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	<title>Remotelink</title>
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	<link>http://www.remotelink.com</link>
	<description>Bringing Business Beyond</description>
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		<title>Using IP Intelligence to track Web Visitors</title>
		<link>http://www.remotelink.com/using-ip-intelligence-to-track-web-visitors/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=using-ip-intelligence-to-track-web-visitors</link>
		<comments>http://www.remotelink.com/using-ip-intelligence-to-track-web-visitors/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:00:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Barry Nicholson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[RL Blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.remotelink.com/?p=915</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The following is a commentary, by Barry Nicholson, RemoteLink&#8217;s CTO, on the use of IP Intelligence, the technology that uses geolocation data as a way to learn more about web visitors to your website. &#160;... <a href="http://www.remotelink.com/using-ip-intelligence-to-track-web-visitors/" class="more">read more</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<em>The following is a commentary, by Barry Nicholson, RemoteLink&#8217;s CTO, on the use of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_Intelligence#Geolocation_of_visitors">IP Intelligence</a>, the technology that uses <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geolocation">geolocation</a> data as a way to learn more about web visitors to your website.</em></br>
&nbsp;</br>
<hr />
&nbsp;</br>
IP Intelligence is becoming more used by virtually everyone.  But it&#8217;s not new.  We used it in the early 2000s to help us market <a href="http://conference.remotelink.com/">conferencing</a>.  We had different ads and different sites showing up in the rankings in different ways to maximize our conversion rate based upon IP based geolocation.</br>
&nbsp;</br>
<img src="http://www.remotelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/geolocation-156x150.png" alt="" title="geolocation-156x150" width="156" height="150" class="alignright size-full wp-image-923" />If anything, you have to be more careful today then you did in years past. The proliferation of cell phone web browsers is confusing IP address geolocation somewhat, because the IP associated with cell phones may have nothing to do with the physical location of the user.</br>
&nbsp;</br>
Even static IP&#8217;s are becoming more &#8216;centralized&#8217; then they use to be, especially since the shortage of IPv4 addresses is starting to affect ISPs and telecommunications carriers.   Some of the ISPs are talking about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_address_translation">NAT</a>ing all customers behind their systems (e.g., all AT&#038;T DSL users in Naperville might have the same IP, or all WOW cable users could have the same IP.)   If they do that the geolocation information could become very generalized.</br>
&nbsp;</br>
As an example of potentially bad data, go to the following web site from your phone (while not connected to wi-fi):  <a href="http://whatismyipaddress.com/">http://whatismyipaddress.com/</a></br>
&nbsp;</br>
Mine just told me I was in Tony, Wisconsin. Obviously I missed an exit or several hundred on my way into the office this morning. [RemoteLink is located in Aurora, IL.]</br>
&nbsp;</br>
This is the same technology that Google, Bing and others use, but they have to rank that information.   The IP address location information is often the least reliable information available.   Your phone&#8217;s GPS is most reliable, followed by the cell tower your phone is using, etc.</br>
&nbsp;</br>
It&#8217;s fun stuff, but you have to be careful.   It can be quite amusing. The worst case I saw was a few months back.  I was in Houston and Google IP location told me I was in Seattle.   Only half a continent away!</br>]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>QuickBooks to SugarCRM &#8211; Preparation and Is it Right for You?</title>
		<link>http://www.remotelink.com/quickbooks-to-sugarcrm-preparation-and-is-it-right-for-you/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=quickbooks-to-sugarcrm-preparation-and-is-it-right-for-you</link>
		<comments>http://www.remotelink.com/quickbooks-to-sugarcrm-preparation-and-is-it-right-for-you/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:35:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bob Clinkert</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[RL Blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.remotelink.com/?p=1025</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[QuickBooks to SugarCRM Integration is one of our most requested services. &#160; Our presentation at SugarCon 2011 was very well attended, and no matter where we go or what audiences we are addressing, when SugarCRM... <a href="http://www.remotelink.com/quickbooks-to-sugarcrm-preparation-and-is-it-right-for-you/" class="more">read more</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3><strong>QuickBooks to SugarCRM Integration is one of our most requested services.</strong></h3>
<a href="http://www.sugarcrm.com/crm/"><img src="http://www.remotelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/sugarcrm_logo2_100.jpg" alt="" title="SugarCRM" width="100" height="100" class="alignright size-full wp-image-1056" /></a>&nbsp;</br>
Our presentation at SugarCon 2011 was very well attended, and no matter where we go or what audiences we are addressing, when SugarCRM comes up, you can bet that the topic of <a href="http://www.remotelink.com/quickbooks-sugarcrm-integration/">QuickBooks to SugarCRM integration</a> will also come up at some point. </br>
&nbsp;</br>
<table border="0"><tr><td valign="top"><a href="http://quickbooks.intuit.com/"><img src="http://www.remotelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Quickbooks150x100.jpg" alt="" title="QuickBooks by Intuit" width="150" height="100" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1046" /></a></td><td><em>QuickBooks to SugarCRM Integration is a complicated service, and investigating the effectiveness, and the ROI, of incorporating the integration into your business processes requires some homework on your part.<strong>  You need to determine how your business will accommodate the most prevalent integration architectures, how your internal processes may change, and how security issues will be addressed.</strong></em></td><td valign="top"></td></tr></table> </br>
