PSPINC Official Company Blog

New Dreamersi FTP Feature Now Available!

Aug

14

Today, we’re happy to announce that our web hosting service, Dreamersi, has a new feature! With Dreamersi, more tech-savvy users can use the FTP features, which stands for File Transfer Protocol. Basically, what this means is that you can build your website by transferring files to a server. Web hosting like Dreamersi then hosts that server, making it much safer than hosting your site on a local computer, typically called the local host. But now, we’re adding even more security with a new FTP Access Security feature.
ftp feature screenshot

With this new feature, you can protect your site from potential hacks by blocking all FTP access or temporarily allowing access until midnight. When going back to editing your site, head over to the Dreamersi admin panel and scroll down until you reach the FTP Services section. Then, you’ll find the FTP Access Security icon. By default, Dreamersi has the “Permanently allow FTP access” option selected, but it isn’t something we recommend. With this new feature, you can either block all FTP access or only allow it temporarily until 12 AM PST. At midnight, your site will then block all FTP access to protect your site from unauthorized parties. So, just sign up for Dreamersi to take advantage of this new FTP feature to better protect your website. Only available for Dreamersi customers on the new V5 version (reach out to our support team for help migrating your Dreamersi site over to V5!) as well as new Dreamersi users.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #cyber #cybersecurity #dreamersi #ftp #pacificsoftwarepublishing #pspinc #security #smallbusiness #tech #technology #update #web #webhosting #website #websites #webtools

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 180 “Free Online Business Tools”

Aug

10

Getting a formal education is important, and it’s a belief many people hold. But would it surprise you to learn that 33% of entrepreneurs listed high school as their highest level of education? According to the National Business Capital and Services, over half of small business owners in 2020 believe hands-on experience is more important than formal education. But with the amount of content out there today teaching people about how to run and market a business, it isn’t that surprising.

In addition to educational content, there are also numerous online tools that are free for users everywhere to use. Even college-educated professionals use them because as great as having a formal education is, the reality is is that business is constantly evolving. Some of our favorite free online business tools include Google Analytics, Pexels, and Canva. Google Analytics tells us how our website is performing, Pexels is a great source for royalty-free photos to use, and Canva makes it easier to design marketing materials like social media posts and more.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#b2b #blog #business #businesstips #canva #design #digitalmarketing #google #googleanalytics #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #newsletter #pexels #pspinc #sales #smallbusiness #socialmedia #tech #technology #web #webdesign #webtools

The Dangers of Artificial Intelligence Technology

Aug

8

While artificial intelligence (AI) has been around for a long time, it’s become much more as large strides continue to advance AI technology. AI-generated chatbots like ChatGPT are the latest popular AI technology used by Bing's AI-generated search engine. But experts in the field, including the quote-unquote godfather of AI technology, Geoffrey Hinton, are concerned about the danger it poses as the technology progresses. So much so that more than 1,000 technology leaders, researchers, and all-around AI experts signed an open letter, warning others about the risks AI technology presents.

What started as an exciting and innovative technology has since become a question of how best to proceed with it. The ethical questions of how far it can go have become existential. Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is developing so fast that it’s already surpassed human intelligence. And many are concerned it could mean AGI will eventually take over, which, admittedly, sounds more like a sci-fi movie rather than reality. But because of how fast AI technology is growing and how advanced it’s become; these concerns are only growing in validity. But aside from the existential risks that are potentially several years ahead, there are others that are more current. And even casual AI users have noticed a few of them.

3 Major Risks of AI

1. Lack of transparency

The way AI systems work, especially deep learning models, isn’t something users and most humans really understand. People can’t interpret where the information is coming from nor do they know how it came to its conclusions, which can lead to bias, discrimination, and misinformation. It’s easy for these systems to perpetuate biases in society inadvertently because of the algorithm it’s using to obtain information. And that can also lead to obtaining information that is also blatantly wrong. And these issues will only worsen if or when we rely on AI more and more.

2. Security risks

As great as AI technology can be to increase productivity, it also gives way for hackers and other malicious people to misuse the system to their advantage. Using it can lead to more sophisticated cyberattacks. And because of how much personal data AI technology collects and uses, it’ll also make that data more vulnerable to attacks.

3. Legal challenges

The legal challenges that come with using AI technology are more surrounding the fact that there is no set framework in place to regulate the use of it. Legal challenges arise when people use it to generate art or other types of content derived from another person’s work. Specifically, when people use their work to create something else. This just leads to fewer protections on intellectual properties for artists everywhere.

