Mar 14 2011

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Is Your Blog Contributor Killing Your Site?

So you had your site running for some time now and ready for the next leap? That’s right you know what I mean – Opening a guest blogging opportunity for other bloggers to write guest posts on your site and take your blog to a whole new level with a third-person’s perspective and giving it a fresh feel to your regular readers I don’t further need to tell you the effectiveness of guest blogging let us get down to the most important thing that comes bundled with a guest blogging opportunity – your sites security!

Yes! If you thought that a harmless looking ‘I want to submit a guest post in your site’ is the beginning of it, then I hate to tell you that it might even be the ending of it all unfortunately!

>>>So Let Us Get Down To Evaluating What We Are Battling<<<

Cookie Sniffing Via Javascript Injection

Instead of me scaring you let us go the fun way – Let us try it on our own as an experiment.

You can modify the page source of any webpage using javascript injections:

1. First register at your own site as a guest
2. After logging in paste following script in the URL bar: “javascript:alert(document.cookie)”. This will show the data which the site has stored within a cookie on that site about you, look for a format “user_id=something” or “PHPSESSID=something”. Typically in a default WordPress Installation the string’s value is 1,which corresponds to the admin
3. “javascript:void(document.cookie user_id=1);alert(document.cookie);”. Now the user_id’s value is reset to 1 so refresh the page and you should be logged in as the administrator.

Check for yourself by doing the above and if you are able to successfully login as an admin with the new user name then your site is vulnerable to PHP and javascript injections. If you can’t authenticate as the admin when refreshed then you have a relatively secure installation Imagine a guest blogger or competitor doing that to you Scary isn’t is?

Don’t Panic yet – there is a way to make sure your site is, and stays YOURS!

1. Assign Write permissions to only admin user account
2. Set the default setting for directories as 755 and files as 644
3. Use 750 for wp-config so your login data remains accessible only to you not even your host.
4. Pick up the wp-config.php from its default location (root directory) and place it one location above Your wp-config.php contains all your login details, passwords and access rights. You would not want that file in the root directory which is accessible to everyone since your sites public files lie there. The wp-config.php works fine from a level above and this measure alone will protect you from a host of sniffing attacks
5. Place a blank html file named index.htm in your /plugins folder so that the plugin folder files itself are not accessible and whenever a person tries to access the directory they will be presented with what is there in the index.htm file. This saves you from any vulnerability the plugin creator may have overlooked in his plugins and you never know how a plugin is coded

Conclusion

Any website is like a bank. There are many bad people around and you can never be absolutely sure that the vault is secure even if you have the best security in place. The reason I used the bank analogy is because websites and banks operate in a similar fashion – they need to open the doors a lot of time for people to come in and go out and you cant keep the doors shut all the time in the name of security.

So the only measure we have as online business owners is to prevent an attack right at the source But that would not guarantee a fool proof safe site because new loop holes keep cropping up in the frameworks every day and hence it is always safe to keep a backup of all important files and databases.

Unfortunately Spiderman’s uncle passed away before the boom of the internet marketing era otherwise he would have given a different set of advice to our favorite super hero – With great power comes greater risk of getting hacked!

Let me know if you have worked out these security measures already and also share with us if there are any extra measures you have taken to make sure your site stays secure.

Written By:

Rohan Pawale | SEO tips for business blogs | @Techlunatic

Rohan Pawale is a computer engineer in love with all aspects of organic SEO and blogging and regularly shares advanced SEO tips for business blogs and viral marketing methods on his blog . You can also connect with him on twitter @Techlunatic

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This guest post is by Tricia Lawrence of Rrealbrilliant.com

I’m not one of those people who relies solely on search engine optimization to get me to the top of the heap. I am paid to write blogs for clients every week, and they focus on their SEO enough for the both of us.

Positioning has another meaning to me. It’s content-focused and deals only with how my content and expertise is positioned in my audience’s head.