&nbsp;</br>
<h3><strong>How it works &#8211; The BIG Picture</strong></h3>
&nbsp;</br>
Most integration architectures are cloud, SaaS based, meaning, the software that actually does the work of integrating the two products runs on a 3rd party, often-secure server in the cloud. This implies that the cloud service will need external access to both your SugarCRM instance as well as your QuickBooks instance. </br>
&nbsp;</br>
On the SugarCRM side of the house, the developers of SugarCRM have built web interconnectivity into the all flavors of the SugarCRM architecture using industry standard SOAP and REST connection protocols. There is no additional cost for using these protocols and most, if not all of the QuickBooks to Sugar Integrations utilize one or both of these connection interface protocols. SOAP has a bit more overhead than REST, but both are equally up for the task of integrating SugarCRM with just about any external software. </br>
&nbsp;</br>
<h3><strong>We Often Do Not Think About Security, Firewalls and Networks &#8211; It’s Important!</strong></h3>
&nbsp;</br>
While SugarCRM supports these interface protocols out-of-the-box, it is important to note that the hosting architecture, including security systems such as firewalls, etc., can have a huge impact on the viability of the integration working, and the effort required to make it work. Many businesses host their SugarCRM instance on the Sugar Corporate cloud using SugarOnDemand. If this is the case for your business, connecting to a third party integration server comes standard, and needs additional configuration. </br>
&nbsp;</br>
If your organization hosts SugarCRM on your own internal servers, or, you utilize a third-party hosting server outside of SugarOnDemand, you will need to verify that your SugarCRM instance can be externally addressable, with a static domain name and/or static IP address, on a high-speed link; and, that any and all security between your SugarCRM and the outside world can and will be configured to accept traffic on the SOAP and/or REST interface ports.</br>
&nbsp;</br>
<h3><strong>You Will Need A License For That</strong></h3>
&nbsp;</br>
There are some further issues to consider on the SugarCRM side. Any integration will require one, dedicated, admin user license; which, will be an additional expense for the paid versions of SugarCRM. While the Sugar Customer Service Web Portal uses SOAP and does NOT require a dedicated, paid user account, the interface provided for the Portal is a much scaled down version of functionality and will NOT work for a QuickBooks to SugarCRM Integration. </br>
&nbsp;</br>
<img src="http://www.remotelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/warning_100.jpg" alt="" title="Warning!" width="100" height="88" class="alignright size-full wp-image-1094" /><em>Additionally, as of the writing of this article, there is a bug in Sugar that prevents the association of Product objects to ProductBundle objects using the SOAP interface. Ensure that the integration solution you choose understands this issue well, and has a proven patch to fix the problem. Otherwise, your integration functionality can be significantly reduced.</em></br>
&nbsp;</br>
<h3><strong>What SugarCRM Version Is Needed?</strong></h3>
&nbsp;</br>
The flavor of Sugar you have, as well as the version will also impact any integration solution you are investigating. Integrating SugarCRM Accounts and Contacts to QuickBooks Customer is certainly a very basic expectation; however, the biggest bang for the integration buck comes from integrating QuickBooks transactions like Invoices, Sales Orders, Purchase Orders and Sales Receipts with SugarCRM Quotes module, which also involves QuickBooks Items and SugarCRM Products and Product Catalog. </br>
&nbsp;</br>
<h3><strong>Here’s The Hidden Fine Print You NEED TO KNOW</strong></h3>
&nbsp;</br>
<ul><li>The <strong>majority of QuickBooks to SugarCRM Integrations on the market do NOT integrate any objects beyond SugarCRM Accounts/Contacts and QuickBooks Customers</strong>, thus, severely limiting your ROI on the integration expense. Even if you do find an integration that supports the integration of QB Transactions and Items with Sugar Quote and Product Catalog, you have to be using a flavor of SugarCRM that supports these SugarCRM modules/objects. The community version of SugarCRM does NOT support Products or Quotes, and is therefore very limited in effectiveness of a QuickBooks integration.</li>
&nbsp;</br>
<li>The <strong>version of SugarCRM</strong> is also important. The interfaces for SugarCRM 6.x changed from SugarCRM 5.x is such ways as to cause some fairly significant revisions to any integrations that currently work for 5.x and older SugarCRM versions. Many of the QuickBooks to SugarCRM integrations that exist on the market today have NOT been tested against the 6.x versions of SugarCRM, and will likely not work, without significant development efforts of the integration software developers.</li>
&nbsp;</br>
<li>The issues with QuickBooks side of the connectivity to 3rd party integrations is much more complicated, and can require substantially more work than the SugarCRM side of the integration. This is due to the fact that QuickBooks instances are predominantly hosted on internal servers, on internal networks, and sometimes, not on server machines at all, but on user machines, most often those of the CEO, CFO, or primary accountant. <strong>All cloud-based, SaaS QuickBooks to SugarCRM integrations will require external connectivity to your QuickBooks instance</strong>, and virtually all of them require the instance to be running on a server-class machine, using a server-grade version of Microsoft windows, which is normally multiple thousands of dollars in annual licensing fees. The reason for the server is that the integration will interact with QuickBooks just like a regular admin user would, so your host machine needs to be capable of handing multiple user access.</li>
&nbsp;</br>