Where AI Will Go From Here

While there isn’t a clear and set solution in mind, one thing is clear: AI technology needs more regulation. As the technology progresses, it will only become smarter. It’s already surpassed human intelligence, and the outlook on how advanced it will be in just five years from now poses a real threat to society. While it is much more complicated than many of us can understand, it’s fair to say that it is growing rapidly at what many experts are saying is a dangerous pace. AI technology can be great at increasing productivity and processing data, but creating regulations and legal frameworks will be important moving forward to avoid the risks.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#advertising #agi #ai #aitechnology #art #artificialgeneralintelligence #artificialintelligence #bigdata #business #cybersecurity #data #intellectualproperty #law #privacy #security #tech #technology #web #webtools

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 179 “Simplify Your Products”

Aug

3

When creating a new product for your business, it’s important to make sure it’s easy for customers to use. The last thing you want your customer to experience is not knowing how to use your product or abandoning the sign-up process midway. It may give people a negative opinion of your product and perhaps even your company. Even if you think it’s self-explanatory, sometimes you just need to go through the entire process yourself. Then you can see if there’s anything that could be even remotely difficult for users. And it’s even more important to let employees that haven’t built the product try it out. What may be easy for your product developers isn’t necessarily easy for everyone else.

When we created our password manager, Pass Wizard, we had to reassess and rework the overall signup process. We had done all this promotional work, but we weren’t getting the results we were looking for. After going through it again, we realized we could make the overall onboarding process easier. So, that’s exactly what we did. After that, we marketed the product again, and we saw the difference; sign-ups for Pass Wizard increased and now we can happily say we have over 1,000 users! So, if your product isn’t selling as much as you’d like or expect it to, examine the checkout process and take another look at your product’s usability. You might find something that could use some tweaking.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #customerservice #cybersecurity #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #newsletter #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #smallbusiness #tech #technology #webdesign #webdevelopment #webtools

Sell Directly on Social Media with Social Shopping

Aug

1

The world of shopping online changed drastically when Instagram implemented a buy button in 2015. The next year, brands could tag products with a price tag in their images. Then, Facebook followed shortly afterward by launching Marketplace in 2018. And TikTok started testing TikTok Shop in November of last year.

However, reports are that TikTok is gearing up to launch TikTok Shop Shopping Center, which will become their e-commerce platform, taking TikTok Shop a step further. Rather than just buying directly from videos, lives, and creator profile bios, TikTok Shop Shopping Center won’t just be a marketplace for other retailers to sell merchandise, but a retailer itself. The details are still not entirely clear, but if successful, it could shake up social shopping as we know it.

Benefits of Social Shopping

friends standing with shopping bags on street and looking at phone

Not only are there billions of active social media users, but they’re also spending more and more time on social media. As of 2022, users spend an average of 151 minutes a day on social media, which is up from 147 from the previous year. And social commerce generated about $724 billion USD in 2022. Both according to Statista. Directly selling on social media just further expands your overall reach to more potential customers. And since social shopping makes so much in revenue, we know how successful businesses can be on it.

Social media, as a whole, is great for obtaining social proof. Especially since many customers look at things like reviews and use those to base their decisions on whether they’ll buy something. Making your products available to users on social media just makes it possible for more feedback, reviews, and recommendations for your business. It also makes it easier for users to convert to paying customers because they don’t have to leave the app to purchase. So, regardless of how TikTok’s upcoming TikTok Shop Shopping Center changes things, it’s safe to say social shopping is here to stay.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#advertising #app #business #businesstips #businesstools #digitalmarketing #ecommerce #facebook #facebookmarketplace #instagram #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #mobile #sales #smallbusiness #socialmedia #tech #technology #tiktok #twitter #web

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 178 “Create Temporary Menus with ImaMenu”

Jul

27

Recently, we noticed more website traffic for our free menu builder, ImaMenu, and saw it was going toward a customer’s menu site. Except it wasn’t what we expected; the menu wasn’t just your average restaurant menu, but it was instead the restaurant’s secret menu, which generally includes dishes restaurants can make but chose not to advertise. And it just reminded us how incredibly creative people can be.

