PSPinc Official Company Blog

Over the next few weeks, we’ll dive into strategies that will help you take your email marketing campaign to a new level. First, we need to establish what makes an email campaign “successful” and some basic tips for improving on your current campaigns.

Don’t have an email marketing plan? Good news, we're here to help you get started!

Define your Objective

Before you start thinking about a witty subject line or writing your content, you need to establish your main objective for your campaign. Do you want to drive traffic to your website? Maybe you want to introduce a new product or increase sales. Whatever your objective is, define it clearly and specifically. This will affect how you format and write your emails.

Choose Your Audience

Not every email should go to every customer. Try to define and segment your email lists so you can target specific audiences. For example, emails with special offers or discount only available in select states wouldn’t be helpful to your entire customer base because they may not be able to use them. Being specific when defining your audience allows you to be more targeted in your tone and call to action – which should help increase engagement.

Personalize the Email

This one goes hand-in-hand with choosing your audience. We all get more emails than we want, so, if you want someone to take notice of your email, you need to get personal. Adding a personal touch, like referring to them by name, can separate your email from the obvious copy-and-paste emails we all get that are often addressed with the wrong pronouns.

Write Enticing Subject Lines

The golden egg of email marketing – this is your one chance to get their attention and entice them into opening your email. Short and clear subject lines work well and have a professional feel. Subject lines with a message of urgency are effective but may give some customers the illusion of spam. Test out different subject lines and try to analyze the connection between your subject line and your open rate. Make sure your subject line represents the email content accurately.

Keep It Simple / Call-To-Action

Congrats! They’ve opened up your email; you’re halfway there. Now you need to keep their attention and get them to take action. Don’t clutter your email with too much text, different font styles, or outdated designs. When in doubt keep it as simple as possible. End your emails with a call-to-action. You don’t want them to get this far and completely forget about your email after they read it. Be clear and make the call-to-action stand out.

According to the FTC Sentinel 2017 report, the type of email scams that tricked people the most were shop-at-home catalog sales, followed by business and job opportunities. Email scams reported to the FTC totaled more than 70,000, with a loss of $101 million. That’s a sad number. And those stats are based on what was reported, meaning those numbers could be higher based on unreported cases.

Often the scammer email looks like an opportunity to make extra money doing things like promoting a new franchise, working from home, making investments, and attending business seminars. Just know this – there is no easy money to make when it comes to email solicitations. Remember, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. And if they’re asking for payment via wire transfer, the intent is clear – to steal your money and run away.

If you want to check the company’s authenticity, contact the local better business bureau, check state business registration records, and other established agencies. If you find their website online, check to see if their domain registration is legitimate (hopefully it’s not privacy protected so you can verify). You can also check D-U-N-S which is the acronym for Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) “Data Universal Numbering System.” Many corporations register for a DUNS Number and D&B can give you the credit report.

Please note, however, that scammers have no qualms about swiping company logos and posing as a legitimate company, so again, if you have any questions about an email, or if it seems fishy, send it to us at PSPinc. Make sure you educate your staff about this issue as well so they know what to look for, and your company can stay free and clear of online theft.

Source: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/reports/consumer-sentinel-network-data-book-2017/consumer_sentinel_data_book_2017.pdf

One of the most common phishing emails we see is a scam asking you to renew your domain name registration. It looks very authentic by including your domain name, your name, and the registration period. Since it’s scary to think about losing your domain name, it makes you want to act quickly without thinking. But take a second look before you have a knee-jerk reaction.



The picture above is one example of a fake domain expiration notice. If you look closely at the small print, it’s actually trying to get you to register or renew your domain for a search engine optimization (SEO) submission service – a program you never signed up for in the first place. It’s a trick to get you to sign up for something you don’t want, and/or collect your credit card info!

Most phishing scams will ask for credit card information, so never, never give it up unless you have verified the source is legitimate. If you don’t remember where you registered your domain, call your hosting provider, such as PSPinc, to ask where your domain is registered. All domain names are registered at ICANN, certified registrars, and many hosting companies (like us) take care of the domain name registration on your behalf so you don’t have to worry about renewals.

Scammers can check your domain registration information as well, and then they simply steal logos from the registrar pages to make their emails seem authentic. The general rule of thumb is don’t click on anything. Instead, go check your domain registration information at InterNIC’s (Internet Network Information Center) Whois server. Enter your domain and you’ll get a lot of information about your domain, including the dates for your registration period.

For an added fee, you can add privacy protection to your domain – which means your registration information will be hidden from public access. Or, you can easily call us at PSPinc if you have any questions and we can take care of it for you.