<li>Additionally, many integrations utilize some form of ODBC for external connectivity, and the drivers that support ODBC for QuickBooks are limited, and need to be installed as third-party applications. As these <strong>drivers have unrestricted access to a variety of data in the QuickBooks database</strong>, this exposes all kinds of security issues and concerns. Most drivers can lock out access to social security numbers and credit card data if configured properly. Most ODBC connectors require the use of a dedicated QuickBooks admin user. This can be expensive, especially if you are using a QuickBooks version that requires licenses to be purchased in groups of five, and you already have an even multiple of five users before adding the dedicated integration user.</li>
&nbsp;</br>
<li>There are known <strong>memory-leak issues in QuickBooks</strong>, especially when the software is utilized heavily and external ODBC accesses are being made frequently.  The QuickBooks executable can eat up hundreds of megabytes of memory within a few days and can grow to gigabytes in several days.This will cause enormous slow-downs for users and the integration services. Often times monitors need to be put in place that will automatically restart the QuickBooks application in a non-destructive way, once the memory usage has grown beyond a predefined threshold. Such monitors are typically beyond the scope of your usual IT admins and can require specialized consultants to ensure the process is secure and safe, and does not result in database corruption or locking out users during peak usage times.</li>
&nbsp;</br>
<li><strong>Versions of QuickBooks</strong> are also important. Most important are that the data connectivity drivers, typically ODBC, are compatible with whatever version of QuickBooks you are running. Most versions of QuickBooks support these drivers, including many International flavors. While QuickBooks Online does support external connectivity, the interface is not very stable, and QuickBooks can and often does change the interface without notice, causing integration issues some of the time. Also, the extent of the functionality supported by the QuickBooks Online connectivity is general limited when compared to the desktop versions.</li>
&nbsp;</br>
<li><strong>Internet connectivity speed</strong> is very important, for both the SugarCRM and QuickBooks hosting servers and their associated environments. There are many times when the performance of the SugarOnDemand external interface speed is not adequate for maximum QuickBooks to SugarCRM integration. The problems related to inadequate Internet connectivity speeds on the QuickBooks side is normally worse. For these reasons, users of QuickBooks to SugarCRM integrations that require a high-level of performance will typically turn to experienced vendors that specialize in SugarCRM, and QuickBooks hosting, and often times, it is advantageous if the hosting company can host the integration software as well. It is difficult to find providers of a full-suite of QuickBooks to SugarCRM integration services to provide for third-party installations of their software.</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;</br>
<h3><strong>A Couple of Final Points to Consider</strong></h3>
&nbsp;</br>
<img src="http://www.remotelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Upgrade_125.jpg" alt="" title="Upgrade" width="125" height="116" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1096" />QuickBooks to SugarCRM integrations that offer the higher-ROI features of integrations including QuickBooks Items and Transactions typically carry annual licensing fees in the thousands of dollars per year, with hundreds of dollars for initial setup and ongoing support and maintenance. <strong>As SugarCRM or QuickBooks changes versions, the integration vendors must check out their software</strong>, and make any necessary modifications to make sure it runs with the new versions BEFORE you upgrade to any new versions. </br>
&nbsp;</br>
Between hosting changes, installation fees, support and licensing fees, a professional QuickBooks to SugarCRM integration can cost you several thousand dollars a year in annual support an licensing, and a few thousand dollars or more in setup and hosting upgrades, as well as additional SugarCRM and QuickBooks licenses. However, even a low-level administrative assistant can cost a business $40K per year or more. Reducing the need for administrative staff, even by 50% of one headcount, can provide for significant ROI in terms of cost savings, and rework prevention due to clerical, data-entry errors. </br>
&nbsp;</br>
<h3><strong>Is QuickBooks to SugarCRM integration for you? </strong></h3>
&nbsp;</br>
<strong>Do you spend more than half a headcount per year transferring data between the two applications? If so, then it should be a no-brainer, providing your IT staff is capable or at least willing to have an external, third-party integration application accessing your proprietary SugarCRM and QuickBooks data.</strong></br>
&nbsp;</br>
<i>Logo credits: <a href="http://quickbooks.intuit.com/">QuickBooks by Intuit</a>, <a href="http://www.sugarcrm.com/crm/">SugarCRM</a></i>]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>Inspiring Entrepreneurship</title>
		<link>http://www.remotelink.com/inspiring-entrepreneurship/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=inspiring-entrepreneurship</link>
		<comments>http://www.remotelink.com/inspiring-entrepreneurship/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:06:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bob Clinkert</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[RL Blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.remotelink.com/?p=980</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Are You an Entrepreneur? Recently, I had the opportunity to hear Len Schlesinger speak. Len is the president of Babson College, which Len introduced as the number one college for entrepreneurship in the world. Len’s... <a href="http://www.remotelink.com/inspiring-entrepreneurship/" class="more">read more</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3><strong>Are You an Entrepreneur?</strong></h3>
Recently, I had the opportunity to hear Len Schlesinger speak. Len is the <a href="http://www.babson.edu/about-babson/president/biography/Pages/home.aspx">president of Babson College</a>, which Len introduced as the number one college for entrepreneurship in the world. Len’s presentation was related to one of his latest books, <a href="http://actiontrumpseverything.com/">Action Trumps Everything</a>.</br>
