The Critics are Really a Fine Bunch

If your newspaper and/or favorite entertainment online news portal all of a sudden starts to have gobs of information about the upcoming TV season, there’s a reason why.  Over 200 television critics, reporters and journalists are transcending upon the Beverly Hilton for a couple of weeks to hear the latest news about broadcast and cable television from the horses mouth-the networks themselves.  Yep, not every network participates, but most do…and if they are a part of the program, then they will be touting their new casts or story angles in front of the TV’s media in mass.

I love it when the TCA is in town. It just energizes me watching these scribes undercover unknown facts about never-before seen shows. They can make any celebrity or producer or studio head squirm in their seats when answers are not forthcoming during the interview process.

The TCA comes together twice a year…for the summer and winter — and last January’s tour was action-packed with the Jay Leno/Conan situation and Simon stepping down from “American Idol.”

What will this Summer’s Tour bring?  I’m sure there will be plenty talk about what NBC’s plans are…how they are going to fill the 10PM hour. I bet there will be talk about online streaming and maybe 3-D TV viewing. The iPad may also enter into the conversation too.

We’ll know shortly as a good bunch of them start reporting today as they visit the sets of some well-known shows like “Desperate Housewives” and “Parenthood.”

May the Tour begin…and it’s none to soon.

This TV junkie is excited that the Tour is in town.

Off to the Beverly Hilton tonight to start welcoming the troops.

Best,
Cindy

Drinks are never a good idea when being interviewed. The only one who gets interesting quotes is the reporter. Credit: Michael Yarish

Did you happen to watch the premiere of AMC’s “Mad Men” this week? If you did, you might have noticed that the premiere episode was titled “Public Relations.” And with that, executive producer Matt Weiner wrote an excellent episode that showed off the true power of Public Relations in the work environment.  His writing prompted me to write this post to remind all business owners that when writing business plans – do not forget to add in public relations as a viable means to market yourself. Also, this post should remind established businesses to look at when their last interview was conducted. If it has been over two months…it’s time to dust off that area and start the hunt again.

PR is still a necessary ingredient for every established company and extremely helpful for start-ups.  I know I harp a ton about social media…but, basically, I morph social media into PR nowadays.  A business plan needs to include PR&SM. Both are equally important.

As “Mad Men” depicted, the new agency Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce took advantage of public relations to help get the word out about its company free through the media.  They chose wisely…they went after Ad Age, the perfect vehicle to promote the new shop. A Perfect PR hit – it was a bulls-eye.

However, Don Draper blew the opportunity and did not realize that by his reluctance to answering questions, that the reporter filled in the blanks with information that was inaccurate and void of anything of interest to gain leads.  It was a missed opportunity and the perfect example for everyone interviewed for the need to be on their game.

A friend who is experienced in marketing was helping a client who was presented with a great PR opportunity. The client was being interviewed for a cover story in a local business magazine and so, my friend asked me advice.  The advice I gave him is what I give to all.  What message do you want to convey? Basically, when you are being interviewed, you can drive the interview and give the reporter the information that you want said about your company.  If you don’t have a plan, then the reporter has full rein.  It’s a missed opportunity.  You can drive the interviews and you should see them as golden opportunities for free advertising. Think about the entire message and what would you want the headline to say. And when interviewed, present that information in your comments.

We all make mistakes at first and don’t worry if you do for there are second chances.  Don Draper seized upon his failure and hit another bulls-eye. He was able to secure another interview with the Wall St. Journal, and with that second chance, he drove the article and used the medium to convey his shop’s attitude and culture.  He hit a home run after not even getting on base at his first chance at bat.

PR is powerful and never should be overlooked. Thank you for reminding us of that fact “Mad Men.”

What did you think of the episode?  And PR a part of your business model?

Cindy

Ad Man David Ogilvy had his business heart in the right place.

The Wall St. Journal featured an article today about David Ogilvy (1911-1999), the advertising pioneer and first true “Mad Man” (meaning advertising executives working on Madison Avenue in New York). I didn’t know much about him, but after reading the article I became a fan of his sentiments, work ethic and beliefs.  He was one true visionary who understood his responsibility toward his clients and the public.

Here’s a couple of his aphorisms, which I think are so right on the money.

Apparently, Ogilvy was known to dress in clothes that would capture one’s attention. For a while he wore a cape with red lining and even showed up at black-tie events wearing a kilt.  His reasoning…“If you can’t advertise yourself, how can you hope to advertise for your client?” That is so true, don’t you agree?

