Well if it is to be believed that the Devil makes work for idle hands, then today I have been whiter than white! In an attempt to plough through my workload, today saw me at the office for 6.15am - and in my 15 hour long working day i:-
1. Completed, submitted and later had signed off UPS Corporate Branding.
2. Started and later completed pre-press proofs for Pizza World Menu's
3. Supplied sample stock for Midlands Care
4. Very nearly finalised screenshots for new Place Properties web site
And whilst doing all that later realised i missed out on a spectacularly warm, sunny day, typical.
Later today, I was also informed I have enhanced my VIP status on Yasni.
Thursday, 3 June 2010
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
Web Site Scrappage Scheme
Recycle this, recycle that - why not recycle your web site once it has outlived its use! As with everything today, sooner or later things become outdated and need updating. The same goes for our marketing aids such as web sites. So we thought well why not offer a trade in option on your old web site?
Benefits to you:
1. Your new website re-design gives you the perfect opportunity to give your online marketing a fresh new look and feel.
2. Your new site will work seamlessly with new screen sizes, browsers and software, whilst at the same time allow you to incorporate any new social marketing and news feeds you maybe experimenting with.
3. A new website will make your business more competitive and attractive whilst being bang up to date with all your latest company news, products and services.
How can you qualify for this scrappage scheme?
As long as you already have an existing web site, the only thing you have to do is follow this blog, and you will automatically be eligible to claim your 20% scrappage discount.
To take advantage of this scheme just email: sales@stormstudios.co.uk - or call Storm Studios on 01246 293012
Visit our main web site to view some recent examples of our work
Benefits to you:
1. Your new website re-design gives you the perfect opportunity to give your online marketing a fresh new look and feel.
2. Your new site will work seamlessly with new screen sizes, browsers and software, whilst at the same time allow you to incorporate any new social marketing and news feeds you maybe experimenting with.
3. A new website will make your business more competitive and attractive whilst being bang up to date with all your latest company news, products and services.
How can you qualify for this scrappage scheme?
As long as you already have an existing web site, the only thing you have to do is follow this blog, and you will automatically be eligible to claim your 20% scrappage discount.
To take advantage of this scheme just email: sales@stormstudios.co.uk - or call Storm Studios on 01246 293012
Visit our main web site to view some recent examples of our work
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
The Power of your Logo, your Business Card, a Push Chair and a Gust of Wind
Today has been an amazing day, for all the times I have been told that your brand / logo is your most valuable, yet constantly under valued marketing tool. Today was the day that the true power of my brand was realised. After a mad dash across town to meet with a new client, i came to a sudden and undignified stop when a push chair lunged at me and almost sent me arse over t*t on the pavement. I did managed to stay on my feet but my bag and folder did spill out onto the floor. All my sketch books and laptop stayed inside my bag but a whole wad of my business cards quite literally took to the skies. However, I do seem to have about 50 million of them so i wasn't too bothered about losing some. I quickly navigated the push chair and after checking the lady was OK I somewhat more cautiously continued onto my appointment in town. Thankfully I did get to my meeting with time to spare and to present my initial design ideas to what turned out to be a very impressed and subsequently happy client, as I have just heard that not only has he signed off on stage 2 of the designs, but also recommended me to one of his customers. Result!!! But hey I digress, that wasn't the best part of my day! After leaving my morning meeting in town, I decided to drop off for a well earned coffee at a certain well know coffee establishment. With coffee in hand I headed towards a vacant table, and whilst reading a few messages on my phone, I looked up, and onto the table top where - GUESS WHAT - oh yes, one of my business cards was sitting!!! Sounds a bit sad, but i felt quite excited to see my card sitting their with the my company logo sat so pristine next to the sugar bowl. I couldn't help but pick it up, and on doing so i noticed someone had made a note on it, couldn't make out what it said, but the fact someone had picked it up from where ever it had landed, (well i presume it was one i had dropped earlier) and found it to be either eye-catching or of interest to them, made me feel quite cool! But here is the best part of my day, later on that afternoon when i was back in the office i got a call from a lady who was wanting a new logo designing, a new range of marketing material, plus a web site. When asking where she had heard about us, yep you guessed it. She said my card had quite literally fallen into her lap whilst waiting to be picked up by a work colleague on their way to a marketing meeting!