&nbsp;</br>
<a href="http://actiontrumpseverything.com/"><img src="http://www.remotelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/LenSchlesinger_150x225.jpg" alt="" title="Action Trumps Everything" width="150" height="225" class="alignright size-full wp-image-988" /></a>Two main ideas deeply resonated with me, and they are principles that our company, RemoteLink embraces. The first, is the idea that entrepreneurship is a discipline that can be taught, and learned, not a mysterious, magical gift that one needs to be born with. </br>
&nbsp;</br>
The second idea, is that the difficult social and economic issues that our world faces, will be best (and maybe only) solved through entrepreneurial enterprises that focus on addressing not only economic issues, but social and sustainability issues as well, simultaneously, as basic practices of business.</br>
&nbsp;</br>
<h3><strong>Entrepreneurship can be Learned</strong></h3>
Len quotes Muhammad Yunus, Micro-finance Pioneer, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, as saying, “We’re all entrepreneurs, only too few of us get to practice it.” Len goes on to quote business guru Peter Drucker &#8211; “Most of what you hear about entrepreneurship is all wrong. It’s not magic, it’s not mysterious, it’s a discipline, and like any discipline, it can be learned.”</br> 
&nbsp;</br>
At RemoteLink, one of our core principles is that every single person is born a masterpiece of God’s creation, and it is our job to help people uncover and live out their masterpiece. At RemoteLink, we are in full agreement with Muhammad Yunus and Peter Drucker that everyone is capable of entrepreneurship and that it is a privilege for RemoteLink to provide a platform on which people can discover and grow that ability. We wish to unleash the untapped potential of people from all walks of life, and all socio-economic backgrounds.</br>
&nbsp;</br>
<h3><strong>Focus on Economic and Social Issues Simultaneously</strong></h3>
To make his second point, Len lays out a pretty clear vision for how entrepreneurial businesses can and should change the world they operate in &#8211; “Focusing on economic outcomes to the exclusion of any other variable is a problematic construct. The notion that we can address economic issues separately, and then only deal with sustainability and social issues if there is anything leftover, doesn’t work. You can’t deal with those things sequentially, but have to do so simultaneously. That requires significant invention and entrepreneurship.”</br>
&nbsp;</br>
<h3><strong>International Social Investment &#8211; RemoteLink Philippines</strong></h3>
<a href="http://www.remotelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/remotelink_philippines200x56.jpg"><img src="http://www.remotelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/remotelink_philippines200x56.jpg" alt="" title="RemoteLink Philippines" width="200" height="56" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-990" /></a>At RemoteLink, we embrace this vision as well. In 2007, RemoteLink incorporated an wholly-owned subsidiary in San Pablo City, Philippines. San Pablo City is a severely under-resourced city with a large population of abused and dangerously neglected children, many of whom end up living on the streets. RemoteLink created a business unit to partner with a local outreach organization, <a href="http://thefrontline.asia/">Philippine Frontline Ministries</a>. This business unit provides high-tech training and jobs, as well as the physical facilities and space for a K-12 school and local church, training, and recreational center. <a href="http://remotelink.com.ph/">RemoteLink Philippines</a> exists to reduce the effects of poverty on parents and children in the San Pablo area, and hopefully beyond in the years to come. Over the last 5 years, RemoteLink Philippines has developed high capabilities in the areas of graphic arts, web site development and landing page design, and uses these skills to support dozens of clients local to the Philippines, and our US base of clients as well.</br>
&nbsp;</br>
<h3><strong>Bringing our Social Investment Experiences Home</strong></h3>
We would like to leverage our experience in the Philippines to develop similar programs here at home, in our own back yard. Our newest product, Internet Presence Marketing, is becoming an area of significant growth for us. We are helping local and national businesses Get Found, Be Liked, and Add Customers in very efficient, cost-effective and measurable ways. <a href="http://communitychristian.org/ministries/community412"><img src="http://www.remotelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/C4121_177x100.png" alt="" title="Community 4:12" width="177" height="100" class="alignright size-full wp-image-998" /></a>As the new business unit grows, we are excited about the potential of hiring local people in need of jobs, job training, and potential for career advancement. We have developed the operational side of the business to maximize operational efficiencies, while at the same time providing entry-level, flexible work opportunities for college students, and parents whose work hours are restricted to when their kids are at school. We are exploring a partnership with a local outreach organization in East Aurora called <a href="http://communitychristian.org/ministries/community412">Community 412</a>. We would love to fill up their East Aurora facility with chairs, tables and computers to provide local jobs for parents of school-age kids within walking distance of their homes and school.</br>
&nbsp;</br>
In addition, our operational structure is built on employees being encouraged to grow and take the next step. As the business grows, there will be great opportunity for career advancement, and we will provide the training, and the corporate support to develop people internally for more advanced positions. We also provide the opportunity for experienced Internet Presence Marketing experts to grow their sales skills, participate in commissioned sales work, and even move out as entrepreneurs and open their own sales offices.</br>
&nbsp;</br>
We look forward to offering our customers the best, most efficient and cost-effective Internet Presence Marketing services, from a brick-and-mortar, long-standing, local business, while simultaneously engaging the social and sustainability issues that are vital to the growth and development of our local communities and the people who make these communities their home.</br>]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>Understanding SEO &#8211; Part 1: Local SEO for Small Business</title>
