Your Virtual Computing Future is Here… servers in the clouds!

It will change the way you think about computers!

If you are a Colts fan, sorry for your loss…
If you’re a Saint’s fan, congratulations on your BIG win.

The 2010 Super Bowl is now ancient history (and this is the last of my sports commentary – I promise).  I’d like to address the REALLY big news that tens of millions of people saw during the most watched television show in broadcast history!

The Google Commercial

No voice over, no Hollywood actors, no fancy Flash or Java tricks… just a visual demonstration of how everything from an airline ticket to finding love is available on the Internet.  Imagine if Google had used your company as the example in that ad.  Your webserver probably would have melted down withiin minutes and your phone lines jammed for days.
(If you missed it, see Google’s Super Bowl ad below)

Unfortunately, Google didn’t use YOUR company in their commercial, but it demonstrated very effectively how people find YOUR company.  And they showed the power of “Local Search” as they hunted for a “chocolate shop” and a “church in Paris”.

Every other Super Bowl ad was hyping a product or company, but this ad was showing website owners how important it is to rank well in Google.  There are only two ways to appear on page one of Google.  Buy pay-per-click ads (Google AdWords) – or optimize your website using SEO, and no one is more qualified to help you with this than MontanaSky’s expert SEO team.

Make your website work as hard as you do!

More info on MontanaSky’s SEO…

ACH is Easy, Safe, Convenient and GREEN

Every day MontanaSky customers walk through our door to pay their monthly invoice… and they don’t have to do it.  Think about what is happening here, and consider the entire process.

A customer leaves their home, starts their car and drives to our location, then parks their car, walks through our door, pulls out their checkbook and fills out a check, hands the check to us and we process their check electronically, stamp it paid and hand it back to them.  The customer then retraces their steps to the parking lot, starts their car and drives back home.

I know it sounds funny when it’s presented this way, but this is a process that hundreds of people choose each and every month.  Can you imagine how much these routines actually cost in time, gasoline and even paper?

Many people think that by writing a check and handing it to a ‘live’ person there is some kind of added security involved, but that isn’t really the case.  Today, all payments are processed electronically whether we do it here, or you do it from home or at the bank.

If you want to help MontanaSky in our quest to save the planet, conserve resources, reduce carbon emissions and save a whole bunch of your time (and ours) time… get on the ACH plan.  You can set this up automatically by visiting MontanaSky’s “My Account Center”.  Or, grab your checkbook and call us to activate ACH and help us save the planet!

Dish Network Does it Again!

There’s a reason why DISH Network is the fastest growing TV provider in America.  Actually there are a lot of reasons, but the new 120 channel package is a great place to start!

Dish Network just announced their new service specials and they will make your head spin.  Now with over 120 of your favorite channels, including CNN, ESPN, Disney Channel and Discovery Channel, and you can add 65 HD channels for only $10 per month.

If you are not yet a Dish Network subscriber, find out what 14 million other people know that you don’t.  Call MontanaSky today at 752-4335 and find out what you’ve been missing.

Do you know Jack?

A fellow, we’ll call him Jack, came into the office the other day asking if we still sold dial-up service.  He was using the DSL service of a competitor of ours and said that he was tired of them and their constant price increases.

Richard, one of MontanaSky’s super-helpful sales staff asked him, “why do you want to go backwards?”  He went on to say, “we can sell dial-up, but you will not be happy with it – or with us for letting you buy it.”  He added, “trying to save money and ease your frustration by going back to dial-up service is like trading in a new Lexus for a 20 year old bicycle… both will get you there, but there is no comparison in the ride, speed or experience.”

Jack saw this as an opportunity to vent and said, “those %$#@#&s raise my rate every year and when I call for anything I wait on the phone forever and finally talk to some pinhead that tells me they don’t service my area.”  Jack was visibly upset, and continued, “one time I called for technical support and held the phone for an hour before I spoke to some guy that sounded like he was from another country and didn’t know a modem from a mushroom!”

“I completely understand”, Richard said.  “We hear that all the time, and when people find out that our technical support team is based right here in Montana and that we have never raised our prices, and our network hasn’t been down in over three years… we usually get their attention.”  Richard also said, “the best way to avoid price increases is to get the best value DSL service – and that would only be MontanaSky“.

By the time Richard had explained MontanaSky’s Triple Play Bundle, and showed Jack how he could save $468 with our high-speed DSL, phone service and Satellite TV, Jack was calling his neighbors and making plans for a Super Bowl party.

Make 2010 the year you kick your bad habits, save money and get the service you want and deserve!

Call MontanaSky to learn how we can make your New Year’s resolutions come true.  Call 752-4335.

How’s Twitter working out for you?

Okay, many of us have jumped on the Twitter bandwagon.  Most of us aren’t sure why – except that everyone else was doing it.  The initial intent of Twitter (as I understood it) was to be able to keep in touch with friends, family or business associates.  Twitter fills the space between emails and phone calls.

That’s still a great reason to have a Twitter account.  In fact, IMHO, that is the only reason.  “But”… you say, “what about those people who have 190,000+ followers, aren’t they getting something from this?”  Yeah, a few have figured out how to monetize their list, but unless you’re a Hollywood hunk or hottie, chances are your followers are completely ignoring your Tweets.