ImaMenu can be used for much more than we ever intended it to. It doesn’t have to just stop at just a secret menu; you can create seasonal or other types of temporary menus, perfect for restaurants that love to take advantage of seasonal products. Or you can use it to use up a limited supply of a certain ingredient or create a menu for an event. ImaMenu makes it easy and free to create a temporary online menu. You can even add pictures to better entice your customers! Just sign up for free to get started.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #digitalmarketing #food #imamenu #marketing #menu #mobile #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #restaurant #searchengineoptimization #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #webtools

Everything You Need to Know About Press Releases

Jul

25

A press release is an official statement an organization sends out to news media. Then, the hope is that the media will report on that statement to spread the word about a new product or big change in your organization, be it a new product or new CEO. And it'll also generate more buzz and excitement for your company and new product. You should follow a specific format for press releases. They are not written in the same way as blog posts, which are usually more casual. After assembling a press release, organizations send it out to the media to publish. Namely publications, blogs, and press release distributors. The more it’s distributed and the bigger the media publication, the more exposure your company gets.

Even though it’s easy to dismiss them when there are multitudes of easier and cheaper ways to spread the word, press releases are still necessary. You can and should still post about your company news in blog and social media posts. But press releases provide an added layer of credibility and professionalism among customers and other business professionals. It’s not enough to just post about your company. You want other publications, especially those that are well respected in the business industry, to post about it, too.

How to Write a Press Release

With press releases, the general idea when writing one is to put all the important information first and then everything else afterward. In other words, you use what’s called the inverted pyramid technique. In the first paragraph, make sure to answer the five W’s and one H: who, what, where, when, why, and how. The first paragraph of a press release is also generally short, only consisting of the first two sentences. And it should include all the important factual information that goes right at the beginning. After that comes the rest of the information, starting with the most important information and ending with any additional but not necessary facts about the overall news. But, in addition to the order of how it’s written, press releases also have one very important characteristic; they are factual.

In a blog post and/or social media post, you can add as much of your opinion as you’d like. You can’t do the same in a press release. Therefore, you can’t call your company or product the “best” or add any other opinionated description. The only times you can add an opinion is if someone you’re quoting uses it. But when adding quotes, you want them to either come from someone high up in your organization or from a customer. If you want to include both, the company quote should always come first, and the customer quote can come later. Lastly, it’s also standard to add a company bio that tells readers more about who your company is and who they should contact for any additional questions.

Spreading the Word

man holding microphone while talking to another man

After writing a press release, it can’t just go on your website or your blog. So, it begs the question of where it should go if not your website. The answer is that there are a few different ways to go about distributing your press release to the appropriate audiences. First, the easiest way is to send it through a press release distributor like PR Newswire or eReleases. From there, using their connections, press release distributors issue it to their contacts and connections. And it ranges from various blogs to online publications. But another approach would be to do a media pitch.

A media pitch consists of reaching out to a reporter directly to gain exposure to your company and its news. If you have a relationship with a reporter, a media pitch is where you can use that to your advantage because the content is more aimed toward the reporter. For example, if your company’s switching to more sustainable packaging, you’ll want to find a reporter that typically writes about similar topics like climate change, sustainable practices in business, and more. But regardless, press releases are still relevant, but it follows a very specific format. While sharing a blog post or social post is much easier and cheaper, it doesn’t replace the publicity and credibility a press release does. And that’s exactly why companies, both big and small, still create them.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #branding #business #businesstips #businesstools #digitalmarketing #journalism #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #media #mediapitch #news #pressrelease #pressreleases #reporter #smallbusiness #socialmedia #tech #technology

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 177 “Marketing Your Website”

Jul

20

Creating a beautifully designed website can be great for business, but marketing your business shouldn’t stop there. You also need to make sure people know it exists. To do that, you can market your site by updating your site content and sharing the link to social media. Just because you have a great site, it doesn’t mean it always will be. There are plenty of obviously outdated websites still up online because the site owner never updated their site.

Other than updating antiquated website designs, the site’s content also needs to be updated. Not just to display relevant and correct information, but also to help with search engine optimization (SEO). In addition to that, marketing your site with social media can be a great way to spread the word. But promoting your business and site effectively is not always an easy feat. For more help with marketing your business, reach out to our expert marketing team.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#advertising #blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #digitalmarketing #google #marketing #newsletter #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #sales #searchengineoptimization #seo #smallbusiness #socialmedia #tech #technology #web #webdesign #websites #webtools

Grow Your Business with Social Media

Jul

18

Social media marketing is an invaluable asset to include in your digital marketing plan. It’s an easy but effective way to grow your business online. Most entrepreneurs today know how vital it can be to their business. But it’s what you do with social media that can make a real difference in how effective it can be. It’s not as simple as creating profiles on social media platforms; it’s about what you post.