		<link>http://www.remotelink.com/understanding-seo-part-1-local-seo-for-small-business/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=understanding-seo-part-1-local-seo-for-small-business</link>
		<comments>http://www.remotelink.com/understanding-seo-part-1-local-seo-for-small-business/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:57:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steve Bailey</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[RL Blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.remotelink.com/?p=902</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Like many products, the term Local SEO encompasses a large range of optimization services. The goal of this series is to help a small business understand what it all means, and to highlight the differences... <a href="http://www.remotelink.com/understanding-seo-part-1-local-seo-for-small-business/" class="more">read more</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Like many products, the term Local SEO encompasses a large range of optimization services. The goal of this series is to help a small business understand what it all means, and to highlight the differences between SEO programs offered in the marketplace today.</br>
&nbsp;</br>
<h3><strong>Is everyone an SEO?</strong></h3>
&nbsp;</br>
<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-134" title="Search Engines for Optimization" src="http://www.internetpresencemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/GYB.jpeg" alt="" width="177" height="147" />At least in Naperville and Aurora, IL, we have all been bombarded with SEO offers in our email. Some look attractive and have a list of tasks they perform like directory submissions, or number of backlinks built. The prices can range from $100 to $3,000 per month. Crazy. How do you know what steps to take? What are the differences between all the offers? Are some of them just taking advantage by overcharging? How many of these people were out of work and are now SEOs?</br>
&nbsp;</br>
<h3><strong>Can someone just give me a concise guide?</strong></h3>
&nbsp;</br>
Quickly reading blog posts or other marketing related information can add to the confusion, it seems there are a million differences. Some of them sound good, some of them are simple, some of them want money. What is the best way to get page one rankings for my business? Can I do this myself? Should I do this myself?</br>
&nbsp;</br>
The search professionals at RemoteLink can relate to the quest for information. We have lived the painful process, grown into success, and now we have refined it and share what we have learned to help other businesses grow. Internet Presence Marketing is our business, each and every day.</br>
&nbsp;</br>
<strong>This series will do a little teaching and provide your business with the start of a useful SEO roadmap.</strong></br>
&nbsp;</br>
In this series on we will:</br>
<ul>
	<li>Highlight the differences between low-cost firms and those that cost more</li>
	<li>Learn which activities are best suited for you and your staff, biggest gain for time spent</li>
	<li>Learn which activities are best outsourced to an SEO firm</li>
	<li>Help you avoid the activities which just consume your resources for little gain</li>
	<li>Warn you of activities which could actually be damaging to your businesses internet presence</li>
	<li>Teach you how to get an actual measurement and ROI (return on the investment)</li>
	<li>Lend some insight on using social media to grow your business</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;</br>
Our process uses three simple steps, Get Found, Be Liked, and Add Customers. Join us as we start at the beginning with the first step &#8211; Get Found.</br>
&nbsp;</br>
<h3><strong>Today&#8217;s takeaway:</strong></h3>
<em>Local SEO spans a continuum of services from simple to complex. Most SEO firms today are practitioners of the simple 101 level tricks and tactics. They deliver on only the easy low hanging fruit which you can do yourself. </em></br>
&nbsp;</br>
<h3><strong>Follow my Next Post:</strong></h3>
<em>Easy tactics on the lower end of the Local SEO scale</em></br>
&nbsp;</br>
<h3><strong>Like or Tweet the Post:</strong></h3>
<em>If you found the information useful, Many Thanks!</em></br>
&nbsp;</br>
<em>[This post was originally published on December 9, 2011 on our <a href="http://www.internetpresencemarketing.com/">Internet Presence Marketing blog</a>]</em>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Tweeter Karma vs Manageflitter</title>
		<link>http://www.remotelink.com/tweeter-karma-vs-magnaflitter/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=tweeter-karma-vs-magnaflitter</link>
		<comments>http://www.remotelink.com/tweeter-karma-vs-magnaflitter/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Oct 2011 20:30:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[RL Blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.remotelink.com/?p=723</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In an effort to better manage relationships and conversations on Twitter &#8211; and because (despite all appearances to the contrary) I don&#8217;t like clutter- I started looking for a tool to help me get rid... <a href="http://www.remotelink.com/tweeter-karma-vs-magnaflitter/" class="more">read more</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="__ss_9878397" style="width: 425px;">In an effort to better manage relationships and conversations on Twitter &#8211; and because (despite all appearances to the contrary) I don&#8217;t like clutter- I started looking for a tool to help me get rid of &#8220;Old&#8221; twitter followers on my social media twitter (@bkolar_smc) account.</div>
<div style="width: 425px;">I looked at a lot of tools but thought I would review the two that seemed most promising.  Here you go&#8230;but remember, personal preference counts for a lot!  Choose for yourself <img src='http://www.remotelink.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </div>
<div style="width: 425px;"><strong style="display: block; margin: 12px 0 4px;"><iframe src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/9878397" width="400" height="337" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><br/><br/></strong></div>