Now this is totally true, a little scary, but ultimately a completely true chain of events. The combination of good design, mixed with everyday weirdness, which makes this planet such a very bizarre place to reside.
So far I am loving the month of June, wonder what tomorrow has in store?
Now this is totally true, a little scary, but ultimately a completely true chain of events. The combination of good design, mixed with everyday weirdness, which makes this planet such a very bizarre place to reside.
So far I am loving the month of June, wonder what tomorrow has in store?
Friday, 7 May 2010
How Small Businesses are beginning to see the benefits of maintaining their Social Networking commitments
Small business – the next frontier for social networks
If anyone had any doubts about the growing importance of social networks they surely passed in 2009 when Twitter burst into the mass consciousness.
The micro-blogging website — which enables people to upload small, bite-sized posts about what is on their mind — joined Facebook, the world’s most popular social network, and YouTube, the video sharing site, in changing the behaviour of people sitting in front of digital screens around the globe.
While the world of business social networking has yet to have such a seismic impact on the behaviour of professionals and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), I believe 2010 could be the year when small businesses start to realise the great benefits that these networks can bring.
Without the resources and technological infrastructure of major corporations, SMEs can obtain great business benefits from so-called next-generation internet services, which enable people to seamlessly communicate with each other using video, voice and instant messaging communication tools.
Talkbiznow is an interactive business social network which provides voice and web conferencing services which enable SMEs to bypass the cost of hosting their own conference.
Talkbiznow members are also using the site to host sales calls, share documents and oversee PowerPoint presentations, which cuts down the travel costs associated with visiting a potential client at the beginning of the sales process.
Talkbiznow is currently Beta testing Webstore, a service that enables our users to set up their own micro business website for free using off-the-shelf templates.
A Webstore ‘page’ has its own unique URL address viewable across the web and enables visitors to pay for products and services via PayPal, the online payment system.
The service will function as an interactive marketing tool — sitting in the space between an online advertisement and traditional business website — enabling users to display links to websites and photographs and upload videos about their business offering using a smart mobile phone.
Business social networks also provide excellent opportunities for obtaining access to the most talented workers around the world.
Linkedin, reported that it had 50 million registered users in a blog on the website in October 2009. Half of Linkedin’s users are in the US while it has signed up 11 million professionals in Europe and 3 million in India, now the network’s fastest growing market.
Linkedin’s biggest rival in Europe, Hamburg-based Xing, has more than 8 million professionals and its careers and jobs section is one of the main services that it offers to its users.
Everyone from university alumni to employees with specialist skills such as high frequency, computer-based traders in the City of London can join a host of groups on Linkedin which advertise jobs as well as displaying links to news stories, discussion forums and occasionally blogs by industry professionals.
Social networks can also be used by small businesses as refined advertising tools. Advertising executives are increasingly recognising the great value of the information on members housed in these websites, which usually has much more detail and focus than the data on display in consumer networks such as Facebook.
However, while social networks present great opportunities for professionals and SMEs, small businesses looking at opportunities latent within social networking websites should proceed with caution.
The first peril when dealing with information gathered from social networking websites arises from the fact that the digital screen where information is viewed from can provide a cloak for impostors, unscrupulous individuals seeking to mislead viewers about their personal achievements and credentials or individuals with a vendetta against a particular company.
A social network is just another layer of validation. Information viewed should be double-checked and verified in just the same way as it is with other information portals which are used to search for a prospective employee, employer, or business partner.
Small businesses which have employees that use online social networks should also issue clear guidelines for how the websites are used. This guards against the potential reputational risk of an employee saying something defamatory online while — in effect — acting as a spokesperson for his or her business.
However, while SMEs should be mindful of potential hazards when using these new communication portals they have to attune themselves to the new opportunities which social networks can bring. Whether networks such as Twitter — which have been used by celebrities and businesses alike to build up brand awareness — stand the test of time or not, the growing importance of social networks can not be ignored.
