Jacquelyn Lynn, Business Writer, Speaker

Before you dump those old computers, clear off the hard drives

Maybe you’ve upgraded your equipment or downsized your company—whatever the reason, if you’ve got some old computers, don’t sell, trash, or give them away until you’ve erased the data from your hard drives.

 

“It is fairly easy for someone else to recover files from used hard drives,” said James Wiebe, president/CEO of WiebeTech, a provider of data security and data mobility solutions. “As a test, we bought used drives on eBay and recovered everything from corporate data to email conversations to financial data to legal documents.”

 

WiebeTech has introduced Drive eRazer™, an affordable (prices range from $100 to $200) hardware solution that does not require a computer and can completely remove data from a hard drive without destroying the drive itself.

 

If you shred your paper documents before discarding them (and you should!), you need to “shred” the data on your hard drives before discarding them as well. Wiebe pointed out, “As many people discover too late, trashing a file does not erase it from a hard drive.”

 

If you’re getting rid of old computers, it’s a worthwhile investment to make sure the drives are clean—failing to do so could be a very expensive mistake.

 

Jacquelyn Lynn

Note: This is not a paid endorsement; I have not been compensated by WiebeTech nor have I tried this product. I received a press release and thought the information was worth sharing.

Money-Saving Tips for Your Business

Even though there are hints of a recovery on the horizon, that's no reason to waste money. Check out the article I have just posted, Buying and Spending Smart: Ways to Save Money in Your Small Business, for some money-saving ideas that might work for you in your operation.

Jacquelyn Lynn

Treat Social Media Like a Cocktail Party

When it comes to marketing, I think David Meerman Scott is a wise -- as in, really smart -- guy. I personally don't participate a lot on the various social networking sites. I have a Facebook page I don't do anything with, and a LinkedIn page that has helped me connect with a lot of colleagues, but I don't use it as much or as profitably as I could -- which is to say, I'm not a social networking expert, especially when it comes to using social networking as a marketing tool.

So don't take my advice, but do consider David's advice when he recommends treating social media like a cocktail party. Essentially, he says, don't do anything on a social media site that you wouldn't do face-to-face with someone over a drink and hors d’oeuvres. Don’t engage in pushy sales tactics. Be polite. Be helpful.

Click to read David’s blog post, “Social media is a cocktail party.”

Jacquelyn Lynn

Another Lesson in Online Reputation Management

Over the last not-quite-two years, I have written three times about a company, using the conduct of its service technician and senior management to illustrate some important customer relations issues.

 

Here's the background:

 

In August 2007, I first wrote about this company and the lessons that both consumers and businesses could learn from the situation that was described in Greg Dawson’s Orlando Sentinel column. Click here to see that post. (All of Dawson's columns referred to here are available in the archives at www.orlandosentinel.com for a small fee)

 

In September 2007, I posted a follow-up to that article. Click here to read that post.

 

Fast-forward to a year later: In August 2008, someone with this company e-mailed me and asked me to take the posts down, claiming the information wasn’t true. I offered to post his response on this blog, but he did not answer me on that. Click here to see the post I put up about that.

 

I would have completely forgotten about this except for the fact that my blog gets comments from people who want to share their experiences with this company. And then on May 11, 2009, I received notice that this company had sued me for slander (note: the correct term would be libel) in Boston. The claim states that I have no proof the incident ever happened and that "the post was removed by the original source due in part that their facts were fraudulent." Well, the "original source" was the Orlando Sentinel and the article wasn't removed due to any error but simply archived as the Sentinel regularly does.

 

When Greg Dawson learned of the suit, he shared the story in his May 24, 2009 column in the Orlando Sentinel, “Business digs itself a deeper hole.”

 

The trial is scheduled for July 20. I’ll keep you posted.

Jacquelyn Lynn