He held on to the deep beliefs that one should be honest in advertising and always display respect for the consumer.  Here’s what he said about those key issues…”The consumer is not a moron, she is your wife. You wouldn’t lie to your wife. Don’t lie to mine.” Good words Mr. Ogilvy.

Man, these were so good I went hunting to find more.  These Ogilvy quotes are taken from Brainyquote.com.

• If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.
• Political advertising ought to be stopped. It’s the only really dishonest kind of advertising that’s left. It’s totally dishonest.
• First, make yourself a reputation for being a creative genius. Second, surround yourself with partners who are better than you are. Third, leave them to go get on with it.
• Don’t bunt. Aim out of the ball park. Aim for the company of immortals.

I really loved his words, especially the last one. Are you bunting or you aiming for greatness.

Have a great weekend.

Cindy

If you had to downsize staff-would you let go Mary or Ted?

(Readers: This is a post I just wrote for www.JobWorkTeam.com and I thought it would be applicable to to the PR and freelancing world. I’d love your thoughts!)

We’ve discussed appearing desperate in interviews.  We’ve addressed how one shouldn’t talk about grievances about past employers and employees during the job interview and today, I’m going to talk about fairness on the job or better yet the lack of it.

This is a difficult post to write for I would like to say that companies treat employees fairly.  If I’m living in a glass is half full world, then I would say that I believe most companies try their best to be fair to their employees.  But, at the end of the day, every employee knows that the HR department is there to protect the company and not the employee. There’s just no way around that fact.  It’s written into the DNA of business.

If you have worked for any period of time, I’m sure you have witnessed some things that just made no sense and thus, you had to internally process it and move forward the best you could for there are some things that just aren’t fair like…

• When you hear that a job/promotion you were up for and should have gotten, ultimately went to a friend of the boss who had no prior experience.
• Or you’ve conducted several interviews for a position and then hear they’ve put the job on hold.
• Or you’ve worked your tail end off and you’ve been promised a promotion that ultimately goes to the worker that you’ve been cleaning up after.
• Or the company is downsizing by 3 percent, so they let you go and kept your boss who knows barely nothing.
• Or when they change your shift and suddenly, you the one with tenure, has to work nights again.

I was talking to a friend about this phenomenon today…the phenomenon of when good people are let go and weaker ones get to stay.  And as such, he reminded me of the last episode of the 70′s hit TV show “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” where new management takes over the WJM-TV station.  The new executives fire the entire staff, except the klutzy, tongue-tied, vain, buffoonish newscaster Ted Baxter.  I thought how true that episode was.  How many times have you seen great people be let go and the better “sweet talkers,” less experienced people get to stay. It’s just the way of life.

In another side note, I had a different discussion with a fellow freelancer and he made another astute point that I never really thought of before. He recently spoke to a class of freelancers and he gave some great sage advice.  He told them the truth.  He said that we all have competition in our fields and usually it isn’t the best one who gets hired…it’s the one that the boss (client) wants to hang out with. He emphasized the fact that if the client is comfortable with you, then they will keep hiring you.  And you know what there is some truth to that.

So, when you’re on the job, expect that some unfairness will come your way and quickly learn how to brush that off.  Remember who you are and what you bring to the table and forget about that issue as best you can.  One tip that will help you stay at the job longer is my second point today – have a comfortable relationship with your boss. Be the go-to person when things are topsy turvy in his life. Help alleviate stress – be there for him/her as a support.  It will go a long way and if she/he loses their job, then they will want to hire you at their next position.  Why? Because that’s the fair thing to do.

Kin - a failure or ahead of its time?

So by now, I think we have all heard that Microsoft’s latest device, Kin, which was billed as the first phone built for social networking has been taken off the market after only two months in consumers hands.

As a result, I thought it would be good timing to discuss how to handle PR when products shut down.

Ahhh, the Kin. I was a bit confused by the need for such a device when it was announced, how about you?  I mean smart phones are exactly that now, smart and can handle social networking…so why would I need a special phone just for that?  Its selling points didn’t grab me.  Like Apple products that come onto the market, they are trailblazers and become mainstays in our life.  Can you imagine not having an iPod, iTouch or iPad in your life now?  But, a Kin. It wasn’t a necessity, but a gimmick that Microsoft thought would be the “in” thing for young consumers.

