Most people who are around the small business community have heard that they need to use social media to help get information out on the web about them and their business or non-profit. My Carolina Today had a great video about how to use Social Media for business/ non-profit. If you are still confused after watching this video feel free to give us a call and we’ll sit down with you to talk about it. We can help you start using social media or we can help you maintain your social media. The web can be an overwhelming place and is moving in new directions faster and faster… make sure you keep up with it.

Each day one of the first questions that we get asked is “what can I do to protect myself and my identity while online?” First and foremost we tell everyone to be cautious what you put on the web. The web never forgets. You can do searches and find things online from the original inception of the internet. Our company has even found things that were posted in the early ’90’s still out there indexed for people to find. The internet never forgets.

However, with the outgrowth of social media and information indexes growing by leaps and bounds each day we are finding more and more information that is being saved and able to be indexed right now or even years later. Something you say in a forum today will be able to be searched and researched by our children in the future. Add to that the instant update always connected to the net people who use social media for whatever reason who post things that are potentially dangerous to themselves. More likely than not, they didn’t even think it was posting something that could be dangerous. Every day we read horror stories of how someone’s house was robbed while they were away on vacation, all because they “tweeted” or status updated that they were out of town. There is even a whole website dedicated to spreading how dangerous this can be. (See the site Please Rob Me).

Every day there are people who are online or see what you are doing and can be vicious if they want to be. Does this mean that we need to stop all social media? No, it doesn’t. As a company we have a blog (see what you are reading right now) and we have a twitter account and a facebook. However, we take precautions to make sure that we don’t post something that could be dangerous to us or our clients. We use common sense when posting. Do we say we are visiting somewhere, sometimes, but we don’t post things like how long we will be gone. We also don’t post public things about our children on the internet.

The key is just to be cautious. You can use Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, Etc…but just remember that the internet never forgets and if someone sees it, they could be out to do something malicious, mean, hurtful, or even downright illegal. Protect yourself, your property, and your identity. If you have any questions and aren’t sure what is safe to post, just ask. We’ll gladly be there to help you figure out what is too much or too revealing. Good luck and be safe out there.

Recently SE Tech Support (See Tech Support) was introduced to a new little piece of technology called a Poken. At first we were skeptical about what this was and why it is important to the new world of business networking.

The biggest problem with a business card is that you get a hand full of them by the end of a networking event and you aren’t even sure who these people are and why you talked to them in the first place. The idea moving forward with new technology is to solve the problem of the ever growing pile of business cards that never end up getting back into your local contacts via Outlook or other mail program that most people use to handle their contacts.

There is a new little thing out there that can make our lives so much easier. This new item is the Poken. This cute little piece of equipment breaks down to being a little USB device that connects directly into your computer and even directs to you the website to allow you to manage your contacts directly through them. There is even a nice way to download from the website to your mail contact managers. The nice thing is directly on the Poken website you get a timeline that includes everything including a picture if the user has uploaded one. This allows for a little easier recognition of who you have met and when. This also allows for you to get a lot of their social networks that they are registered with if they have linked it to their account. Also, since it is on a website it lets you have immediate updates if they change any of their information. If this has you curious and wondering what this thing is check out their website at Poken.

As a technology management company we have expanded our services to help people manage their social media and we can also help upload your new Poken or help you purchase your poken. Give us a call or email us and we can discuss all the different possibilities that you have with a Poken.

Southeast Technology Management Services now d.b.a. SETECH (See Tech) Support believes that gold support should not just be for those who are willing to pay top dollar for it. We firmly believe that every customer is a valuable customer and without our customers our company would not be where it is now. Therefor we have tried very hard to create low cost solutions offering things like monitoring & maintenance plans as low as $25/ work station and $35/ server. This cost includes your windows updates, anti-virus protection updates, anti-malware checks, hardware checks, and even a half hour of phone/ remote support if you do have a problem. We want to be able to help any level of client with the perfect level of service for their business.

We believe strongly is good customer service. We try to always go above and beyond the best expectations of our clients in order to provide that “gold” level of service for everyone.

So if you would like to know more about our “gold service for all” policy, feel free to contact us and we can work with you to tailor the right level of service and maintenance for your needs.

SETMS has been working with a group of people to make our look, our name, and our selves better than ever. We want to be your all in one technology support team. We also want to make our name something that sticks in your mind a little better than Southeast Technology Management. So keep an eye on our website, our logo, and other places to see the exciting new changes that we will be unveiling over the next couple of weeks!

Southeast Technology understands the need for the small business community to support each other. We firmly believe that if others succeed then we as a company will succeed. On that note, SETMS would like to congratulate Atlantic Tire & Service upon opening their third location off of Glenwood Avenue. You can find their website at Atlantic Tire & Service.

Southeast Technology Management Services (SETMS) is proud to celebrate our first anniversary as a company in the Triangle. We have to say a big thank you to our clients for helping us to make it through our first year. Without you, we wouldn’t be here. You have helped us grow and prosper greatly in our first year.

As we start our second year we are looking forward to all the great things that we will have to offer our clients. SETMS is getting ready to reveal the new and improved service plans that include help desk time, automatic backups and computer defrags. We are also excited about a new ticketing systems that we are going to integrate with our website to allow our customers the ability to send a help desk ticket directly to our technicians. Also, we are pleased to announce that we just recently have become registered Microsoft Partners allowing us to provide even better support for Windows programs.

Last but not least, SETMS is also getting ready to unveil a host of other services that we will be offering in the administrative vein. We will be working to help support those small to medium businesses or home based businesses that might have administrative tasks that get pushed to the background. With over 10 years of administrative/ executive assistant experience we have a strong background that we can bring to the table to help your business. For any questions you might have concerning the administrative side of things, please email Andrea at aearmstrong@setms.com. If you wondered what virtual assistants could do for you please feel free to check this out… This spells out a nice breakdown for the type of virtual assistant work that we are trying to build.

Southeast Technology Management Services wishes each and every one of you a very happy and safe 2010.

We also wish to congratulate our clients at Six String Cafe & Music Hall who are now open for business. There is a great write up to be read at http://www.newsobserver.com/entertainment/story/262037.html .

Please go support them and enjoy a great meal and a show!

Southeast Technology Management Services would like to take a minute to express our sincere thanks to our clients, vendors, and friends.  Without you we would not have come this far in our first year!  Please note that we will be closed on Thursday, November 26, 2009 and Friday, November 27, 2009 as we take this time to celebrate the holiday with our friends and family.  We wish you all a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday.

I’d also like to take this moment to share a video of one of our clients who needs special thanks.  Thank you to Pretty in Pink Foundation for everything you do for Women in NC suffering from Breast Cancer.

We will be adding plain language computer tips and info for our clients and friends every week or two so please check back soon.

With regards,

PA