PSPINC Official Company Blog

Announcement: Pass Wizard Server Security Update

Dec

9

To increase Pass Wizard’s overall security, we’ll be updating the Pass Wizard server next week. Unfortunately, we expect there will be a downtime of around 15 minutes while we make this update. The schedule is as follows:

*USA Pacific Daylight Time
December 16th (Friday) 5:00 – 5:15am

*Japan Time
December 16th (Friday) 10:00 – 10:15pm

PSPINC provides services with uptimes of 99.9%.

If you have any questions, please contact us at 1-800-232-3989 or email us at support@pspinc.com.

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 #customerservice #cybersecurity #marketing #pacificsoftwarepublishing #passwizard #passwordmanager #pspinc #security #servermaintenance #smallbusiness #softwaredevelopment #tech #technology #update #web #webdevelopment #website

The Difference Between B2B and B2C Marketing

Dec

6

When marketing a business successfully, a lot of research, strategy, and execution goes into it. But what works for one company won’t necessarily work for another. Even if both companies are relatively the same size and sell similar products. This is because their audiences and end goals can be completely different. One company could be selling computer software to everyday customers to use at home, while another could be selling something similar for other small businesses to use on a wide scale. Think of it this way: a customer buying a computer to use at home is very different from a customer buying computers for their entire office to use.

Therefore, a company’s marketing strategy towards one customer buying a computer is going to be completely different from one trying to sell to a business. And that’s why B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) marketing exist. B2B marketing refers to marketing to professional buyers, who are looking to purchase products or services that will benefit the company they work for. B2C marketing, however, refers to marketing toward individual customers.

B2C Marketing Strategies

A Woman in White Long Sleeves Tapping Her Phone on a Payment Terminal at the Counter

When marketing to individual customers, messaging is the most important aspect of your advertising efforts. With the right message, you can create loyal customers, confirm your credibility, and emotionally connect with your customers. And it will help in achieving the ultimate goal: motivating them to purchase from you. An effective way of delivering the right message is to evoke emotion in your ad copy.

The relationship between the brand and customer in B2B marketing is transactional in the sense that it’s quick and easy when done right. And the audience is much larger and broader compared to B2B businesses. So, it only makes it that much more important that your ad copy is effective. Because of how short the experience is between the customer and company, making sure it’s memorable will better ensure they’ll not only remember you but come back to purchase from you again.

B2B Marketing Strategies

Man in a Suit Talking with a Couple in an Office

Unlike B2C marketing, B2B focuses more on establishing a long-term relationship with customers. And your audience is much smaller compared to B2C. While there is some overlap between B2C and B2B marketing, B2B ad copy will usually consist more of establishing your positioning in the market and showcasing your expertise.

The best way to do that is by constantly creating educational content and keeping a line of communication open. B2B customers take much longer to make purchasing decisions compared to B2C. It’s because it’s not just a personal purchase, it’s one that they’re hoping will benefit their business, employees, and colleagues. So, it’s important to B2B customers that the products or services come from a reputable company. If the company provides plenty of content that shows off their expert knowledge, it makes B2B customers much more likely to purchase from 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.

#b2b #b2bmarketing #b2c #b2cmarketing #blog #branding #business #businesstips #businesstools #customerjourney #digitalmarketing #ecommerce #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #officetips #onlinemarketing #smallbusiness #web

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 144 “Advertising on Google”

Dec

1

For a small company, it can be hard to justify spending money on marketing. Especially when there are ways to promote your business for free through social media, email, and your own website. But there’s a reason why most small businesses use Google Ads. Organic posts will only get you so far. The biggest benefit that Google has to offer is brand awareness and reach. Sure, you can tell your family and friends all about your business. And share your website on social media. But it’s not enough.

There are billions of internet users out there, millions of which could be potential customers looking for what you have to offer. But they can’t purchase from you if you don’t know you exist. The best way to make sure that doesn’t happen is by advertising on Google. And it’s great for small businesses because it’s not super expensive like some other advertising avenues. So, even though you can market your business for free, it doesn’t mean you should.

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 #businesstips #businesstools #digitalmarketing #facebook #google #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #newsletter #pacificsoftwarepublishing #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #socialmedia #tech #technology #web #websites

PSPINC is #17 on Puget Sound Business Journal’s Asian-Owned Business List of 2022

Nov

30

We’re so excited to announce that we’ve made it onto the Puget Sound Business Journal’s list of Asian-Owned Businesses of 2022 at #17! For 35 years, Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. (PSPINC) has been helping small businesses everywhere grow their business online with digital products and services. And we couldn’t be prouder of the work we’ve done so far.

To see how we can help your business with your online needs, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

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.

#asianownedbusiness #award #b2b #blog #branding #business #businesstools #digitalmarketing #diversity #ecommerce #marketing #marketingdigital #pacificsoftwarepublishing #psbj #pspinc #pugetsoundbusinessjournal #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web

The Benefits of Authenticator Apps

Nov

29

For many online accounts, users can add an extra layer of security with two-factor authentication via authenticator apps. To do this, authenticator apps generate a six to eight-digit code every 30 seconds, which users will enter whenever they log into their accounts. According to Embroker, the pandemic has only accelerated cybercrime, as it’s increased by 600%. And it hasn’t only affected individuals, but small businesses as well. Therefore, multiple-factor authentication (MFA) methods have become more popular over the past few years. And some may argue they may become a norm in the next few years.

