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Blog

Domain Registry of America – Do NOT Use! A message from Tom Ossa, CEO of RockWeb Systems Inc.

March 23, 2022 by helpdesk1

You probably get a letter every year from domain companies, asking you to renew your domain with their service.

The problem: Usually, these mailings are misleading – and predatory.

Please watch this 2 minute video, explaining one such company: The Domain Registry of America.

Filed Under: Blog

Protected: North Rockland Community Advertising Program 2022

March 4, 2022 by helpdesk1

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Filed Under: Blog

Website Domains for Sale! Public Auction Feb 4, 2021

December 28, 2021 by helpdesk1

Update: Only 40 domains remain! List is below. We’ll do a public auction for the rest of the remaining ones on Feb 4.

The RocklandWeb team has streamlined many of our services over the past two years! We now run RocklandNews.com, and several other projects to be announced in 2022.

Bottom line: We have more work than we need, and many website domains that we considered developing are now available for sale! If you are looking to start/enhance a business or cause in Rockland County that you are passionate about, we might have the domain for you!

Take a look at the list below, and if you see something you like, use the contact form below to let us know! Or contact us at (845) 877-7333, between the hours of 9 and 6 pm M-F.

The full sneak preview list is in the comments below. We’ll be posting the official prices for each domain in just a few days, but if you see one you like, please make an offer in advance! Simply use the form below to send us your offer!

  • albumcoverband.com
  • albumtribute.com
  • bigboatride.com
  • bundletask.com
  • cadetcoupons.com
  • colombiansportswear.com
  • columbiansportswear.com
  • coronavirusworkremotely.com
  • datacenterrockland.com
  • goodmorningnorthrockland.com
  • helpnorthrockland.org
  • highlandstechsupport.com
  • makeyourwebsitegreatagain.com
  • mathweather.com
  • mousetrapbong.com
  • northrocklandcashmob.com
  • northrocklandfarmersmarket.com
  • northrocklandjobs.com
  • northrocklandreviews.com
  • nr2020.com
  • nrcashmob.com
  • quarantinejams.com
  • rocklandcountywebdesign.com
  • rocklanddatacenter.com
  • rocklanddirectory.com
  • rocklandirectory.com
  • rockwebmarketing.com
  • stayhealthyandsafe.org
  • stonypointfarmersmarket.com
  • tweetadollar.com
  • united.marketing
  • westpointcoupons.com
  • worksmarternj.com
  • worksmarterny.com
  • worksmartnj.com

Additionally, we have several premium domains through our partner companies, which you can purchase. They cost more, but if you have an established company that aligns with one of these names, it might be beneficial for your mission:

LOWERWESTCHESTER.COM
$1,760.00

NORTHROCKLANDBUSINESS.COM
$1,450.00

ROCKLANDBERGEN.COM
$1,995.00

STONYPOINTBUSINESS.COM
$1,350.00

WESTCHESTERSOCIETY.COM
$1,329.00

LEADERSHIPROCKLAND.COM
$2,745.00

ROCKLANDCOACHING.COM
$1,900.00

ROCKLANDCOUNSELING.COM
$1,500.00

ROCKLANDTOURISM.COM
$3,950.00

ROCKLANDWOMEN.COM
$1,400.00

To get started, please fill out the form below.

5. Website Domains for Sale!

Your Name

Filed Under: Blog

Change Your Business Systems

December 21, 2021 by helpdesk1

Every 3-5 years, it’s time to evolve your company, organization or cause – just like the car you probably lease.

Please, no autographs.
Maybe NFTs someday.

In 2016, I wrote How to Program Your Life, and released it as both a digital and print book, via Amazon. It covered (by my own interpretation) the most important steps to building a startup business from absolute scratch. I started my first company in 2007 with $300, and within 6 years, it grew to a six-figure-per-year-in-sales business, consistently all the way up to the time of this writing. We just started our second company in 2021. It’s gonna be – in the words of Keannau Reeves – “whoa”.

I’m not writing this to convince you to purchase the book. As a matter of fact, if you want a copy, send a message to us, and we’ll send you the digital version for free. We don’t depend on income from that book. 40% of Amazon print book proceeds from ’16 to ’18 have been donated to my favorite charity, and since 2018, 100% of the proceeds.

But that’s not the point. I write this to let you know that about 70% of that book is already outdated. That’s right. 70%.