I mean it looked cool and I understand what it did. It shot great photos with its camera and you could easily share videos and text for social sites.  But, with so many other devices capable of the doing the same thing…I guess in two short months consumers didn’t feel the need for it in their lives.

I have recently experienced this myself as I start my own social media agency.  I am finding that if my potential client is not open to social media or an advocate of it – then it’s best for the both of us not to do business together-that is not until that client understands the power of new media.  Therefore, the Kin is a product that probably was ahead of its time and the market was too small to understand its need.

I mean I recently attended a meeting where Sprint’s 4G network was discussed through the use of the HTC EVO android phone.  That phone can do the same things and a few more than the new iPhone 4 can do and it sure can handle everything that the Kin does.  So as Microsoft found out – there really wasn’t a need for Kin.

And as a PR pro, I applaud Microsoft for having the guts and um balls to pull the plug on the device and face defeat. I know corporately it was a hard decision to make for not only did Microsoft face personal embarrassment, but so did Verizon who was the sole carrier.  Verizon supported this concept and thus went down with them.

But, I want to remind you – that there is no such thing as failure.  Look at Thomas Edison, a premier inventor.  He did over 10,000 tweaks to the incandescent light bulb before he perfected it and showed it off.  To him, this is how he views failure.

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. T. Edison.

So that’s my PR advice to you. When a product, a TV show or employee is not performing, don’t be afraid to advise your CEO that he/she can pull the plug.  The company will be better off in the long run for it and embarrassment of its demise will be remembered for less than a week. Some other news story will take its place and you will be able to get on with your work as usual.

Look at Toyota…they are weathering the storm and are getting back to work. Cut bait and move on.

Homer Always Shoots Straight From the Hip

If you don’t – then your job as the head of the PR dept. will get quite messy. You will spend a good chuck of your time every day putting out fires from leaks that will arise as news of your product’s ineffectiveness starts to hit the media or is shared through social media.

People have a hard time keeping secrets. And when dealing with television shows, you can never hide the ratings.  Consumers can see how last night’s episode performed or didn’t perform.

Be on top of your game and like Thomas Edison – keep perfecting your product. I’m sure elements of the Kin will remain in the next device that Microsoft launches for it did produce some novel touches.

Soldier on for it takes more courage to admit defeat than to live a lie.

Good job Microsoft.  You did the right thing and deserve respect for trying.  There’s no black eye in this situation.

A Holiday For Your Smartphone

So I hope you and your smartphone, computer, net book, iPad or kin are celebrating today for its SOCIAL MEDIA DAY.  Yep, today you can be as geeky as you want – it’s allowed and demanded. So embrace your communities, friends, followers and twitter away to your heart’s desire. I love this.

How am I celebrating this day?  I’m having a hi-tech talk lunch with one of my geeky Mac friends today and from there going over to my town’s celebration – all things social media.  And if you’ve don’t have anything on your dance card yet, don’t fret…just check out what meetups are happening near you today by clicking here….Mashable Meetups.

Go have fun! And tweet about it. Here’s how Mashable’s Founder and CEO Pete Cashmore, the inventor of this day, recommends participation.

How To Participate in Social Media Day

• Meetup Everywhere Mashable: Sign up to attend an event on the Meetup Everywhere Mashable.
• Watch the live streams worldwide: We’ll be updating throughout the day.
• Tweet: Use the #smday hashtag on Twitter. With so many participating, we should be a trending topic on Twitter on June 30. Also, we’ll soon be announcing a prize for those that tweet or post to Facebook.
• Add the Social Media Day Twitter theme from TweetyGotBack to your account in support of the day.
• Follow @mashSMday: Follow @mashSMday on Twitter for updates and developments on the celebration.
• Comment via Facebook: Go to Smday.com and leave a comment either promoting your meetup or tell us what you’re doing for your event.
• Upload to Flickr: Upload photos to Flickr and tag them with #smday.

The Sun Will Rise and This Will Pass

I hope you don’t mind that I’m writing this post to be a source of encouragement, mainly for me today, and if you get some relief from this thought, well, that would be awesome too.  But, you know, with the state of today’s job market and employment trends, it is a bit rough out there for us professionals who are used to working on a daily basis at the same company and performing the tasks that we love.

