hard Drive, and Operating System (OS). You need to take a criti-cal look at each of these to determine if replacing or upgrading is the best op-tion.

As a rule of thumb, you should not spend more than 50% of the cost of a new system on upgrades. Given the current technol-ogy curve, you should expect to spend at least $500 on a new laptop or $750 on a new desktop. Keep in mind that technol-

ogy changes rapidly, and bargains are typically on dated technology, while newer technology is priced at a premium.

The properties tab on the Computer icon will provide information about your computer without having to open the case. It will identify your CPU, the amount of memory, your OS version and Service Pack (SP) level. Armed with this information, you can delve into the buy or upgrade deci-sion.

The CPU is probably the single most important component in determining system perfor-mance. It is also the single component that’s most diffi cult to upgrade. If you have a Pentium Dual-Core, Core 2, Phenom X3 or Athlon II X3 or bett er CPU, it should last you another couple of years. If you have a Celeron, Pentium 4, Ath-lon X2 or Athlon 64, you would benefi t from a new system.

Memory is one of the least expensive upgrades and provides the biggest bang for the buck in terms of performance impact.

Windows runs best with 2GB or more of memory. Laptops from 2 to 4 years ago were typically mem-ory constrained to keep costs down. Today, an additional 2GB of laptop or desktop memory costs between $30 and $50. If you have DDR2 or newer memory, upgrading is the way to go. If your system has DDR memory, then your money would be bet-ter spent on new.

Your hard drive can be-come clut-tered and frag-

mented over time, which slows application access and overall system perfor-mance. A PC Tune-up will free up clutt er, defragment the drive, and consolidate frequently used fi les for faster access. An upgrade to a faster hard drive will typically cost between $100 and $130 and could signifi cantly boost system performance in addition to providing more space for your pictures, videos and music fi les.

The version of Windows you are running will also impact performance. Windows 7 SP1 is the most

current version of Win-dows and has replaced older OS versions like Windows XP and Vista. With older OS versions, you may run into compat-ibility problems with new hardware and soft ware. If you are running XP on equipment from 2007 or earlier, then you should invest in a new system. If you are running XP or Vista on equipment post 2007, you should upgrade to Windows 7 (about $120) and realize a performance increase.

Scott Korney is a certifi ed PMP and IT Specialist with over 15 years industry expe-rience. His company, Gry-phon systems, provides a full range of business and home technology services, includ-ing: technology consulting, network support, upgrades, tune-ups, and data migration services.

Printing Compliments Of:

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7¢ Colour Copies

Scott Korney IT Specialist

Gryphon Systems

The Bulletin... by mail: Information from the Ajax-Pickering Board of Trade

The Future of the Web is Mobile

Chris Vale, Owner

CLH Designs

...Please see ‘Make’ on page 3

If you’re reading this, so are your potential customers!

Advertise with the Bulletin...by Mail!

Contact Janet Casey at the Board of Trade offi ce to fi nd out how!

Information from the Ajax-Pickering Board of Trade

The Bulletin...by mail

The Bulletin... by mail: Information from the Ajax-Pickering Board of TradeThe Bulletin... by mail: Information from the Ajax-Pickering Board of Trade

Do I need it for my website?

As most of you are aware by now, in March, Google has launched a new share butt on called +1 (Plus 1). It appears in search results, on paid ads, and is now appearing on websites. In the words of Google product manager Daniel Dulitz,

“Google +1 is an annotation system which reinforces the interactions between organic and paid results, web pages, and your Google contacts.”

The +1 butt on is similar to a Facebook like, a Digg, or a Thumbs up on StumbledUpon. It’s a way of sharing with everyone that you like, recommend, or appreciate what you’ve just read and want others to know that. When you’ve +1’d something, there is a counter that lets everyone know how many diff erent people have also +1’d it. This will act as a gauge for how popular the content is and how oft en it is being shared. +1 for your websiteAnother share butt on for your website

Most websites have employed a variety of share butt ons on their website, blog, product pages, etc.

The two most popular social plugins belong to Facebook with the plugin types being the “like butt on” and the “like box” respectively.

Even though the Google +1 butt on has only been around since March, the statistics show that Google’s +1 is more widely used than Twitt er’s “share butt on” and is implemented at almost twice the rate.

Websites with Google +1 plugin integration are at 4.5%, beating the combined numbers of the “Twitt er share” (2.1%) and “Twitt er instant follow” (1.3%) butt ons:

+1 and its eff ect on SEO

Although Google has not offi cially stated the eff ect of +1s on SEO ranking, we know that social signals form a part of the algorithm. Google has been unable to mine Facebook data to add to the algorithm, and they recently didn’t renew their relationship with Twitt er, so the strongest social signal that that will infl uence the algorithm will be +1.

Adding +1 share to your site.

Google off ers the code on their site:htt p://code.google.com/apis/+1butt on/

In the fi nal analysis, Google +1 will become increasingly important as the adoption of the butt on continues to grow. Be ahead of the curve and add the butt on to your website, encourage everyone to use it, and begin to reap the rewards.

