Remember blogging, remember actually writing content. That’s what we’ll be talking about later on, but first… We should all take security seriously, whether its physical or digital, both are important. But with people looking for that frictionless service it is easy to get complacent. Enter Suzanne Girdlestone, who helps SME's protect their own businesses with her company Smart Business IT. Suzanne prides herself on her jargon free service, making the complicated simple and more importantly secure.   Takeaways - Suzanne took us through a few buzzwords in data security, which was great. But my first takeaway here is, if you don't know, ask! And if you’re still not sure, get an expert in. Don’t try and fix something you know very little about, it will only end one way.  You wouldn’t try and fix your boiler or switch board without knowing what you were doing would you… well you might, but you wouldn't be around to tell us you have anyway. - I never realised that cloud-based software is still physically stored… like an idiot! If you use cloud-based software, make sure it is ISO27001 compliant. Do you due diligence and don't scrimp on the security. - And finally, Suzanne’s three top tips for being extra secure online: 1 – Use a passphrase rather than a password (mines going to be I wandered lonely as a cloud) if anyone is interested 2 – Keep your patches up to date – these are the updates you get from your software provides (but make sure they are legit) 3 – Back-up, back-up and back-up. You can never have to many back-ups!!!!   Blogging What actually is a blog? It’s origins lie in people writing a web log, a journal of their day. This was then shortened into simply blog. But since then this journal type entry has been expanded much further than content of someone’s daily life. As always, marketers have ruined it and turned blogging into something that is now seen as more commercial than it is a diarised entry of someone’s day.  Today blogs are used by large global corporations as well as individual bloggers to provide detailed content for their followers. The main benefits of a blog are: - Flexible and versatile with entries being added from most devises, anywhere - Can help build trust and credibility on particular topics - They can be a good source of revenue - They are a good way to keep customers up to date But a dormant blog is not a good thing and it does take a lot of time, especially to keep it consistent. So if you are considering a blog, make sure you have a plan and can stick to a regular posting schedule so that followers become use to and anticipate your next post. Happy Marketing Everyone! Peter www.marketingstudylab.co.uk www.linkedin.com/company/marketing-study-lab/ www.facebook.com/marketingstudylab/ https://twitter.com/mktstudylab (@mktstudylab) Music Featured on this Podcast: Sleepy in the Garden Lobo Loco www.musikbrause.de Creative Commons License LinksSuzanne Girdlestone suzanne@smartbusinessit.co.uk https://smartbusinessit.co.uk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-girdlestone-7186a383/ App:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.comWhatsApp: https://www.whatsapp.com