Example: I recommended some old-school applications in that book such as Skype, Mavenlink, and I think Optimum Online’s virtual assistant for phone calls. LOL. We don’t use any of that anymore. We’ve evolved. In place of the three systems above, we use Zoom, Basecamp and Grasshopper. All are the correct systems, for this company’s moment in time. And eventually, probably in a few years’ time, we’ll probably replace each of those as well. Can you imagine a world without Zoom?

Another example is that my personal writing style has changed. I hope it’s gotten better. The number one thing for me now is to write everything with you, the reader in mind.

Your systems constantly need to evolve. It’s how our lives are shaped anyway. The course of time involves constant change. People evolve, grow, adjust and learn to navigate through good times and bad – personally and professionally. So should your business systems evolve, grow, and change. That is, if you like doing better than just “surviving”.

No, you want to thrive. It’s why you got into business in the first place. I’m sure you already have a good foundation. We covered that in the first book. Let’s shift our focus to building the individual components of your company, organization, or cause – better.

Here’s a great example that you likely will relate to: Email.

As I have said many times before, I hate email with the white-hot intensity of 1000 suns. It’s a huge time-killer, and while it’s certainly one of the most vital systems of any business, I absolutely dread reading and answering email. Something about it just sucks. I don’t know if it’s the sitting in one place thing, the multitasking, or the feeling of swimming upstream like a salmon to his inevitable death. Probably all three.

You probably spend a half hour or more per day on it. And for most, that number is probably closer to an hour or more. And if you enjoy email, great! But how much time are you spending on email, that can be used for more productive, or profitable purposes? Is every email you answer making your business better?

To put a visual stamp on this explanation, please watch the brief 30-second video to your left. That’s me, how I felt for years, every time I entered into the email abyss. I end it with a moment of realization…that maybe there’s a better way. If you wish to have this same feeling, continue reading.

How Much Time Are You Wasting on Older Systems?

Let’s do a simple exercise and calculate how much of your life you are wasting on email.

Take your daily average time, be it 15 minutes, a half hour, an hour or more, and multiply it by 250 (That’s based on 5 days a week multiplied by 50 weeks a year).

Let’s say for a moment, you’re only answering emails 15 minutes a day. That’s 2.5 days per year. Over the course of 10 years’ time, that’s 25 days of sitting in front of a laptop or other device, trying to solve problems that other people should be solving for you, rather than you walking around in fresh air, communicating with your fellow human beings, talking on the phone with a loved one, or inventing the next great mousetrap.

But wait! Do you actually spend 30 minutes a day on email? That’s a full work week of nothing but emails. What about an hour per day? That’s the equivalent of a two-week vacation.

Again, despite all our kicking and screaming – email is actually necessary. But what’s worth more of your time? Email? Or…something else?

In How to Program Your Life, I laid out a great personal system for categorizing emails, in the following order. It’s called the 4D method:

  1. Delete
  2. Delegate
  3. Defer
  4. Do

Using this system you are filtering emails down to the items that you absolutely need to act upon, and sending the rest to where they belong. Not in your inbox.

In this manner, what you have to respond to is actually quite minimal, and the rest either goes to people that can help solve problems better (If you’re paying people to do that anyway, why not), or they go into the trash bin.

It’s Not Just You. It’s What You’re Relying Upon.

In 2016, the 4D method was my personal system. But what I didn’t have in 2016, until now – is a better email system, one which wasn’t invented until 2021. And I would have never found it, except I’m always keeping my eye on ways to change our systems, improving them as we grow. Here’s how it happened.

My new email system. It’s called Hey. I enjoy it. And I’m off it quicker each day.

The company that invented our Basecamp project management system (37signals), released a new product this year – an email platform called Hey.com. It allows you to screen emails before they hit your inbox, so that you can decide if you need or want to see the information. It reduces spam, and then further auto-categorizes emails into locations that you don’t always have to check 24/7. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

I won’t waste time explaining Hey further. If you want proof – check out the video below instead. I’m also not recommending you switch to this system. My point is about evolving your systems over time, like you change your car every few years. Keep reading after the video.

The two systems combined (my 4D personal method and Hey.com’s email system), your email routine becomes a much quicker game of logging on, categorizing email as quickly as possible, and delegating the rest. If you do it right, the emails you have to answer amount to 2-3 action items at most. And those remaining items are no longer emails, they are tasks or projects that you can add to your formal project time.

There are other systems that you can evolve within your company. The traditional cash register has already evolved into a point-of-sale system, but does it do what you expect it to do?

How about your accounting system? Are you still manually entering all your transactions? Why? Why can’t something like Quickbooks Online do most of the heavy lifting?

