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Short. Sweet. Simple. We wish all of the SMB Nation the happiest holidays however you choose to celebrate. We stand proud as an inclusive global community that supports each other.

Ways to Celebrate
First and foremost is respecting your choices to celebrate with your family as you see fit.

Success for modern small businesses depends on the effective use of digital marketing channels. Unfortunately, many companies have failed, despite their effort to engage their online audience.

To help your company gain the most from online opportunities, learn about the following five digital marketing mistakes and use the tips that follow to help you avoid them.

1. Lack of Planning

Before you do any marketing, you should thoroughly understand your business and its mission. Afterward, you can plan your digital marketing strategy in a way that is consistent with the other parts of your operation.

Economic Indicators / Reuters

(Reuters)

WASHINGTON, Oct 30 (Reuters) - U.S. consumer spending recorded its biggest increase in more than eight years in September, likely as households in Texas and Florida replaced flood-damaged motor vehicles, but underlying inflation remained muted.

In late October, fellow MSP blogger Joe Panettieri broke the story, in advance of the public announcement, that there was a merger between Datto and Autotask. I’ll briefly review the multiple transactions that made this happen. It’s surprisingly sophisticated. This almost reads like a Russian spy novel with all the players LOL. Let’s start by following the money and then I’ll offer some community comments.

2004-2014
Autotask raises at least $10M in four funding rounds (see Figure 1)

By: Tiffany Wissner (WENTZEL) Microsoft

Last month at Microsoft Ignite we introduced a new vision for intelligent communications, which includes Microsoft Teams becoming the primary client for communication and collaboration in Office 365. Today we are sharing more detail on our planned roadmap for adding Microsoft Skype for Business capabilities to Teams, so you can plan your onboarding.

By Spencer Soper
October 24, 2017, 9:54 AM PDT

Amazon.com Inc. launched a Prime membership service for businesses, looking to replicate in the workplace the quick delivery of online orders that made it a go-to shopping destination for households.

Business Prime Shipping, available in the U.S. and Germany, offers free two-day delivery to companies paying $499 to $10,999 a year depending on their size, Amazon said. The subscription program is looking to win business from office supply stores such as Staples Inc. and Office Depot Inc.

Cyber-attacks are so common, in this day and age, that it’s never a question of whether or not your company will get hacked—it is a question of when. Hackers have been around for years, working their way through your security walls and passwords and gaining access to all kinds of delicate information, including names, social security numbers, finances, and more.

Even those companies that have the best-of-the-best protection will likely experience at least one cyber-attack per year. Based on cyber-attack statistics, the year 2016 recorded an increased number of attacks when compared to 2015 and 2014, with some of the most active months of the year for attacks occurring in June, July, and August.

It’s been quite a while since the smartphones, whether the android smartphones or Apple, have not been producing anything special. Looks like in the past few years the only thing changing in the new smartphones is the general look of a phone, and the companies produce a better camera with every successive phone.

So, how will the smartphone future technologies be subject to change or what should we be expecting out of them?

Whether we know it or not, cyber-attacks are occurring all over the world on a daily basis. In this day and age, it is a necessity for most companies to have an online presence, and this often means being exposed to the ugly world of talented hackers.

One of the most increasingly common forms of cyber-attacks today is referred to as “ransomware,” which forces businesses to pay hackers a certain amount before they will re-release access to the business’s site. According to ransomware statistics, attacks of this kind rose by 50% in the year 2016, which prompted many companies to immediately update and upgrade their systems to avoid further exploitation. There are various steps to avoid a ransomware attack, but it’s not the only attack that your company should be wary of.

As many of you know, I attended the Continuum Navigate conference in Las Vegas the week of the shooting tragedy. Compliments to Michael George, Continuum CEO, for delivering a successful conference in the midst of madness. In fact he shared heartfelt words with the audience to acknowledge the tragedy.

On the backside of the gathering

Enioy this update from Ken "The Virus Doctor" Dwight who is working with fellow SMB Naiton member Tim Loney to do good - Editor

In response to Hurricane Harvey and the flooding it caused in the Houston area, many Houstonians wanted to do anything they could to help those individuals and businesses whose homes and/or offices were damaged or destroyed by the flood waters. One of those concerned citizens was Tim Loney, CEO of Solutions IS, and a Managed Service Provider with headquarters in Houston, Texas. Loney

by Sarah Perez (@sarahintampa)

The big Twitter news currently may be the expansion of tweets to support 280 characters instead of just 140, but a number of Twitter users recently spotted another notable change, as well: the Twitter Apple Watch app has disappeared. The app’s iTunes App Store page no longer notes compatibility with the Apple Watch, and users who have updated to the latest versions of iOS and watchOS note the Twitter Watch app is no longer available on their smartwatch.