You can’t get those results from a Google or Bing search. You can only get that from positioning yourself, either weakly or strongly. Either way, you’ll learn quickly.

Learning about this “mental positioning” may seem like it has no place in social media strategy. After all, it’s not exactly a social media tool per se. But there’s more to blog marketing than just loading content onto your Facebook and Twitter profiles. If you’re using social media to talk without giving any thought to who is listening, you’re not positioning yourself whatsoever.

What’s your story?

This is what you feel compelled to share, to write a blog about, to speak about, to share with others. What is the best way to communicate that story? Is it social media? (I always suggest yes, it is.) But what about other channels: public speaking, webinars, or teaching what you know to an entire company? Social media works well when you’re presenting ideas and links as teasers to your platform. Social media should point the way to you and your story.

What’s your audience?

Who you’re speaking to has a lot to do with how you will present your message. A lot of the younger generation may not use email, but if you speak to any other generation, you’ll want to use email. If you’re teaching people how to be Luddites and to stick to typewriters out of protest to the wasting of bandwidth whenever someone tweets about Britney Spears, then yes, you can stay off of social media quite easily. How does your audience use social media? What do they look at online? What kind of solutions are they looking for when they come looking for your story?

What’s your influence?

When you are positioned in your audience’s mind, your influence can reach quite far. How far? Your core audience shares you with their core audience, who in turn share you with theirs. Sometimes it’s who you know, but sometimes it’s not. Your goal is to be visible to many, but to attract a chosen few. Sure, we’d all love everyone to pay attention to us, but that’s just not going to happen. Let’s be realistic and focus on the audience we can influence toward our solution and our expertise.

What’s your engagement?

Positioning yourself online is mistakenly viewed as just about Twitter followers and just about retweeting what you find interesting. Successful positioning includes much more. As your story is communicated over and over and over, you’ll learn how to say it differently; you’ll also learn your audience’s lingo. As they interact with you, you’ll learn more from them. Engaging is not getting something or giving something more than the other: it’s about the even exchange, the leverage both parties give to make the other successful. As you learn what your audience wants from you, they learn more about your story and what you can give to them. Both parties benefit.

One last word: Even if you’ve been positioned or have positioned yourself weakly (notice I use the words weak and strong versus right and wrong; I hate for people to view this as being black and white, because the Internet is much more a gray area), it’s never too late to reposition. You can always strengthen your position by going back to these four questions. They are at the core of a strong position.

Let Google change algorithms every hour if they want to! Let Bing see the traffic coming to your site every day! You just keep right on strengthening your position. Have you positioned your blog strongly on social media?

Tricia Lawrence is an author, teacher, and speaker, helping the publishing industry, specifically authors, position their blogs and books to sell. Tricia’s book, The Social Network(s): A Field Guide for Writers will be out on Kindle in March and she’ll appear at several tech and writing conferences in 2011. Sign up for Tricia’s biweekly eZine, Please Write Like You Talk at http://www.realbrilliant.com. Tricia is on Twitter @realbrilliant.

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March 14, 2011

The New “Places” Feature on Facebook – What It All Means

With over 500 million people using Facebook, you may have noticed your friends checking-in

around town (or even around the country). How are they doing this? They're using Facebook "Places" – a free feature that "allows you to see where your friends are and share your location in the real world," according to our pals at Facebook. The advantage of Places to small businesses is it provides a social media platform for marketing and promotion, and an opportunity to build customer loyalty. Who doesn't need that?

Here's how it works: A "Place" page shows you a map of where the Place is located, a list of friends who are currently checked in at the Place (if any), as well as a Friend Activity stream of other friends who have visited the Place in the past. So how can you get Places working for your business?

Take Your Place on Facebook Places

First off, claim your Place by following the instructions provided by Facebook. Then you'll be on your way with a few simple tactics. It's easier than you think because you're probably already doing most of this stuff in other channels (like email marketing).

What's In It For Me?