Anil Dash is a notable blogger and is on Twitter’s “Recommended Follow List” which you see when you first sign-up.  He has a HUGE Twitter following, but he has discovered that having 10 times as many Twitter followers generates approximately 0 times as much value.  I mean seriously, who watches a Twitter screen long enough to monitor Tweets from thousands of users?

So is Twitter a bust for you? Not at all if you use it smart.  If having tens of thousands of followers doesn’t provide any ROI (of your time), my advice is to ignore all the followers who you don’t know.  Use Twitter to follow only the people you know – or want to follow.  By keeping your list manageable, you’ll be able to see what your friends and associates hope you’ll see.

Oh and BTW, since you’re reading this post, you’ll probably want to follow the Webster on Twitter and keep up with my words of wisdom.  It’s a great way to hear about special deals from MontanaSky.

Since you asked… were you aware that MontanaSky can save you as much as $468 on our “Triple Play” bundle – High Speed Internet, Dish Network TV and E911 Phone Service?

Call 752-4335 for details!

It is an annual ritual, and one in which almost everyone participates with good intentions (or at least until January 2^nd).  I’m talking about our yearly promises to ourselves to improve certain aspects of our lives via our New Year’s Resolutions.

No one can fault the desire to make our world better by resolving to improve or change something, but why is it we have such a time adhering to our personal commitments?  What makes these individual resolutions so difficult to keep?  How can we succeed in 2010?

Heck, I don’t know… I’m a geek, not a psychologist.  Rather than ponder these human foibles (and possibly embarrass myself), I’d like to talk about commitments that really mean something.

MontanaSky’s commitment to our customers is notorious and we take our obligations very seriously.  When we started this business sixteen years ago, we promised to provide the most reliable high-speed Internet and best tech support available, and at a fair and competitive price.  Now THAT is a commitment that has stood the test of time.

Our resolution to expand our services to better serve our community has also been realized.  As we close the chapter on 2009, we are pleased to report that during this past year alone we added new services like CrestonTech’s professional web design, Search Engine Optimization, we expanded our satellite TV offerings, real-time backup, virtual servers and a host of other products and network enhancements.  MontanaSky has become THE Internet business resource in NW Montana.

In 2010, the best resolution you can make is to save money. If you own a business, learn how you can improve your operations by letting MontanaSky introduce you to our cost-effective business solutions.  If you are a homeowner, call us to see how we can save you money with our “Triple Play” bundle, High-Speed Internet with Dish TV and Local Phone.

MontanaSky in the Community

MontanaSky is involved in many community activities from our support of non-profit groups to professional business organizations.  Richard Dasen, Vice President Sales, recently made a presentation about our services to the local Whitefish BNI group.

Mr. Dasen discussed how MontanaSky’s services provide insurance against common business problems such as computer and network issues, data backup, and how our high-speed Bonded DSL provides faster access while offering redundancy.

He also explained MontanaSky’s newest product offering, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and how it can insure traffic to your website.  MontanaSky’s bottom line pricing means the best value for DSL, satellite TV (Dish Network or DirecTV) and local phone service.

MontanaSky High-Speed DSL is a ‘Must Have’

If your Internet needs are nothing more than checking email once a month, any company and any slow speed will serve your purpose.  However, if you depend on your Internet service for:

• Communicating with friends
• Keeping in touch with family
• Managing your business
• Nurturing professional relationships
• Getting news, weather and sports
• Banking and investing
• Shopping
• Downloading music or movies
• Playing interactive games
• Watching live events
• Researching
• … or any of the thousands of other reasons to use this global communications network, MontanaSky High-Speed DSL is a ‘Must Have’ service!

There are a bunch of reasons why thousands of homeowners and many of the valley’s largest companies depend on MontanaSky for their High-Speed Internet service.  They also rely on our Web Design, Hosting, Search Engine Optimization and our award winning PC-Fitness computer repair.

To all of you who have discovered the MontanaSky difference, we want to say thank you for being a customer.  For those who haven’t yet experienced our level of service and support… what are you waiting for?

MontanaSky in the Community

The annual “Night of Lights” parade was held in Columbia Falls last night.  It was a well attended, fun-filled community event on Nucleus Avenue.  People of all ages, businesses, community organizations, youth groups and others got together to celebrate their Christmas spirit.

The girls pictured are part of Columbia Falls Clash team

Tony Friar, MontanaSky’s VP Network Operations, is the President and one of the coaches with the Wildcat Youth Fast Pitch Travel Assn.  This non-profit group helps young teenage girls, the Allstars of local softball, compete in playoff games in Kalispell, Polson, Missoula, Helena and Great Falls and the Junior Olympics State Tournament in Bozeman. The girls came out on a cold Friday in force to help raise money for some much needed new uniforms and equipment for the upcoming softball season.

If you would like to help this community organization that does so many wonderful things for our youngsters, please send donations to:

Wildcat Youth Fast Pitch Travel Assn
P.O. Box 1115
Columbia Falls, 59912

BTW, we’d also like to acknowledge that City Brew donated the coffee, and MontanaSky donated the cookies, hot chocolate and cider for last nights fundraiser.