When I first met Mariella Stockmal, I was drawn to her effervescence. She’s the real deal: happy, smart, introspective, and a joy to converse with. In fact, she and I have preset monthly chats via zoom, from me in Connecticut to her in California, never with an agenda to discuss, but unsurprisingly, we depart the hour-long chat enriched and happier than we arrived. I asked her for a guest blog post and she immediately returned to me what she knows best: practical tips to ensure your data and electronic life are protected. While not completely a LinkedIn topic, she offers us truly practical wisdom that we can never get enough of. If you know Mariella, you can’t get enough of her. Really.

Better safe than sorry. Right?

All my clients always ask me these questions, to solidify their business. Contact me on LinkedIn and I will help you.

In business I always say, “better proactive than putting out fires and losing hard earned revenue.” We can never assume that business owners have the time or experience to run “what if” scenarios and their possible solutions before writing their operational guidelines and have a solid plan B in place.

  • What kind of payments do you accept online?
  • Do you know the differences and risks involved between Bank accounts, credit/debit cards, and your clients?
  • I have witnessed back ends being compromised, which put all customers in jeopardy, because the “X” company only accepted bank account payments. The company owner had to pay millions of dollars in compensation. IF the company had agreed to accept credit/debit cards, the customers would have been able with one click to block their cards, and their bank account information would have never been compromised.
  • Does your CFO have an offline plan B for your company’s financial data?
  • Even QuickBooks online can have issues at some point. Do you feel safe as a business owner to have every detail of your company’s financial data out there for hackers?
  • Do you have a clear policy about your team’s internet usage in the office?
  • Your servers and internet are not there to protect your team’s phones and Facebook accounts, but your COMPANY’S.
  • Down time and breaks are fine. But take into consideration that not every employee knows how to navigate the internet safely. One employee opened a phishing email without knowing how to avoid it, and the entire company’s online infrastructure got compromised. Your Wi-Fi or internet connection should not be used for personal usage.
  • If you sell actual products and make money online, do you have your back end set up to block unauthorized resellers, fraudulent purchases, and chargebacks?
  • Does your online presence portray EXACTLY what it is you are offering or selling?
  • A lot of companies try to over-promise only to regret it later. The consumer is used to instant gratification. If what they receive is not 100% exactly as you portray online, they start asking for refunds, write negative comments about your company, and in the end, you lose revenue and reputation (which is a very strong ally for your future success).

Mariella self-describes as “results driven and highly experienced operations, translations, finance, fraud protection and risk management professional. I will organize your operations, translate to and from Greek, German and English, and protect you from fraud.” Find her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariellastockmal/. You’ll be glad you did.