Similar to Foursquare, which allows businesses to provide special offers to their "mayor" or at check-in, you can offer special discounts or giveaways to customers who show that they've checked in with Facebook Places during their visit. Make sure you have signs posted in your location to encourage users to check-in and receive a special offer.

Keep 'Em Coming Back

Getting new customers is good for business, but getting loyal repeat customers is the real deal. Provide a special discount for every certain number of Facebook Places check-ins to keep your customers coming back time and time again. For example, check in 5 times in a month and get a free coffee, or check in 2 times a year and get a free oil change.

Use What You've Got 

You already have a list of loyal customers and email subscribers, so let them know you're on Facebook and have a Place by sending out an email and encourage them to check-in the next time they stop by. Remind them what they'll get by doing so and you'll be rewarded in the long run.

As a note, Places is available to users in select countries with mobile access to the Facebook application for iPhone, Android, Blackberry v1.9, or touch.facebook.com. According to Facebook, Places will be rolled out more broadly and to other mobile devices and the web in the future.

How will you use Facebook Places? I'd love to hear and share your ideas with our readers!

Related posts:

The 411 on Facebook Insights
Add a VerticalResponse Opt-In Form to Your Facebook Pages

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Nellie Akalp is CEO of CorpNet.com, her second incorporation filing service based on her strong passion to assist small business owners and entrepreneurs in starting and protecting their business. She has formed more than 100,000 corporations and LLCs across the U.S. To learn more about Nellie and see how she can help your business get off the ground quickly and affordably, please visit here.

There’s a classic children’s book, Swimmy, where a school of little fish team up and swim as one big fish to avoid being eaten. I often read this story at bedtime to my children and when I do I often realize the story line is so close to my heart as I consider the challenges facing small businesses and startups today. Because frankly (and I don’t mean to carry this metaphor too far … ), the small business is swimming in an ocean that’s far more dangerous than ever before.

Accessing business capital and credit has been particularly difficult over the past years. Consumer and business purse strings have been tight. Now we’re facing sky-rocketing fuel prices and worries over potential inflation. And large corporations grow larger and more powerful with every passing day (even “too big to fail” companies just seem to get bigger).

Now more than ever, small businesses need to band together in order to compete with their larger counterparts. It’s only by joining forces that small businesses can achieve economies of scale and have a voice that can compete with larger corporations. There is power in the collective, and businesses can harness the power of community to move forward.

So what does this mean? If you’re a small business, seek out symbiotic and collaborative relationships with other small businesses whenever possible. Whether formally or informally, build a collective co-op of like-minded businesses and individuals. Small businesses need to look at each other as partners, not competitors. Here are just a few tangible examples of how to join forces in the small business market.

1. Join a Local Meetup Group for Entrepreneurs

Whether the plumber recommends a carpenter or the web designer recommends a copywriter, business is driven by referrals and connections. Local groups — which may meet monthly in a café or hotel conference area — aim to tap into the power of collaboration, support, and most importantly, referrals. Use them to develop relationships and share advice with fellow entrepreneurs and small business owners. Check Meetup.com or your local chamber of commerce for a relevant group in your area.

If you’ve built a strong Twitter network, organize a Tweetup in order to parlay that network into an even more powerful experience through face-to-face networking. And if referrals are very important to your business, you can also consider the word of mouth referral group BNI. These groups are more structured (and have a modest fee) where local professionals meet (each chapter allows one person from each profession to join) for the sole purpose of sharing referrals, marketing tips and testimonials.

2. Join a Virtual Community for Startups

Maybe structured, in-person meetups aren’t your thing. Or your business doesn’t necessarily target local customers and clients. You can join a social network or virtual group for like-minded small business owners to exchange advice, get support, build partnerships, find help and more.

For example, Entrepreneur Connect (which is part of the Entrepreneur Network and Entrepreneur.com) bills itself as “a dynamic business-to-business marketplace that will help everyone grow.”

3. Join the Small Business Web