How about your time tracking system? How do you know how much actual time your workers are spending on actual work? Time is money.

The Perfect Time to Change: Now.

Bottom line: How much of your time, money, or peace of mind are you losing/wasting, by keeping track of all the things that don’t fall into your master business plan from long ago, when you were a starry-eyed new business owner?

Here’s my suggestion for you: Every year, look at your systems, and see what’s working, and what isn’t. If you are reading this at the beginning of January, or at the end of August, you’re in luck. Those two times are natural breaks in the US and local economy that allow you a little more time to catch up. But don’t wait. At very least, schedule it in your calendar, and block out the time. Take at least a solid day off, and deeply evaluate your entire business operation, with all its individual systems. You don’t have to upend everything you see. Start with the one thing that is causing you the most frustration, stay on it, and fix it by identifying a better technology to handle it. I already did, by finding an email system that is superior to the prior one. This will help us as we begin to grow our second company.

Now it’s your turn. Follow the 10 steps I’ve listed below to get started.

I should note that systems don’t always need to be upended or cannibalized. Reality tells us that using the same systems for a period of time creates more organizational stability. Sometimes current systems only need small adjustments or integrations.

These days, what’s beautiful is that you have both choice and value. Keep searching for the right system at the right price with the right features, and I can nearly guarantee you that you will find it.

Our time tracking system, TickSpot.

Example: We use QuickBooks Online, and integrated a time tracking system called TickSpot.com that our company team uses to easily log time that they spend on client projects. And everyone likes it.

One warning: Be ready for some discomfort as you change to the new system. You’ll have to learn the new system, and your team will have to learn the new system. Your clients will have to learn the new system. But it starts with you. Commit to the new system, push the button to start the switch, and be patient with yourself, and others.

If you have multiple systems that need to be changed, ideally just choose one at a time. Or designate one person to handle each full system switchover to another system. The last thing you want is to wait until the economy changes rapidly, like it did in March of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic uprooted the world. We got lucky, that $300 business I created in 2007 was staffed entirely with a local but remote workforce. It kept us growing. But we still needed to evolve. So do you, as we begin to adjust to yet another new normal.

There’s many more steps than what I’ve listed below. If you need help, stay tuned into the advice we will be providing in 2022, via our podcast, our blog, and our upcoming webinars. All with the intent of building your business better.

Go for it.

10 Steps:

  1. Each year, take a full day off your traditional workload, to look at your systems.
  2. Pick a system that you are using, such as a financial, project, or communication system.
  3. Decide if that system is giving you more frustration than you wish to allow.
  4. If it is frustrating you, commit to finding a solution to changing the system.
  5. Speak with your team, if necessary – and communicate your desire to switch the system.
  6. Ask for help to explore a new, evolved system, or otherwise a helpful integration.
  7. In addition to your own system, select the top three finalists for a better evolved system.
  8. Read the documentation of each, contact sales reps for each, study each website.
  9. Consider other systems, your team, and customers & public that may be affected by the switch.
  10. Begin the integration or switch. Rally your team to adopt the new system. Get it done within 1 month.

Filed Under: Blog

Webinar: Making the Best of Small Business Saturday

November 24, 2021 by helpdesk1

Conducted on November 24th, 2021 @ 2 pm

Become a retailer on RocklandShopping.com, today!

Just $39.95 gets you on our Rockland directory! Launching 11/27/2021!

If you would like to download the supporting PDF for this webinar, please click on the link to the right, or click here.

Download Small Business Saturday promo materials with your brand for free! Visit the AMEX Small Business Saturday website.

Visit & learn about the North Rockland Chamber of Commerce.

Visit & learn about the Highlands Chamber of Commerce.

To find and employ staff for your retail store, visit RocklandWorks.org

Resources mentioned in this webinar:

  • Free, Perfect & Now: Connecting to Three Insatiable Customer Demands (1999) – by Robert Rodin
  • Business at the Speed of Thought (1999) – by Bill Gates
  • High-Tech, High Touch Customer Service (2012) – by Micah Solomon
  • The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (1989) – by Stephen R. Covey
  • How to Program Your Life (2016) – by Tom Ossa

Filed Under: Blog

Our New Adventure: RockWeb Systems Inc.

July 1, 2021 by helpdesk1

When I was a kid working at my Grandfather’s bike store in West Haverstraw (circa 1987) after school each day, I split my time between several activities:

Tom Ossa, CEO, RockWeb Systems Inc.
  • Riding, building & repairing bikes
  • Talking with customers
  • Playing video games

I think I did some homework, too…but I digress.