We live in a digital age where business critical information is becoming increasingly important. As communities on business social networks develop and grow information sharing spreads.
A particular business group within a social network will itself help members solve problems and obtain information about their community, whether the group is focused on a particular industry, product or business area. This is happening right now on Linkedin, Xing, Talkbiznow and other business social networks.
Source: Martin Warner
Re-posted by: Simon France
Storm Studios
www.stormstudios.co.uk
If anyone had any doubts about the growing importance of social networks they surely passed in 2009 when Twitter burst into the mass consciousness.
The micro-blogging website — which enables people to upload small, bite-sized posts about what is on their mind — joined Facebook, the world’s most popular social network, and YouTube, the video sharing site, in changing the behaviour of people sitting in front of digital screens around the globe.
While the world of business social networking has yet to have such a seismic impact on the behaviour of professionals and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), I believe 2010 could be the year when small businesses start to realise the great benefits that these networks can bring.
Without the resources and technological infrastructure of major corporations, SMEs can obtain great business benefits from so-called next-generation internet services, which enable people to seamlessly communicate with each other using video, voice and instant messaging communication tools.
Talkbiznow is an interactive business social network which provides voice and web conferencing services which enable SMEs to bypass the cost of hosting their own conference.
Talkbiznow members are also using the site to host sales calls, share documents and oversee PowerPoint presentations, which cuts down the travel costs associated with visiting a potential client at the beginning of the sales process.
Talkbiznow is currently Beta testing Webstore, a service that enables our users to set up their own micro business website for free using off-the-shelf templates.
A Webstore ‘page’ has its own unique URL address viewable across the web and enables visitors to pay for products and services via PayPal, the online payment system.
The service will function as an interactive marketing tool — sitting in the space between an online advertisement and traditional business website — enabling users to display links to websites and photographs and upload videos about their business offering using a smart mobile phone.
Business social networks also provide excellent opportunities for obtaining access to the most talented workers around the world.
Linkedin, reported that it had 50 million registered users in a blog on the website in October 2009. Half of Linkedin’s users are in the US while it has signed up 11 million professionals in Europe and 3 million in India, now the network’s fastest growing market.
Linkedin’s biggest rival in Europe, Hamburg-based Xing, has more than 8 million professionals and its careers and jobs section is one of the main services that it offers to its users.
Everyone from university alumni to employees with specialist skills such as high frequency, computer-based traders in the City of London can join a host of groups on Linkedin which advertise jobs as well as displaying links to news stories, discussion forums and occasionally blogs by industry professionals.
Social networks can also be used by small businesses as refined advertising tools. Advertising executives are increasingly recognising the great value of the information on members housed in these websites, which usually has much more detail and focus than the data on display in consumer networks such as Facebook.
However, while social networks present great opportunities for professionals and SMEs, small businesses looking at opportunities latent within social networking websites should proceed with caution.
The first peril when dealing with information gathered from social networking websites arises from the fact that the digital screen where information is viewed from can provide a cloak for impostors, unscrupulous individuals seeking to mislead viewers about their personal achievements and credentials or individuals with a vendetta against a particular company.
A social network is just another layer of validation. Information viewed should be double-checked and verified in just the same way as it is with other information portals which are used to search for a prospective employee, employer, or business partner.
Small businesses which have employees that use online social networks should also issue clear guidelines for how the websites are used. This guards against the potential reputational risk of an employee saying something defamatory online while — in effect — acting as a spokesperson for his or her business.
However, while SMEs should be mindful of potential hazards when using these new communication portals they have to attune themselves to the new opportunities which social networks can bring. Whether networks such as Twitter — which have been used by celebrities and businesses alike to build up brand awareness — stand the test of time or not, the growing importance of social networks can not be ignored.
We live in a digital age where business critical information is becoming increasingly important. As communities on business social networks develop and grow information sharing spreads.
A particular business group within a social network will itself help members solve problems and obtain information about their community, whether the group is focused on a particular industry, product or business area. This is happening right now on Linkedin, Xing, Talkbiznow and other business social networks.
Source: Martin Warner
Re-posted by: Simon France
Storm Studios
www.stormstudios.co.uk
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)