Scaring people into action -- this is the latest scam tactic we’ve seen. It’s unfortunate the amazing internet technology we’ve created to improve our quality of life is now being used against us in this vicious way. It’s an interesting era in which we live where technology is so helpful and also a bit scary. But don’t get caught up in the scare tactics; instead, get informed.

The latest scam is a “Bitcoin Blackmail” scam. It started this summer, spreading all across internet with some variations to its message. The image below is a sample message, which you may have seen in your inbox. The email will look like it came from you! Which gives off the appearance that someone hacked into your email account. And they will start the email with a paragraph that’s intended to scare you.



They will write something like ‘they know your secret’ because they hacked into your system with a virus (trojan). They’ll claim to have been watching you via the computer camera, catching all your computer data and activity, or reading all your emails. They demand that you pay a sum of several hundreds of dollars in bitcoins, and some even have a token (BTC wallet) number to complete the transaction.

We’ve even seen the translated version of similar scams in other languages. I can tell you the one I read in Japanese easily gave itself away. It’s clear an automated translator was used and the poor translation alone indicates it’s likely a scam.



If you get one of these messages, please do not panic! Read it again if you need to, contact your service provider or PSPinc, and send it to us for analysis. Save your email in a message format and attach it to an email for us rather than forwarding the email, so we don’t lose any of the content. Ultimately, the best thing you can do is not take any action until you know the source of the email.

If you do pay someone and realize later it was fraud, please contact the FBI right away. The FBI has an online form for you to file a complaint. It’s not mobile-friendly, so it’s easier to fill it out on your PC, but hopefully they'll update the form to a responsive design soon!

Scammers and spammers are getting more and more sophisticated, masking their scams to look like legitimate communication. Even here at PSP, sometimes we have to look at the source of an email to analyze if it’s legitimate or not.

If you don’t know how to check the source of an email, it’s very hard to tell the difference between a legitimate email and an imposter. And if you get caught in a scam, you’ll find yourself cleaning up from cyber theft versus running your business, which is a headache no one wants to experience.

According to a report from the Federal Trade Commission, 1 in 5 people lost money to imposter scams in 2017, amounting to $328 million lost with a $500 median loss. Imposter scams were one of the biggest reports of fraud last year, along with debt collection and identity theft. Of those reports, 21% of victims lost money.

In the next few blog articles, we will cover some commonly-seen cyber scams so you as a business owner can be aware of scammer tactics before getting fooled out of your money. Our best advice for not getting caught in cyber scams is to be aware and prepared. Consult with your IT advisors and service providers, and educate your team on the latest scam techniques.

In the summer of 2011, Google launched a new social network service: Google+. After strong initial user growth, the service experienced long periods of lulls with little growth, accompanied by a series of substantial changes to the platform.

The service was, at the time, a response to Facebook’s growth which was capitalizing on personal data to sell advertising. In 2011, Facebook was projected to overtake Google in the display ad market. The social network was supposed to be a way for Google to build a diverse network, and use the personal information given by users, to sell more ads.

After 7 years, Google announced on October 8th they will begin the process of shutting down Google+. But why?

1. Software bug

The main reason Google cites for shutting down the service is a bug that was found in the software, initially reported by the Wall Street Journal. The bug, which exposed half a million users’ data, was discovered in the spring of 2018 but Google decided not to disclose that information to its users. The bug was a glitch in the social network that allowed developers to access user information.

Google was afraid that exposing this would bring harsh scrutiny on an already struggling service. After the story broke, Google claimed they had no evidence that any user information was misused. Regardless, the damage had been done and Google+ was unlikely to bounce back.

2. Low usage and engagement

If you’ve spent any time on Google+ you’ve probably noticed the platform was a ghost town. Google tried several times to revamp the social network with new features, new designs, and changes in management. All of which had very little success.

In their statement, Google said the other primary reason for ending its service was “low usage and engagement” citing that 90% of Google+ user sessions lasted less than 5 seconds. That’s astoundingly low for a company as big as Google.

So what will happen to Google+?

Google is giving users 10 months to transition off the platform – they intend to shut it down by August 2019. They are shutting down the consumer side of the service and shifting to a more corporate approach. It’s probable they will try to focus on an internal corporate social network.

However they approach these changes, one thing is for sure; they’ll have a lot of trust to build before anyone gets serious about using it.