This economy and new employment structure for consultants/freelancers requires one to have incredible amounts of patience, understanding and fortitude as well as flexibility and humor.  It certainly is character building and I am really learning how to pull up my bootstraps.  At times, its fun and other times, it can be overwhelming as you realize everything is out of your control. (Addendum-Good PR pal Marc Grossman sent me this link to cheer me up…if you need an immediate laugh please check this out. Thanks Marc…it worked.   (Please Fire Me!)

If you are like me you have a routine that you follow – each day hours are spent on job search, networking and/or researching potential clients.  You keep re-working your elevator speech and tweaking your resume.  You talk to friends seeking advice and watch the world trends to find clues as to where the new currency is hiding.

Day after day you follow this procedure.  Then the days turn into weeks and then months. I can’t believe it’s almost July!

I know this feeling well. The days fly by and you feel like you are not making progress.

When I review what I’ve accomplished I can feel that I haven’t achieved much – but, I know that I have.  My growth may not be in tangible items, but I have gained knowledge and connections.  And those carry a currency as well. I have to remember I am making progress.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed that they are playing “Cast Away” a lot this month on cable.  And I’ve been stumbling upon it quite frequently.  In this season of my life, I’m sympathizing with the main character played by Tom Hanks, Chuck Noland.  I mean when I’m working by myself in my home, I sometimes feel like I’m in a cave.  I miss going with co-workers to lunch.  I understand how you have to be as resourceful with what you possess and you must keep a close eye on budgets.  But, it’s the line he says at the tail end on the movie that always provides me with a sense of hope….Chuck Noland says to a friend (I’ve paraphrased it a bit), “I had power over nothing. I knew somehow I had to stay alive. I kept breathing and one day the tide came in and gave me a sail.  And now here I am.  I have ice in my glass.  But, I know what I have to do now.  I have to keep breathing because tomorrow the sun will rise and who knows what the tide could bring.”

Since I have some extra time on my hands I’m leading a job search work team at a local transitional housing center.  And, every meeting we always say, “We’re all going to find jobs, we just don’t know when.”  And this post is for those in-between times, when you feel you have no power over anything and you don’t feel like making one more phone call, or attending one more networking event, or submitting one more resume online or attending one more class to learn a new trade.

So, if that’s you right now…I’m telling you, well really me, try it one more time…for you never know what the tide may bring today. The sun will rise and you have to keep breathing and hoping…you will be employed steadily again.

Here’s the actual clip from the movie. Mr. Hanks does a much better job than I did in communicating this simple, but truthful way of life.

We will be sailing back to civilization.

Hop on the Carousel of Freelance Life - You'll Love it. Credit: Flickr: Link576

Today I am speaking at a breakfast event held at the Publicists Guild in partnership with the Entertainment Publicists Professional Society (EPPS). The topic of the panel is freelance public relations.  And as such, the point that I hope that I am able to convey to those in attendance is the great need for them to allow themselves to work and think in entirely new ways about their work and their individual lives.

I do think that the statement “out of the box thinking” is over-used, but its meaning is spot on and not trite, trendy nor part of yesterday’s news.  It’s relevant for today, in fact, its mandatory. For if you haven’t noticed…things are not the same (job-wise or economy-wise) as it was say three years ago.  Things have changed and we, as PR professionals, must hop on that merry go around and learn how to enjoy the ride.

Facebook. twitter. Foursquare. Groupon. Blogs.  They’re here. They are real. And they are here to stay. And they are a major component of our communication tools.

Not only is social media a reality, but so are the manners in which we work.  With reductions of full-time positions, PR executives who were downsized are forced to become freelancers/consultants until something permanent does come around again.  And this can be an exhilarating experience and not one to be dreaded if you allow yourself to dream, think differently, and diligently break from traditional work practices.

As a freelancer, you finally are not shackled with promoting one company or touting a company line – you have FREEDOM to explore deep within yourself what would make you happy and finally Do what you’ve always wanted to do….like work for a non-profit that you are passionate about or take culinary classes and start your own cupcake business or open up your shingle and promote a wide range of services. You can do anything that you want…you are the boss of your own company. So who do you want to be?

Don’t let panic or desperation seep in.  Allow yourself the ability to dream.  Don’t stop working on landing a full time gig, but do that six hours in the day.  Spend  a couple hours each day to work on the job you would love to have and develop it.  You can create anything that you want.  Drop down the sides of your box and stand in the middle of it with your head raised skyward and  your hands held high…and enjoy your new found freedom.

I allowed myself to lead a job search work team and created a website.

Who am I to write such statements?