Over the past 15 months, while our world changed forever – I took some time to really reflect on the legacy that I want to leave behind after I’ve gone to the Great Beyond. I think all of us should have that Grace of time. It is a gift.

Starting in August 2020, we decided to form a 2nd Corporation that would encompass all of what we have achieved, and all of what we still plan to achieve over the coming 20+ years.

Effective July 1, 2021. RocklandWeb is now a part of RockWeb Systems Inc. As such, we have rebranded and restructured the entire company into several different divisions:

  1. RocklandWeb: Web Design, Hosting and SEO
  2. ACE Web Marketing: Video and content advertising (via YouTube, Facebook, Instagram)
  3. Elite Services Division: For custom business projects from clients across the Hudson Valley, NY

RocklandWeb is also pleased to also announce the launch of its newest service for Rockland County, NY: www.RocklandNews.com.

The RocklandNews service will provide news from 45+ Hamlets, Villages, Towns & County of Rockland, via press releases sent by each municipality to us, as well as via community organizations (for local events) – such as this year’s Stony Music Fest, Saturday August 14th, all day.

Special thanks to our early supporters of RocklandNews.

Lest you think we are reaching too far – No worries! All this is not done alone. As my lovely girlfriend often reminds me: “Teamwork makes the dream work.”

We have a great and growing team at RocklandWeb – which in addition to providing beautiful, interactive and organized websites, hosting and SEO – we now have an audio/video services division, for custom, larger scale projects via organizations across Rockland County NY.

To each and every one of you on the team – I want to express my gratitude, and look forward to continuing to work with you for many years to come.

This elite team will continue to serve our 500+ web design, hosting, and advertising client list – as we have been since 2007. That’s how we got to this point, and we are thankful to each and every one of our valued clients. #PerksComingYourWay

I mentioned above our video and audio services division. If you’re a company looking to align your brand with an influencer in Rockland or a musical artist in Rockland? Check out www.SponsorBand.com.

Thanks to our video services team that works across all divisions of this company, we’ve been able to produce high quality fundraiser videos – with musical artists from across the Hudson Valley. It further encompasses the legacy I wish to leave behind once I head into the Great Beyond. (Yes I know that sounds silly. Deal with it. lol)

Examples of our recent work:

  • Habitat for Humanity Virtual Gala 2021
  • Stony Point Seals Virtual Polar Plunge 2021
  • North Rockland Chamber Christmas & Holiday Special

If you would like a video for your company, organization, or cause that truly stands out? Give us a call.

All of the above leads me back to the question: What I want to leave as a legacy? Well, I won’t bore you with the details (yet), but I want to help to make Rockland County NY a destination for high-quality musical artists, tourists that follow their favorite bands into Rockland for performances, and greater and more creative business activity in this beautiful County that I am very proud to call home.

Try saying that fast three times.

Sooooooo…there’s a lot to do! I hope you’ll join us on this journey. Stay tuned, we’re working on some pretty spectacular things in the background for Rockland. Also, you can follow us on YouTube, our 5-minute daily podcast, or just call us for business guidance, at (845) 877-7333. Our referral network runs deep.

Oh…start off by doing this:

Come to the Stony Music Fest this year!!!! Sponsored by the North Rockland Chamber of Commerce, and in participation with the Town of Stony Point. 6 bands, all day on Saturday August 14, 2021, overlooking the Hudson River. Tickets on sale now, and proceeds to benefit the artists, and Habitat for humanity Rockland:

Live music is back again – and we’ve been putting on concerts since 2015!!! Here’s some footage from last year’s show (capacity was limited to 50 due to the pandemic, but we recorded the entire thing. Here’s some jazz.

And here’s The Frank Ocasio Brother Band:

Quick details: We’ll have 6 bands, gates open at 12 noon – and it’s just $20 per person – no matter what time you show up. The proceeds go to the artists, as well as our donor recipient this year, Habitat for Humanity of Rockland.

I want to close by saying that today…I am very grateful. None of this would be possible without three things:

  • 1. God
  • 2. My Mom
  • 3. My love, Jessica

Necessity is the Mother of invention. I learned that in my Grandfather’s bike store some 26 years ago, and I’ll continue to learn and create, all the days of my life.

At the end of the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” Clarence wrote to George Bailey, “No man is a failure who has good friends.”

Thanks for being my friends. ❤

Tom Ossa, CEO
RockWeb Systems Inc.
(845) 877-7333

Filed Under: Blog

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