To use an authenticator app:

Sign up and install an authenticator app on your mobile device.

Go to any of your online accounts that support two-factor authentication (2FA).

Choose the option to use an authenticator app.

Tap on Add Account in your authenticator app.

Tap on Scan QR Code in your authenticator app and scan the code the website shows you.

Your authenticator app will add your account, giving your account a name and icon.

The next time you sign into your account, you will need to open your authenticator app to enter an access code, which will only last for about 60 seconds before a new code generates.

How Authenticator Apps Work

Authenticator apps use a time-based one-time password (TOTP), a standardized method that generates a routinely changing code based on a shared secret. When setting up 2FA with an authentication app, the server of whatever online account you’re using creates a secret key made up of random numbers and letters. Then, users can save this key by either scanning a QR code or manually entering the longer code into their authenticator app. Doing this then shares the secret key between the server and the user’s phone.

When logging into their account next time, the server asks for proof of this key by prompting users with an access code. Users will then have to open their authenticator app (be it Google, Microsoft, etc.) and enter a six to eight-digit access code to log in. This code, however, isn’t the secret key. Instead, the authenticator app uses a secure-hash function to mix the secret key with the current time to produce a temporary access code. To make it even more secure, the access code is only valid for about 60 seconds, making the code that much more unique.

Why Authenticator Apps Are More Secure Than Text-Based Verification

Another way to protect your online accounts can be through a text message or SMS verification. But SMS verification ties directly to a user’s phone number and SIM card. Ultimately, this means that anyone with access to a user’s phone and/or SIM card can log in with SMS verification. A cybercriminal can attain a user’s SIM card by convincing a mobile provider to send them a SIM card with your number. Or they can intercept your text messages, also known as a “man-in-the-middle” attack.

An authenticator app makes it harder for cybercrime to occur by constantly changing access codes after about 60 seconds. So, if thieves do manage to intercept both the access code and a user’s password, they have a very limited time to use it. And while there are still ways for criminals to hack your account, having 2FA in place for online accounts is still better than not having one at all. And it’s why our password manager, Pass Wizard, gives users the option to add 2FA to their account, either through SMS or one-time password (OTP) via an authenticator app.

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.

The term "QR Code" is a registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED.

#app #authenticatorapps #blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #cybersecurity #digitalmarketing #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #mobile #security #smallbusiness #softwaredevelopment #tech #technology #web #webdevelopment #webtools

How Personalized Marketing Can Benefit Your Business

Nov

22

With so many small businesses out there, it’s hard to convince customers to choose yours. Not only that, but you want those customers to stay with you long term. Customers want to feel special rather than just another customer. One way to do that is to personalize marketing messages to customers. Personalized marketing is when a business tailors marketing efforts based on collected customer data such as purchase history, interests, and demographic data.

According to Slideshare, 90% of customers find personalization very or somewhat appealing. And 80% of customers are more inclined to buy from companies that offer personalized experiences. Personalized marketing is, however, more than simply addressing customers by name in marketing emails. It can also include product recommendations based on purchase history, cart abandonment emails, birthday emails, and even personalized web pages or pop-ups for first-time or returning customers.

Benefits of Personalized Marketing

With so much content and advertisements out there, businesses won’t attract customers with irrelevant marketing messages. Personalized messages, however, will help retain customers and bring them back repeatedly. With personalized marketing messages, potential customers are more likely to convert into actual customers and purchase from you. It results in a better customer experience, one that may even be good enough to share online or with close friends. In turn, it simplifies the lead nurturing process, as personalizing improves the overall experience, increasing the likelihood that users will convert. And it’ll result in more customer engagement and feedback in the end.

As a business, you can also get valuable insight into your customers. By personalizing marketing efforts, you can see how customers shop, what they like, and what they don’t like. You can then use all this additional knowledge to see how effective your efforts are. More importantly, you can also improve in areas that could use an upgrade. With all this combined, it will ultimately lead to increased revenue.

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 #branding #business #businesstips #businesstools #customerfeedback #digitalmarketing #ecommerce #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #sales #seo #smallbusiness #socialmedia #tech #web #webdesign #websites

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 138 “Simplify the Purchasing Process”

Oct

20

Regardless of what kind of business you’re in, the end goal is the same: increase sales for your company. There’s a lot that goes into getting a potential customer across the finish line. All of these are outlined in a customer journey. But even after you attract customers enough to get them interested in what you’re selling, you can still lose them during the purchase process.

The best way to combat this problem is by simplifying the overall process. If customers find it too hard to purchase from you, they’ll simply walk away. With e-commerce giants like Amazon, it’s essential to make the checkout process as easy as possible. So, evaluate your overall purchase processes regularly to make sure there isn’t any friction that will stop potential customers from buying from you. After all, you can’t fix a problem if you don’t know it exists.