Well, I’m living this at the moment.  And I’m lovin’ it. My hands are no longer held tightly onto the carousel horses, but I’m hanging from the outside of the merry go round.  I’m smiling as it goes round and round and I’m letting the wind and sun shine on my face.  My clients and directions make no sense in the traditional world and I’m glad. I’m living in the social media world where we can create the things that make a difference in the world and matter.  And you know as you make a difference in the world, you are making a difference in your own life. It’s a win-win for all involved.  Let yourself serve wherever you can.

So, what am I doing?  I have a couple clients that are from my career experience, but now I’ve expanded my box to include teaching job search skills to those who are living in transitional housing facilities. I’m showing seniors how to use Facebook.  I’m speaking at colleges and churches. I’m learning how to code CSS and I have my own voice now on several platforms.  I could have never invented this crazy path, traditionally, but I allowed it to take its course and I’m working with nature and not against it anymore.

My box does not have walls…my office is virtual…and I’m free to create.

Freelance-Fear=Freedom

I love this quote that I stumbled upon on twitter from the eschelon2010 conference and I wish I could credit the writer. I hope it inspires you as it did me.  “If you want to make a successful start up, you need a huge vision, not something small.”

Let yourself think. As Seth Godin always reminds us – we are all artists…so allow yourself to create. Grab a paintbrush and put some paint on it.

If you need a little more inspiration….I’m including my favorite clip of all time regarding transitions…The Lemonade Movie.  Please watch it below and become inspired.

Here to serve,

Cindy

So now my question for you is…what would you write on your lemon? If you could what would want to do? Be sure to let me know, I’d love to hear.

Don't Underestimate this Word when Looking for Work

Just this week I read about the importance of “why” in two leading national business periodicals. As a result, this observation told me that this is something new that we all should look at-that this “why” word is becoming a trend. Why? You may ask…I’ll tell you why.
The Power of WHY

Why is “why” so important?

If an interviewer asks you why you want the job and you don’t have a solid answer, you’re sunk. Therefore, answering “why” questions can make or break you in the interview process. A little three letter word could kill your chances at landing that job that you want.

Let’s look at other why questions.
Why is there a gap in your unemployment record?
Why did you leave your last job?
Why are you changing careers?

All tough questions that need appropriate and spot on strong, reliable answers that will convince the interviewer why you are the right candidate for the job.

But, “why” doesn’t only affect the interviewee….”why” is just as important of a tool for the job seeker to use. Since you always should ask a question when the interview is over….go ahead and ask this probing why question and see how they answer: Why is this position open?

Here’s another reason “why” is important. This an excerpt from INC. Magazine article written by Jason Fried in the June 2010 issue. The article is titled Never Read Another Resume, but he also addresses why.

“During interviews, we love when potential hires ask questions. But all questions aren’t equal. A red flag goes up when someone asks how. “How do I do that?” “How can I find out this or that?” You want people who ask why, not how. Why is good — it’s a sign of deep interest in a subject. It signals a healthy dose of curiosity. How is a sign that someone isn’t used to figuring things out for him- or herself. How is a sign that this person is going to be a drain on others. Avoid hows.”

I hope you found this post helpful and let me know “why” you liked it and not how it changed your life.

Talk soon, Cindy

A Worm in Your Computer is Like the BP Oil Spill

For a couple days last month, I knew what BP Oil must be experiencing when I had an oil link of my own to contend with that kept gushing. My spill wasn’t oil, but it was a virus inside my computer that kept spreading and spreading and spreading.  For a few hours there, I was wondering if I was ever going to be able to cap the thing.  But, thankfully I did – but it wasn’t easy.  I hope and pray you never get your email accounts hijacked. It’s no fun.  And this post today is intended to be of some help in case it does happen to you.  Also, I will offer preventive tips to ensure that you won’t have the same awful experience that I had on Memorial Day.

WHAT HAPPENED

One night when I logged into my Facebook book account an unusual page was displayed.  The page was alerting me to the fact that someone or something had access to my Facebook account from Nigeria and Facebook wanted to verify that I was indeed the owner.  I did verify that I was the owner, but it didn’t matter.  The damage had already been done.

The hacking scheme was due to my Facebook account being hacked and from that, the hackers in Nigeria or wherever got a hold of my email address attached to Facebook from there figured out my password.

PREVENTION TIP #1 –

Do not have the same password on more than one account.

