Explore the next version of webmail in OpenSRS Email Service

---

Explore the next version of webmail in OpenSRS Email Service Posted: 28 Jun 2012 08:24 AM PDT Great news! On July 5th, 2012, we’re rolling out an updated version of our webmail application in a “preview mode” for all users of OpenSRS Email Service. Starting that day, your users will be able to choose between the current interface, and the newly updated interface, through a “preview” toggle on the webmail login screen. For the sake of any of your users who may fear change, the current webmail will remain the default – users who want to check out the new webmail will have to specifically click to choose the preview. The “preview mode” is displayed by default on the login screen if you use the default webmail brand. Those using a custom brand can enable the preview through the Branding Tool in the Mail Administration Center. In the Production Test Environment later today Later today, we’ll roll out the update to the Production Test Environment (PTE) so you’ll have a chance to log in to an account in your Test account and see for yourself what the new webmail is like. Take the opportunity over the next few weeks and months to get your support staff familiar with the interface prior to it being released as the default webmail application later this year. What’s new! You’re probably wondering what’s new in this version of webmail. Here are some highlights: Support for Google Chrome and Apple Safari in both the Standard and Basic interfaces Better settings handling across sessions for things like the preview pane and email header view New three-pane layout for the Personal Address Book Improved application responsiveness and speed New default theme! Webmail has also received a complete refresh of the default theme, moving to a much cleaner, far more readable interface. We’ve also moved to a tabbed interface, providing easier access to different areas of the application like Mail, Personal Address Book, Calendar, File Sharing and Settings. The full list We’ve posted a full list of what’s been updated, added and enhanced on our website along with known issues. View it here. We’d love to get your feedback on the new webmail. Drop into the OpenSRS Forums and tell us what you think and give us a heads up on any bugs that you might find.

You are subscribed to email updates from OpenSRS Blog To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Talking About Ting

---

Talking About Ting Posted: 27 Jun 2012 07:53 PM PDT In our recent webinar about selling Ting, ultramarathoner James Koole suggested that you should “host more of the conversation on your side than ours.” I want to share a piece of data to support that point, elaborate on it a bit and see if I can offer you some help. First the data. Looking at the traffic coming through our reseller landing pages on Ting, we see that 9% of the traffic has produced 80% of the accounts. Said differently, we are seeing a bunch of resellers who drive, for example, 200 visits with no conversions and a bunch of resellers who drive, for example, 4 visits with 3 conversions. The 200 visitors are probably coming through some sort of logo or link dropped on a homepage. The 4 visitors obviously knew quite a lot about Ting before they ever got there. Your customers will likely not yet know anything about Ting. We do the best we can on our site to establish credibility and address potential concerns. But, in the end, we are still strangers. The best thing we have going for us is your endorsement. Think about your own buying decisions. Familiarity and trust is everything. A blog post from you explaining the Ting plans will inevitably be so much more powerful than our own Ting plans page. Sharing how much you have saved a month with Ting will be so much more relevant than dozens of our own testimonials (from yet more strangers). Offering to walk your customers through the savings calculator to see if they will save money themselves will be absolutely invaluable. The days of slapping affiliate links on your site and hoping to see conversions are over. Your customers rightfully expect to know what Ting is all about and why you are recommending it before they even visit our site. And they will not convert to any of our satisfaction if they don’t get that from you. I don’t have more advice to offer on selling Ting in your own words. Be helpful. Be honest. I do, however, have one more thought on hosting more of the conversation on your side than ours. We recently put the Ting savings calculator on our Ting Facebook page. Then, we took it a step further and put it on our separate Hover Facebook page. This work pretty much paves the way for you to embed this calculator on your site, Facebook page or anywhere else you want. Again, it might not seem profoundly different than sending your customers to our site. But I believe having this tool on your side, surrounded by your thoughts and suggestions, will drive more interaction and have far greater impact. It also does even more to reinforce your role as a trusted provider and expert. If anyone is interested in working with us to host the Ting savings calculator on your site, please feel free to send me an email at mgoldstein(at)tucows.com. Meanwhile, please join us in the Ting discussion forum to offer any questions, thoughts or concerns about how we can help you succeed.