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 #customerservice #digitalmarketing #ecommerce #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #newsletter #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #sales #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web

How Businesses Can Grow with Influencer Marketing

Oct

18

Over the last few years, influencers have only become more common. More people today create content on social media in the hopes of becoming an influencer. With the growing popularity, businesses found it beneficial to engage in influencer marketing, which involves working with influencers to help grow their business online.

So, it’s no surprise how much the influencer marketing market has been steadily growing. According to the Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report from 2022, the global influencer marketing industry will reach an estimated $16.4 billion this year. With more customers spending more time online, it’s only accelerated over the last two years, jumping from $6.5 billion in 2019 to $9.7 billion in 2020.

Why Influencers?

Woman in Black Dress Sitting Beside Sofa Vlogging

Influencers are ideal partners for small businesses because many are seen as experts in their niche. But even if they aren’t, potential customers trust their recommendations more than other sources, especially brand-owned content. And despite the popularity of digital marketing tactics like paid search, 88% of people trust word-of-mouth recommendations more than digital ads, according to the Nielsen 2021 Trust in Advertising Study.

Influencers specialize in creating authentic content that people respond to. It only makes it easier for people to trust them, and to feel like they know them. In fact, the 21st Century Social Circle report from 2019 claims 50% of millennials feel they know social media influencers better than their friends do. And seven out of 10 trust their opinions just as much as the friends they know in real life.

Working with Influencers

Man with Professional Camera Filming Outdoors

While there are many influencers out there, it’s essential to choose one that fits with your brand. It’s tempting to pick the most popular one that will reach the largest audience. But your influencer marketing campaign needs to make sense to appeal to potential customers. Not just for your business, but for the influencer as well. It’s not about getting the biggest audience possible; it’s about reaching the right people. And the best way to do that is to choose an influencer with a similar voice, audience, and one that will be a natural fit with your brand. The best way of figuring this out is through extensive research into potential influencers and branded campaigns they’ve done in the past.

After that, it’s just a matter of reaching out to them. Businesses shouldn’t just choose one or two influencers to reach out to, and rather, 25-50 influencers. And this is primarily because many will just ignore your message, so contacting more will better ensure you’ll get a response. In this message, remember to point out the value you’re providing them. Other than that, it’s important to communicate clear guidelines while still giving influencers the room to be creative with the overall campaign. And if you’re lucky, it could become a consistent and collaborative partnership, resulting in more effective campaigns in the future.

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 #branding #business #businesstips #digitalmarketing #influencermarketing #influencers #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingonline #marketingtips #paidsearch #ppc #sales #smallbusiness #socialmedia #tech #technology #web #wordofmouth

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 137 “Content Marketing”

Oct

13

As a business, it’s important to build trust with your customers. But it’s even more important for small businesses. While your website may have an “About Us” or perhaps even a “History” page, it may not be enough for potential customers. People want to know more about the companies they buy from. Especially younger generations. Customers increasingly want to buy from brands that have the same values that they do. And it’s why we see big brands support different social issues, even if they are controversial.

For small businesses, one way to build trust easily is through content marketing. Content marketing involves creating and sharing content online, through social media, videos, and/or blog posts. The content itself isn’t explicitly promoting anything though. Instead, it demonstrates your company’s expertise. This blog post is an example of content marketing, by the way. And while website traffic is the only directly measurable thing you can track, it will undoubtedly grow your business sustainably. So, while creating content that isn’t directly selling may seem counterintuitive, it’s well worth it in the long run.

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 #branding #business #businesstips #contentcreation #contentmarketing #customers #digitalmarketing #growth #marketing #marketingtps #newsletter #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #sales #smallbusiness #socialmedia #video #web #website

Announcement: DENREI’s 6th App Release Out Now!

Oct

6

We’re so excited to announce that we’ve updated our secure private messaging broadcasting app, DENREI! For users in both the U.S. and Japan, the app's available for download in the App Store. If you already have the app, please update the latest version from the app store.

In the sixth app release, we’ve made the following updates:

Added a zoom and download feature for images to make it easier for users to see image details they may miss from afar.

Revamped the “About” section of the app and added release notes, release dates, and the link to the DENREI website to inform users more about DENREI and how to stay up to date with DENREI app changes.

Made various styling and UX improvements and minor bug fixes to improve our members’ overall experience with the DENREI app:

1. With a single click of a button, users can now delete and/or approve followers, making it easier to manage followers.

2. Users can now reply to a follower without going back to the top of the message now that we’ve added the “Reply” button to the bottom of messages.

3. The inbox, side menu, community, and incoming messages now look a little different as we’ve partially changed the background color and font size to make them easier to see and understand.

4. To make it easier to manage folders, we've added icons next to each folder name as well as a button to create a new folder.

5. The language-setting button is now a drop-down menu, making it easier to see your language preference.

To learn more about DENREI's amazing features, head over to our blog announcement blog post. To sign up, download the free DENREI app today! Only available for iOS 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.