1. Before you set up a business page you must first create a LinkedIn profile with your first and last name.

2. To start, click on the grid icon labeled ‘Work’ in the top right corner of your LinkedIn dashboard.

3. Towards to bottom there will be a button ‘Create Company Page +’. Click this button.

4. Enter your company name and pick a unique URL. Your company name doesn’t have to be unique but there can’t be two of the same URLs.

5. Make sure to check the box that verifies you have the right to represent the company in creating the page.

6. Click on the ‘Create Page’ button.

7. At this point, if you don’t have a confirmed email set up with your personal account, you’ll be asked to do so.

8. From here, click ‘Get Started’ on the welcome screen and you can begin to edit your company’s page.

Just as we discussed in our previous blogs for setting up a business Facebook page and business Twitter account, you’ll want to connect with business partners, vendors, clients, and customers. You’ll also want to keep personal life and business separate. If you start posting about personal beliefs, politics and such, you may confuse your followers. So always think before posting or sharing something on a business page; ask yourself if it’s relevant to your company, and does it promote your company’s goals.

1. Start by going to Twitter.com.

2. Once you’re on the homepage click on ‘Sign Up.’

3. Enter your business’ name and either a phone number or an email address. You’ll also need to create a username (or handle.) Make it simple and clear and try to use your business name if possible.

4. Click on ‘Create My Account.’

5. Twitter will give you the option to import your contacts from Gmail, Yahoo, or Outlook – this is a good way to find contacts.

6. Once your account has been set up you’ll need to finish completing your profile with a picture. Use a clear and high-quality image of your company’s logo.

7. Add a short bio and some contact information, including your company’s website.

8. Now, find a few companies to follow and start tweeting!

Additional things to think about: Follow business partners, vendors and clients to a find more relevant customer base. Think before tweeting and re-tweeting. Is your tweet relevant to your personal life/beliefs, or does it have to do with your business? Remember, it’s a business page, not a personal page and you don’t want to confuse your followers by interweaving the two together.

Setting up a Facebook business page is easy and can be done in a matter of minutes, either from a computer or your mobile device.

1. Start by going to www.facebook.com/pages/creation/.

2. From there, you’ll have two options to choose from: click on the Business or Brand option to get started.

3. Next, enter your page name and pick a category that best describes your page.

4. Upload a clear and high-quality profile picture and a cover image that best represents your business.

5. Congratulations! Welcome to your new Facebook business page. You just need to add a bit more information to finish up. Add a short description and complete the “About” section which you can find in the left-side menu.

Your page is really starting to take shape now! All you need to do is create your first post and start engaging with customers. You can also invite people -- friends, family and employees -- to like or follow your page and encourage them to share with others.

Your business page can also start following other business pages as well, particularly vendors, clients, business partners, and find a bigger audience to engage with that way.

Facebook is a great platform for sharing about new or seasonal products, services, promotions, tutorials and more. Use great photos and short descriptions for the best chance to reach people. You can also publish short videos or do a live video stream as well.

Once you get more savvy, you might want to explore setting a budget for creating Facebook ads or boosting posts that seem popular. This is yet another way to increase your reach and post popularity on Facebook.

When it comes to setting up a remote office for your employee, communication isn’t the only critical piece to consider. It’s also important to have a separate (or additional) work policy in place so expectations are clear for everyone, and business operations won't be disrupted.

Here are some questions to consider when formulating a new or additional telecommuting employee policy:

Devices. Whose computer and devices will your employee use – the company’s or their own? What if something breaks – what should they do? What kind of data protection program or anti-virus software should they install? Who pays for what?

Internet Access. What if the internet connection is slower at the employee’s home or remote office location? Will this affect work flow, communication, and employee productivity?

Office Supplies. Who will pay for general office supplies like paper and pens? Do you have a purchase approval or reimbursement policy in place?

Workstation/Office Setup. Will you care how your employee’s workstation is set up? Does it matter if it’s clean or messy, or if the equipment is in a secure location? Do you want to explore insurance options? Is the space a welcome place for clients, if meetings are needed? Would it make sense for you to provide your employee with an office space near their home instead of allowing them to work at home?

Accountability. Will you implement a routine for meeting, getting updates, and seeing work progress? When would you like to be updated? How often should you meet in person or over conference calls to receive updates?

Job Descriptions. Ultimately, what positions in your company will you allow to work remotely? Depending on the nature of your business, not all job descriptions may be a good fit for telecommuting. Have good and logical reasons to say yes or no if an employee asks to work from home.

Remember, the end goal by allowing people to telecommute is to gain more productivity and efficiency within your business. Don’t lose sight of your goal while coming up with a plan.