<div style="width: 425px;"><strong style="display: block; margin: 12px 0 4px;">ps. Dear Manageflitter, I apologize for the typo of your name in the url.  :( Great product!</strong></div>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>SugarCRM Claims Top CRM Awards</title>
		<link>http://www.remotelink.com/sugarcrm-claims-top-crm-awards/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=sugarcrm-claims-top-crm-awards</link>
		<comments>http://www.remotelink.com/sugarcrm-claims-top-crm-awards/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 14 Sep 2011 18:55:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[RL Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SugarCRM]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.remotelink.com/?p=690</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[SugarCRM claimed the following four awards in CRMMagazine‘s 10th Annual CRM Market Leaders’ Awards programs: Winner – Open Source CRM Leader – Midmarket Suite CRM Leader – Small-Business Suite CRM One to Watch – Sales Force... <a href="http://www.remotelink.com/sugarcrm-claims-top-crm-awards/" class="more">read more</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="http://www.remotelink.com/sugarcrm/" target="_blank">SugarCRM</a> claimed the following four awards in <a href="http://go.pardot.com/e/1512/2011-09-12/PEI7C/398220226" target="_blank"><em>CRM</em>Magazine</a>‘s 10th Annual CRM Market Leaders’ Awards programs:
<ul>
	<li>Winner – Open Source CRM</li>
	<li>Leader – Midmarket Suite CRM</li>
	<li>Leader – Small-Business Suite CRM</li>
	<li>One to Watch – Sales Force Automation</li>
</ul>
Vendors were evaluated in the areas of depth of functionality, price, company direction, and customer satisfaction. Here’s what leading industry analysts had to say about the wins:

Michael Fauscette, group vice president for software business solutions at IDC, said, <strong>“Anytime you talk about open-source CRM, Sugar comes up; they’re by far the best known and by far the largest.”</strong>

Denis Pombriant, CEO at Beagle Research Group, LLC, referred to SugarCRM as an <strong>“out-of-the-box thinker,”</strong>complimenting the company’s <strong>“continually improving… solution set.”</strong>

The full article can be found online at <a href="http://www.destinationcrm.com/Articles/Editorial/Magazine-Features/The-2011-CRM-Market-Leaders-76485.aspx" target="_blank">destinationcrm.com</a>.

&nbsp;]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Magento Case Study Legacy Collectibles Remotelink</title>
		<link>http://www.remotelink.com/magento-case-study-legacy-collectibles_remotelink/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=magento-case-study-legacy-collectibles_remotelink</link>
		<comments>http://www.remotelink.com/magento-case-study-legacy-collectibles_remotelink/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Sep 2011 20:42:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Magento]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RL Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Magento Case Study]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Magento Development]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.remotelink.com/?p=671</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Magento Case Study When Tom Whiteman decided to transform his favorite hobby to a real business he realized his site was outdated with no shopping cart. His friend had built the site for $30, but... <a href="http://www.remotelink.com/magento-case-study-legacy-collectibles_remotelink/" class="more">read more</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1>Magento Case Study</h1> <p>When Tom Whiteman decided to transform his favorite hobby to a real business he realized his site was outdated with no shopping cart. His friend had built the site for $30, but purchases required a phone call, which put a barrier between the client and the product,  effecting sales.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div id="attachment_672" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 329px"><a href="http://www.remotelink.com/rlimages/Case_study_Legacy_Collectibles_Remotelink.pdf" target="_blank"><img class="size-full wp-image-672    " title="Case study Legacy Collectibles_Remotelink" src="http://www.remotelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Case-study-Legacy-Collectibles_Remotelink.jpg" alt="Case study Legacy Collectibles_Remotelink" width="319" height="413" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Case study Legacy Collectibles_Remotelink</p></div><p>Simple site changes took hours to upload making up-to-date content out of Legacy Collectibles’ (and their clients’) reach.</p> <p>Lack of web design expertise made it difficult to produce a professional grade eCommerce site that would meet the expectations of clientele looking for their high-end products. Legacy Collectibles was reluctant to hire a full time web designer simply for regular inventory updates. At the same time they needed a scalable site that would grow with demand and inventory.</p> <p>The RemoteLink Team suggested a Magento eCommerce Site with custom design. Magento could provide a site with painless uploads and RemoteLink could provide a well designed site with a look that was clean and simple.</p> <p>Download the<a href="http://www.remotelink.com/rlimages/Case_study_Legacy_Collectibles_Remotelink.pdf" target="_blank"> Magento Case Study for Legacy Collectibles</a> Remotelink here.</p><p>View <a href="http://www.legacy-collectibles.com/" target="_blank">Legacy-Collecitbles website</a>.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Using Google Calendar to get Organized</title>
		<link>http://www.remotelink.com/using-google-calendar-to-get-organized/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=using-google-calendar-to-get-organized</link>