You are subscribed to email updates from OpenSRS Blog To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Holiday Hours for Canada Day 2012

---

Holiday Hours for Canada Day 2012 Posted: 26 Jun 2012 07:08 AM PDT Sunday, July 1, 2012 is Canada Day up here in the Great White North, aka Canada. It’s the day we celebrate the day Canada became a nation way back in 1867. We’ve mentioned it before, but it bears repeating – Canadians are pretty predictable when it comes to long weekends in the summertime. The majority of us Canadians will celebrate Canada Day with BBQs, beer on the dock and some fireworks to cap it all off. While Canada Day falls on a Sunday this year, our HR department assures us that taking the Monday off to recover is a-ok with them. That means a majority of our staff in our Toronto HQ will be off on Monday, July 2. Reseller Support will be staffed on Monday as usual – if you call in or email, please do thank them for coming in on a holiday. Here are the hours of operation during the holiday: Our Reseller Support team continues to be available 24/7 to assist you. Hours by department: Department Dates and Hours Reseller Support Regular hours Payments Email support: payments@opensrs.org Compliance Closed July 2nd (Monday) Service Bureau (for transactions requiring manual processing) Closed July 2nd (Monday)

You are subscribed to email updates from OpenSRS Blog To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Why Business Customers Should Use Organization Validated SSL Certificates plus 1 more

---

Why Business Customers Should Use Organization Validated SSL Certificates Posted: 21 Jun 2012 05:44 AM PDT Of the three types of SSL certificate validation, which one do you understand the least? I'm willing to bet its organization validation (OV). For the uninitiated, there are different validation methods for different types of SSL certificates. In simple terms: Domain Validated (DV): This is the least rigorous validation method. The Certificate Authority (CA) checks to see that the applicant’s name and contact information matches what is stored in the WHOIS database for the domain name associated with the SSL Certificate. Organization Validated (OV): In the case of an OV certificate, the CA performs a much more substantial validation process. This includes checking the applicant’s business credentials (through databases including the Articles of Incorporation) and even making sure that the company's physical address matches the application. Extended Validation (EV): This is the highest level of validation and can take as long as a few days to complete. The validation process includes checks of physical location, phone calls to ensure the applicant is authorized to order the certificate on behalf of the company or business represented, and more. Offer at least an OV cert for your business customers For individuals, a DV certificate is the most affordable and logical choice to provide simple encryption for things like logins. But for business, a domain validated certificate simply isn't the appropriate choice. If you have small- and mid-sized business customers, at the bare minimum, they should be using an organization validated certificate to ensure that visitors to their website see that additional information about the organization in the certificate. A good rule of thumb is this: if the certificate is issued to a company, then it should be one that requires validation of that company – either OV or EV. And anytime there are transactions occurring on a website, an OV or EV certificate should be used to instill confidence in the customer that their data is safe and that they are dealing with who they think they are.

On-demand webinar: Tapping into Mobile Trends with goMobi Posted: 20 Jun 2012 11:28 AM PDT If you missed the webinar I hosted last week with Chris Campbell of goMobi, it’s now up and ready for on-demand viewing. Chris did a great job presenting some super stats about the state of the mobile web in 2012 and about how goMobi provides an ideal solution for both resellers like you and your customers. He also took a look at some of the new features that were added to goMobi recently, and he gave us a bit of a sneak peek at what was on the roadmap for the next couple of releases. Click here to head straight to the archive page. No signup required!

You are subscribed to email updates from OpenSRS Blog To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Secrets to Successful SSL Selling

