This year, thank G-d, has been quite busy at Avenue M Computers.

We wanted to thank you, our customers, for making this year such a success.

While looking over the past year, we decided to briefly discuss the newsletters which received the most feedback.

Which was your favorite? We want to know! Click HERE to let us know. We are looking forward to your response.

Email 56

Password Tips

There are numerous ways to create and organize your passwords.

Our favorite?

Use one crazy, yet easy to remember password, and change it for every website or program.

What do we mean?

To create the “standard” password:

(1) Think of your favorite book or saying.

(2) Take the first letter of each word.

(3) Make at least one letter capital.

(4) Interchange or add in a digit or two (“i” to “1”)

(5) Interchange a letter for a symbol (such as “s” to “$”)

(6) We recommend making sure this password is 6-8 characters long.

And then, to change the password based on the program:

Email 88

New Scams

Be wary of the phone call asking you to set up a remote session to show you hundreds of errors on your computer.

Email 72

Yahoo Closed Accounts

In the beginning days of emails, creating an account generally incurred a cost and people did not create email accounts for no reason.

Now that email accounts are generally free to create, some email providers are running out of email addresses.

Therefore, as of July 15th, 2013, Yahoo gave away email addresses which had not been entered in the past 12 months.

This posed a security danger for those who have their “forgotten passwords” linked to the old accounts.

Email 81

Catching Up

iOS7 – the pros and the cons.

Well, for many at this point, it does not matter since many apps require the updated OS.

What are your thoughts on iOS7?

Email 65

Google Alerts

Want to be updated as something happens, or perhaps a daily digest is adequate?

Set up a Google alert to notify you – whether it’s a item you wish to purchase or a news article. Follow the steps below  to set up a Google alert.

1. What would you like to be alerted about?

When you enter information into this question, the right side of the page populates with what you would see with this search.

2. Where do you want the information to come from?

Some may want from “everything”, while others may want to limit their search to videos or blogs.

3. How often would you like to be alerted?

As-it-happens, once a day or weekly. Whichever you prefer, Google will accommodate!

4. Do you want all related information or a more narrowed display?

Do you want Google to sift through the data and only give you what they deem relevant, or would you like to see the information and determine that on your own?

5. Where should the alerts appear?

Would you like the alert(s) to appear in your email or on your feed?

Email 84

Website Basics

PPC, SEO, Social Marketing and Social Engagement.

Words which were unknown to business owners a few years ago have now become the core components to many business owners. 

Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) – This is when you pay the large search engines every time someone clicks on your ad. Prices vary based on location time and keywords.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – Make sure your site is constantly being optimized for the major search engines to find and categorize your website. This may include keywords, tags and blogging.

Social Marketing – In addition to, or instead of, paying for ads and marketing experts for print ads, you can do the same on social networks. By getting out there and letting people see you exist on the various social media outlets (with links to your site) you can increase the amount of clicks to your site – which will hopefully translate into sales.

Social Engagement – Instead of pushing out data to the social networks, some people prefer to engage their customers and potential customers with questions and chats to allow for a human interaction.

Email 54

Free Tools

Looking for a free alternative for some commonly purchased programs?

Alternative to Word?

Open Office

Looking for a way to convert a page into a PDFor to save a particular web page to your desktop?

Try CutePDF

Alternative to Outlook?

Mozilla Thunderbird

A free anti-virus program?

Security Essentials, Avast or AVG

Looking for a free filter?

K9