		<comments>http://www.remotelink.com/using-google-calendar-to-get-organized/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Sep 2011 21:00:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[RL Blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.remotelink.com/?p=657</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s not just for business! You may be familiar with shared calendars at work &#8211; or maybe you aren&#8217;t? (Sharing calendars can be revolutionary to the way you do business.  Seeing everyone&#8217;s &#8220;Busy / Free&#8221;... <a href="http://www.remotelink.com/using-google-calendar-to-get-organized/" class="more">read more</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It&#8217;s not just for business! You may be familiar with shared calendars at work &#8211; or maybe you aren&#8217;t? (Sharing calendars can be revolutionary to the way you do business.  Seeing everyone&#8217;s &#8220;Busy / Free&#8221; schedule or details of their day &#8211; depending on how they have chosen to share &#8211; will streamline scheduling in a way you could only have hoped for!)</p> <p>But how are we using Google Calendar for our personal lives and small businesses?</p> <p>Color coding is the key!</p> <p><strong>Small Business:</strong></p> <p>One personal trainer / group fitness instructor / massage therapist uses a different calendar for each aspect of his job, as well as his personal life.  The colors help him easily see what kind of appointment is next and an email at the beginning of the day with the day&#8217;s line up helps him gear up appropriately.  Communication with clients via each calendar also helps them know what they are on the schedule for.</p> <p><img class="size-full wp-image-660 alignnone" title="ptmsg Google Cal" src="http://www.remotelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/ptmsg-Google-Cal.jpg" alt="scheduling Google Calendar" width="390" height="391" /></p> <p>Dark Blue is personal, green &#8211; massage clients, brown  - personal training clients, peach &#8211; group fitness classes, etc&#8230; He sees his personal life and how each type of appointment integrates with the rest of his life.</p> <p><strong>(Next step:</strong> Use &#8220;youcanbook.me&#8221; along with Google Calendars to have your clients book their own appointments!)</p> <p><strong>Family</strong></p> <ul> <li>1 calendar for each family member.</li> <li>Family calendar overrides all personal calendars (auto accept invitations from &#8220;Family&#8221;</li> <li>See game schedules, school plays, &#8220;invite&#8221; other family members to attend is a great way to put items on their personal agenda once they accept.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Cleaning business:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Invite freelance cleaning professionals to a job via the calendar with a description of the job in the description field.</li> <li>The first to respond via the &#8220;accept&#8221; button gets the job.</li> <li>Or share free / busy times on personal calendars for easy booking</li> </ul> <p><strong>Gym Schedule postings:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Each type of class has its own calendar.</li> <li>The description of the class is within the description field.</li> <li>Calendars are aggregated to be public facing via Google sites (make the page public and link to it if you aren&#8217;t using sites for your website)</li> <li>Hover over classes to see what it is!</li> </ul> <p><img class="size-full wp-image-664 alignnone" title="Kung Fu calendar" src="http://www.remotelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Kung-Fu-calendar.jpg" alt="Kung Fu gym calendar" width="382" height="388" /></p> <p>&nbsp;</p><p>I hope this real world practical look at calendars helps you! My bet is you will soon be using Google Calendar in ways we never dreamed of!</p><p>*PS. With offline for Google Calendar, you can have access to your calendar events when you&#8217;re not connected to the internet.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>New tech vs Old tech &#8211; Cloud Computing</title>
		<link>http://www.remotelink.com/new-tech-vs-old-tech-cloud-computing/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=new-tech-vs-old-tech-cloud-computing</link>
		<comments>http://www.remotelink.com/new-tech-vs-old-tech-cloud-computing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Aug 2011 20:49:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[RL Blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.remotelink.com/?p=641</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[by Beth Kolar So why is it you get something new?  Isn&#8217;t it usually because the NEW thing will work better than the old thing? I mean, it&#8217;s different if it&#8217;s a pair of jeans... <a href="http://www.remotelink.com/new-tech-vs-old-tech-cloud-computing/" class="more">read more</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[by <a title="Beth Kolar" href="http://www.remotelink.com/bethkolar/" target="_blank">Beth Kolar</a>

So why is it you get something new?  Isn&#8217;t it usually because the NEW thing will work <em>better</em> than the old thing?

I mean, it&#8217;s different if it&#8217;s a pair of jeans you are just replacing &#8211; you aren&#8217;t looking for a more innovative zipper &#8211; you just want to cover your lower half while looking as &#8216;hip&#8217; as possible.

But in the tech world, we replace the old for entirely other reasons.  We want new technology because it answers an unmet need. Otherwise, we would just &#8216;upgrade&#8217; what we have, right?

We come across this with clients switching from spreadsheets to CRM or from locally hosted systems / programs to Cloud Computing.  They sign up for &#8216;new technology&#8217; but then, momentarily, their minds slip back into the old way of doing things and they ask &#8220;Why doesn&#8217;t my new system do _____, like the old one?&#8221;  And we always have to ask, &#8220;Didn&#8217;t you come to us because you wanted something <em>better</em> than your old system?&#8221;
<blockquote><em>Better</em> always equals different.</blockquote>
Cloud computing ushers in the world of hyper-collaboration, that even being in the same room can&#8217;t provide.  Working on a doc simultaneously is nearly impossible outside of cloud computing &#8211; or at least it would be VERY irritating, fighting to highlight the same word for different reasons at the same time as your collaborator.  Wouldn&#8217;t you agree?  BUT, formatting that same doc kinda stinks (if we are talking <a title="Google Apps" href="http://www.remotelink.com/google-apps/" target="_blank">Google Docs</a>, for example.) It&#8217;s not MS Word, Publisher, or InDesign.  It&#8217;s different and it&#8217;s <em>better</em>, because you wanted to get more done, faster and as a team.