---

Secrets to Successful SSL Selling Posted: 19 Jun 2012 07:27 AM PDT “Assess and suggest”. That's the best approach to offering SSL certificates to your customers because it ensures that you start with an understanding of the customer’s need, and end with selling the correct SSL certificate for their application. Providing that bit of education and assistance – helping the customer to understand the various product differences and features – will go a long way in ensuring the customer ends up with the right solution. Often times customers start the down the purchase path by looking at price first, and then features. Given that many of your potential customers don't really know much about SSL other than knowing that they need one, price is going to be the biggest factor in their choice. That may mean they spend less, but it also means they will likely end up with the wrong SSL certificate for them. Unless you help them make that choice. Offering the right solution, not the cheapest solution There is a tendency to assume that the customer will only consider the least expensive option. That's not the case. It's really up to you to make sure that you present the right product for the customer. I've heard from resellers that they feel dirty suggesting higher priced certificates to their customers, and that all SSL products are the same. While it's true that the encryption provided by a domain validated certificate is as secure as what an extended validation certificate provides, it's also true that there is much more to SSL than just encryption. Learn more. Would you put one of your mid-sized business customers on your cheapest shared hosting packages? Or would you suggest the right solution for their needs even if that was a more expensive VPS or dedicated server package? Selling a basic, domain validated certificate to a mid-sized business that transacts online through their site is doing them a disservice. That business could reap real benefits from using a Symantec Secure Site Pro, which includes the well-recognized Norton Secured Seal that is proven to reduce abandonment and lift consumer confidence. The customer may not know this, but you should. They come to you for advice on what is best for them. Educate yourself, understand the products, and then assess and suggest the right solution to your customers. Assess and Suggest Here are some tips for how to help your customers get the right SSL certificate. The net result will be an increase in unit sales (because customers will feel confident in dealing with you), more sales in the higher margin products (because customers want to buy the right product for their application) and happier customers (because customers will feel informed and empowered). Assess: understand the customer's need. Are they a small business? Do they use their site for transactions? Would they benefit from the Norton Secured Seal? Is the site public facing? At this stage you are looking to develop an understanding of where the customer fits on the SSL product map. Remember that inexpensive domain validated certificates have a place in personal sites and internets, but also remember that small- and mid-sized business really should be using an organization or extended validated certificate. Suggest: offer the right SSL certificate for their needs. Your customers look to you for advice and expertise. Provide it to them and make sure you are offering the right solution for them. If they are a small or mid-sized business, they should be using an organization validated certificate like a GeoTrust True BusinessID or a Symantec Secure Site Pro. If they have a shopping cart and do high volumes of transactions, then an extended validation certificate will help decrease cart abandonment and lift sales. Suggest a Symantec Secure Site Pro with EV and they can benefit from the Norton Secured Seal.

You are subscribed to email updates from OpenSRS Blog To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

ccTLD of the Week Promotion Starts Now

---

ccTLD of the Week Promotion Starts Now Posted: 11 Jun 2012 06:54 AM PDT To celebrate the expansion of ccTLDs to the OpenSRS system, we’re putting a new ccTLD on sale every week for the rest of 2012. No rebates or sign ups required. Every OpenSRS reseller will automatically receive these discounted prices on new registrations every week from Monday to Sunday. Fir.st up will be .ST for $20/year; normally $45. You can follow along with the ccTLD-of-the-Week promotion by checking out this page, or following us on: Facebook, Twitter or Google+. We will be changing the ccTLD every Monday morning. Have fun exploring ccTLDs from all around the world!

You are subscribed to email updates from OpenSRS Blog To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Free webinar: Tapping into Mobile Trends with goMobi

---

Free webinar: Tapping into Mobile Trends with goMobi Posted: 06 Jun 2012 10:43 AM PDT Mobile Internet usage continues to grow and your customers are likely looking to you for ways to ensure that their websites are mobile ready. On June 14, 2012, I’ll be hosting a free webinar with Chris Campbell, Director of Business Development, Afilias (the people behind the .MOBI domain extension and our goMobi mobile website solution). Chris will provide a state of the mobile web to ensure that you have a good sense of where things are at in 2012, as far as mobile in concerned. We’ll also show you some of the great new features available in goMobi. Version 1.6 was released earlier this year and boasts some pretty neat new stuff like mobile commerce, improved themes and custom icon support, and more. Like all OpenSRS webinars, it’s free to attend. We’re offering two sessions to accommodate resellers around the world. Take your pick – the content will be the same for both sessions. Register now! I hope to see you there!

You are subscribed to email updates from OpenSRS Blog To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

On-Demand Webinar – Ting and OpenSRS Offers

---

On-Demand Webinar – Ting and OpenSRS Offers Posted: 05 Jun 2012 10:13 AM PDT Last week I teamed up with Scott Allan, Director at Ting, to host a webinar to talk about the addition of Ting to our OpenSRS Offers service. For those who aren't aware, Ting is a new mobile phone service that Tucows launched in the US earlier this year. Through OpenSRS Offers, we're providing our Resellers with a way to bring Ting to your customers and get a nice reward in the process. Your customers get $50 off their first device purchase, you get 25% of the net revenue that they generate as a Ting customer for the first two years. If you missed the webinar, don't worry. We recorded the whole thing, just like we do for all of our monthly webinars. View the recorded version on-demand. Over the course of the hour-long presentation, we covered how Ting works, what makes it different, and we explained Ting's unique approach to billing and customer service. Plus we provided some tips on how to marketing Ting, what kinds of resources we offer and some guidelines about Ting trademarks.

You are subscribed to email updates from OpenSRS Blog To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610