I made the mistake of using one password for all my email accounts and a few others.  So every account that had that same password was affected by the hacking.  The hacker then got control of my email addresses on gmail, Verizon/Yahoo and Go Daddy and subsequently froze me out of each. Thank goodness I changed my online banking password just a week prior otherwise, the hacker would have had access to that.

Hacking is not Just a Crime; it's Evil.

The evil person/company sent the following email to all my contacts, whether they were HR Recruiters, past bosses, old boyfriends, pastors, family, clothing stores or people I’m interviewing with. Everyone got this message and it was embarrassing and of course, the worst part the message was grammatically incorrect.  I would never do that or play on the kindness/emotions of others.
Subject: “Sad New’s”
Hello,
This message may be coming to you as a surprise but I need your help.Few days back I made an unannounced vacation trip to London,UK .Everything was going fine until last night when I got mugged on my way back to the hotel.They Stole all my cash,credit cards and cellphone but thank God I still have my life and passport.Another shocking is that the hotel manager has been unhelpful to me for reasons I don’t know. I’m writing you from a local library cybercafe..I reported to the police and after writing down some statements that’s the last I had from them

I contacted the consulate and all I keep hearing is they will get back to me. I need your help ..I need you to help me out with a loan to settle my bills here so I can get back home tomorrow. I’ll refund the money as soon as I get back. All I need is $2400..Let me know if you can get me the money then I tell you how to get it to me.

Thanks

Cindy
So as this criminal was blasting out that email message, I was powerless. I was unable to get into my email accounts and stop the thing.  And since the hacker changed my email settings to forward all messages to his email account, I wasn’t able to see the email messages I was receiving.  Despite being frozen out of my computer, my phone was working and as such, I started to get numerous calls from frantic people seeing if I was okay.  Several many people sent notes, texts and calls to check on me to see if I needed money.   It was uplifting to hear from so many, but, at the same time, it did make me mad that this person caused my family and friends to worry about me needlessly, especially on a holiday.

WHEN YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT IS FROZEN

Since I couldn’t access any of my email accounts, I had to contact each provider separately to get them to change passwords and un-freeze my accounts.  And this was tricky. When dealing with Facebook and gmail, you do not receive phone support.  All correspondence with them is done online and despite that policy, I have to say that it was handled quickly.

STEPS TO SAFETY

Step 1 – Make an entirely new email account to serve as a placeholder.  You need a new account because when you contact the email providers they want to send you information to an email address to inform you how to change your password.  Without a working email, you can’t get these confirmation notices.

Step 2 – Call your providers.

If you have a Yahoo account that is affected..you can call their helpline at 408-349-1572. To report an abusive Yahoo situation, send an email to abuse@yahoo.com.

If you have a Verizon email address, the phone number to contact them is 800-567-6789.

If you have a Go Daddy webmail account, call Go Daddy’s customer service at 480-505-8877.

For gmail, you need to fill out its account recovery form. In a matter of minutes, my regular gmail account was unlocked by filling out this form.

Step 3 – Check your email settings.

In a matter of four hours, I was able to access all my email accounts.  But…I still wasn’t receiving messages on gmail.  And here’s where it gets tricky.  Be sure to check your settings on all accounts. On my gmail setting, I uncovered  that the hacker was forwarding all my messages (incoming and outgoing) to a random Yahoo account.  How evil was that!

I reported that Yahoo address to Yahoo, but other than that…I don’t think anything has happened to shut down this Nigerian company.

Step 4 – Set new Passwords on all email and social media accounts.

As a result of the hacking, every single account I have and it’s quite a lot has its own unique password attached to it. Yes, it’s a pain, but its the best way I can think of to safe guard access to multiple accounts if this ever happens to me again.

Step 5- Log off applications when not in use and don’t leave accounts open overnight.

I now no longer leave my computer running all night long while logged into accounts. I open and close applications each time I use them.  I don’t want another person to be able to access my accounts again, while I am not present at the time and working in them. I used to keep my accounts open for long periods of time and thus, believe that how this aggregator got access to my Facebook page.

I also do not have Skype open up without me opening it and I’m careful about any pay pal exchanges as well.

Practice safety all the time….that’s my best tip for you.  I do not want you to experience what I went through.  And if it does, be sure to put messages on your Facebook page, blogs, email blasts and phone message that you have been hacked. That will save you much time and effort.

I hope this helped you somewhat…

With a whole new set of passwords,

Cindy