There are currently billions of social media users worldwide. That only increases the number of potential customers and adds to brand awareness. It’s relatively inexpensive, and it gives you the opportunity to:

· Build your brand
· Grow your community online
· Increase website traffic
· Engage with your online audience
· Learn more about your customers
· Discover where to improve your overall business strategy

9 Social Media Marketing Tips

1. Create SMART Objectives

We’ve talked about SMART objectives here before, but when you do create them, make sure they align and inform your overall strategy. Every business’s objectives will be different, depending on the size of your business. Making sure your objectives are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely will help you grow your business sustainably.

2. Add relevant keywords to your social copy

Hashtags can be great, but they’re not the only thing social media algorithms parse for. They also look for relevant keywords in social media captions. Marketers still debate if hashtags are even effective marketing-wise on social media. For some, it helps increase overall exposure, for others, they don’t report any discernable difference. But adding relevant keywords to your captions will make it more likely that your posts will end up on someone’s For You or Explore page.

3. Target users

The great part about sponsored social posts is that you can easily target the right users to see your content. And finding the right users makes it much more likely they’ll purchase from you because it’ll show for users that are actually interested in what you’re trying to sell. While you can try to sell your products to everyone, the reality is that not everyone wants or needs what you’re offering. Plus, if you’re trying to sell to everyone, your ads end up being vague and uninspired, which won’t convince anyone to buy from you.

4. Focus on brand intent

Social media’s a great way to promote your products. But if all your posts are promotional, your business comes off sounding like a pushy salesperson. And no one likes that. Instead, focus on creating and curating content that shows people what your brand cares about. It won’t just give potential customers a better idea of what your company stands for, but it also results in a much more interested audience.

5. Market on multiple social media platforms

There are multiple major social platforms out there, and marketers alike use more than just one. Each one has something different to bring to the table, including a different audience. So, use that to your advantage! You can tailor your approach toward each platform, taking advantage of the best types of content, posting times, and posting frequencies.

6. Create an editorial calendar

To make it easier, you can plan content in advance with an editorial calendar. On it, add specifics like images, captions, hashtags (if you’re using them), links, and whatever else you want to add to your social posts. But remember, you don’t have to stick to what you have; it’s also encouraged to post something spontaneous sometimes. Especially since sometimes they perform better than what you already have planned.

7. Optimize your posting frequency

When marketing on social media, it’s not just about what you post, it’s about when. There are plenty of sources out there that recommend what times and days of the week work best for reach and engagement. But what works for others won’t necessarily work for you. So, try testing out different times and different days to see what works best for each platform. That way, you’ll get the most out of your social media marketing efforts for your business.

8. Create paid social ads

The way social media algorithms work is mysterious, but the one thing we know for sure is that paid social posts are guaranteed to get seen by more users. So, if you’re having problems with increasing overall reach, invest in paid social ads. Or you can boost or promote an already well-performing post. Regardless, research shows sponsored posts perform better on social media. Just don’t focus all your efforts on it; organic social posts still help tell your brand story online.

9. Interact with your audience online

Lastly, interacting with your followers and potential customers should be a vital part of your marketing plan. Engagement on social media is highly valued by each platform’s algorithm, so replying, reacting, and reposting other users’ content will increase your profile’s overall exposure. And it’ll encourage other users to do the same.

Marketing on social media isn’t always easy, especially since best practices are continually evolving. So, reach out to our team, who are experts in helping small businesses grow online.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#advertising #app #b2b #blog #branding #business #businesstips #businesstools #digitalmarketing #facebook #google #instagram #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #seo #smallbusiness #socialmedia #tech #technology #twitter #web #websites #webtools

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 176 “Different Types of Web Hosting”

Jul

13

Last week, we talked about having high-quality web hosting for your website. There are three different types of web hosting: shared, dedicated, and VPS. Shared hosting is usually what you’ll start with when starting your website as it’s the most basic, cost-effective form of web hosting. But for higher levels of isolation, security, performance, and control, dedicated hosting is the better choice.

Lastly, there’s VPS hosting, which is a cross between shared and dedicated web hosting. VPS stands for Virtual Private Hosting and is a single, virtual machine on a piece of physical hardware shared with other virtual machines. But unlike other hosting options, it gives you more control over your website with dedicated resources. That’s why we offer a dedicated VPS here at PSPINC. We customize every VPS to suit our customers’ needs, so contact us for details and pricing. To learn more about different types of web hosting, watch our YouTube video that breaks down each type in detail!

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.