Different, even of the <em>better</em> sort, is always a trade off.  Granted, you can still use InDesign, MS Word or Publisher&#8230; &#8211; but why not hammer out the wording and details in a shared environment first?  Why not give all the decision makers a chance to weigh in according to their schedules with a way to keep track of revisions and input? Then spiffy it up&#8230; and upload THAT doc for storage and reference later!

<a title="SugarCRM" href="http://www.remotelink.com/sugarcrm/" target="_blank">CRM</a> is probably the most complex cloud computing system we deal with. Clients have their own processes, built around their old tools and honestly, it can be scary to slow down for a bit in order to learn the new, <em>better</em> way. And then, once things are in place you wonder, &#8220;Now HOW does this work again?  I used to just click on the header column and it would resort my list to find what I needed!&#8221;  But with more power, more capabilities (read: <em>better</em>) comes different.

So better is different.  Do not throw away better for the same thing you already don&#8217;t like, just because you are beholden to a particular system.  Be sure to get training with your new system. And be sure to get something configurable, so that systems can be built around the best practices you have only been able to dream about &#8230;until now.]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Magento SEO</title>
		<link>http://www.remotelink.com/magento-seo/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=magento-seo</link>
		<comments>http://www.remotelink.com/magento-seo/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 21 Aug 2011 12:13:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Magento]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RL Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.remotelink.com/?p=597</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[SEO Search engine optimization is one of the largest drivers of revenue into your business. Your ecommerce platform needs to synergize with your efforts rather than work against you. While most ecommerce platforms claim to... <a href="http://www.remotelink.com/magento-seo/" class="more">read more</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1>SEO Search engine optimization is one of the largest drivers of revenue into your business. Your ecommerce platform needs to synergize with your efforts rather than work against you.</h1> <p>While most ecommerce platforms claim to support search engine optimization, the <strong>Magento eCommerce platform</strong> delivers the <span style="text-decoration: underline;">SEO search engine optimization</span> features that will enable your business to consistently outrank the competition day in and day out, and will drive more traffic to your website, and more revenue into your business on a daily basis.</p> <h3>Instant Sitemaps</h3> <p>The simplest and most common tool in the search engine optimization toolbox is the sitemap. With one click of a button, Magento will automatically create a fully updated, complete Sitemap.xml file that is fully compliant with the most recent sitemap protocol as defined at sitemaps.org. Full compliance means full utilization by Google and other major search engines.</p> <h3>Built In On-Page SEO</h3> <p>Magento gives you full control over the page titles and meta description tags for every product and category in your store website utilizing simple textboxes. By entering unique information into the textboxes defined for each category and product, you direct Magento to fully populate the page title and meta information for those webpages with that text. As you optimize your site based on feedback from <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Google Analytics and Website Optimizer </span>(which are fully-integrated with Magento), you can quickly and easily update the page titles and meta information for any product or category you desire. Furthermore, using Magento search engine optimization you can define rules for specifying certain text across your store website based on product name, category, description, store name, etc. The Magento engine will then render the webpage by substituting the particular values for the product or category represented by that webpage into the rules as previously defined by you.</p> <h3>Readable URLs Build Business</h3> <p>Search engine optimization of common ecommerce website URLs with scripting tags like catalog_id=974&amp;product_id=2023 can be nearly impossible. The Magento admin panel allows you to simply define a URL Rewrite for all product and category webpages in your store through a simple textbox. When a visitor to your website clicks on a link for designer handbags, you can rewrite the URL to be www.yourstore.com/designer-handbags rather than some cryptic combination of store codes and category ids. Your category and product page URLs can exactly match the keyword phrases you are driving traffic to, by simply entering text in a URL rewrite textbox.</p> <p>A more advanced keyword optimization tool Magento offers allows you to specify the URL key on every static, content and product category webpage on your site. This is an additional keyword phrase that is added to the URL of the Magento page, independently of the URL rewrite name you have specified. This URL key can be changed and updated instantly throughout the entire site from the Magento admin panel.</p> <h3>Avoid Page Duplication</h3> <p>Page duplication is a common problem in ecommerce site which results in page rank dilution which can negatively impact your page rank quite severely in many cases. Search engines can think pages are duplicated when they show up on different page numbers in different multiple page listing results and in other cases. Magento’s search engine optimization allows a Canonical Link Element to be placed in the &lt;head&gt; tag of every webpage in your store. This canonical link element directs the search engine to use one URL for any and all versions of that webpage URL the search engine may encounter when scanning the website.</p> <p><em><strong>The suite of search engine optimization features provided in the Magento ecommerce platform will maximize the ROI from all of your search engine optimization investments now; and Magento’s commitment to fully adopt new search engine optimization techniques, as they become available, will provide peace of mind for your future SEO engagements.</strong></em></p> <p><em><strong><a title="Magento Development" href="http://www.remotelink.com/magento-development/">Click here for more on RemoteLink&#8217;s Magento Development packages.</a></strong></em></p> <p><em><strong><br /> </strong></em></p>]]></content:encoded>
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