Rob Rock is an Account Manager at Search Engine People. You can reach him at rrock@searchenginepeople.com.

The Importance of Google + 1

Robert RockAccount Manager

Search Engine People.

Make Mine Mobile

already have the ability to set up a mobile website pres-ence without having to create a cus-tom mobile website, although custom is a bett er option. There are various tools out there that can help you get a mobile website up and running in no time.

Creating a mobile website is a cost eff ective way to enable customers, to gain greater market share over your competitors and to connect seamlessly with your clients.

If you have an extisting system that supports mobile or if you’re looking at creating or re-doing your website, it’s a wise decision to start addressing a mobile version of your website.

Chris Vale is the owner of CLH Designs which specializes in website design, mobile design and marketing.

QR Codes: a simple first step into mobile marketing

...Continued from on page 1

“The +1 butt on is similar to a Facebook like, a Digg, or a

Thumbs up on StumbledUpon.”

“Creating a mobile website is a cost eff ective way to enable

customers, to gain greater market share over your competitors and

to connect seemlessly with your clients.”

Mobile mar-keting has

arrived; a major promotional trend for 2011, but how can small busi-nesses use it to

their advantage? QR codes are a simple, cost eff ective opportunity to get you started.

What are QR codes?

You’ve probably started to see them, but you may not know what they are. QR codes or Quick Response codes are a 2 dimensional barcode that can be read by smartphones with a camera. They’ve been a com-mon sight in Japan since 1994 and are becoming increasingly popular here.

With the remarkable growth of smartphones, businesses are fi nding all sorts of marketing and opera-

tional uses for them. You can place them on printed marketing material, on products, in store windows, on billboards, TV commercials, newspa-pers, t-shirts, anywhere!

When a smartphone user takes a picture of the code they are directed to a page on a website. That’s the op-portunity businesses are now taking advantage of. A business could have anything on that webpage. We’ve seen product/service information, coupons, store hours, promotional off ers, even links to the company’s

Facebook page.

Why should I use them?QR codes are a fantastic marketing opportunity that will appeal to the growing community of smartphone owners, helping them to fi nd your information more quickly.

The Canadian mobile market is still growing: from 24.5 million in 2010 to nearly 30 million by 2014; Cisco Sys-tems predicts that smartphone use will increase from 31% to 50% in that

period. As more customers move to smartphones, they’ll increasingly expect instant information: take the

opportunity to lead the way in giving them just that. QR codes are tak-ing off because they are quick, conve-nient and easy for the consumer. For businesses they are simple to set up and can be generated for free - a great new way to interact with

your customers. Results are easy to track; you can quickly adjust yourmarketing strategy based on what works best. Smart marketing ideas

Why not use a QR code to direct them to customer reviews? How about a page that they show on check out that gives them an extra gift or discount if they sign up for your newslett er? Heck, put it on the label and their friends will know where they bought the item.

They are not just for retail. How about putt ing one on your business card send-ing people to a vCard so it’s easy for them to make you a contact? Real Estate - consider adding a QR code to the For Sale sign: interested buyers can scan the code and immediately access details about that property. Sett ing up a QR code campaig

For best results, direct visitors to a customized landing page on your website. Visitors to that page will be using a mobile device, so make sure your page is mobile-friendly. You want it to load quickly and have the most important information near the top. Include contact details so that visitors can quickly connect. Once you’ve created your landing page, you’ll need a QR code for it. It’s easy to generate - URL shortening services such as bit.ly or goo.gl, let you create a code from any web page address (usually by adding a ‘.qr’ to the end of the shortened URL). With services such as goqr.me you can create other types of response such as text messages or phone numbers. It’s simple.

So what are you waiting for? Take a fi rst step into mobile marketing in 2011: use QR codes to engage and delight your customers and pros-pects.

Richard Gauder is co founder of CMS Web Solutions a Web Design & Internet Marketing fi rm specializing in helping owner managed companies get bett er results from their website and online presence.

“QR codes or Quick Response codes are a 2 dimensional

barcode that can be read by smartphones with a camera.”

Richard GauderCo -Founder

CMS Web Solutions

please visit our website

for further information

on our WORKPLACE

FIRST AID PROGRAM

at www.sja.ca

PHONE: 905-434-7800

Is your workplace prepared in the event of an Injury or Medical Emergency?

• Do you have at least one Employee with a valid Certifi cate in First Aid and CPR working in each shift?

• Have you set up a First Aid Station with WSIB form 82 posted?

If you have answered no to any of these questions, Call us. We can

help prepare your workplace with the training and supplies you need.

“Google + 1 will become increasingly important as the

adoption of the butt on continues to grow.”

We would love to hear your opinion on the Bulletin...by Mail

e-mail your thoughts or topic ideas to

bulletin@apboardoft rade.com.